What weather to look for

[Bootle Bumtrinket]

Having experienced considerable discomfort in choppy annoying waves that were only 3ft high last week I am curious as to what people consider is good weather to motorboat in. I have been looking at weather forcasts for the south coast but the waves seem bigger and more unpleasant this week and weekend than last weekend....

 

[kashurst]

good question - weather tends to cover a lot of things, the main thing boaters are interested in is the wind.
how strong is the wind, how long has it blowing from a particular direction, is the wind going with the tide or against it?

the longer the wind blows the bigger the waves will get. So 2 hours of force 8 doesn't do much and the sea will flatten quite quickly, but 48 hours of force 5 and its properly rough.
boats give the best ride going in the same direction as the waves. The waves can be seriously big and you can sit the boat on top of a really big wave (10 foot+) and travel along with it (great fun but tricky) and its like the sea is calm.
waves directly on the side aren't too bad if you can anticipate them,boat goes up and down gently but rolls a bit
waves straight ahead are difficult and best avoided - gets hard work
the worst is going into waves with the tide running against them - you get steep faced waves and it can be very jolting with a lot of spray even with waves only 1 or 2 feet high.

so to get the best ride/fun you have to watch the wind forecast, and decided what to do depending which direction you want to go, or alternatively decide where you want to go based on the wind forecast.
have a look at www.windfinder.com it will give you a pretty good forecast and information about prevailing winds in your area of interest.

also correct use of your trim tabs and drive leg angle can make a big difference to ride quality as well. Driving a boat takes a lot more thought and skill than people think. Get some own boat tuition and you will be surprised what your boat can do by taking advantage of the sea state rather than trying to fight it. If you sit and wait for calm days you will never go anywhere.

 

[gjgm]

Windy.com (which has several weather models to switch between)and Passageweather.com have graphic wave forecasts including direction and size. Remember it is a forecast only, but I have found them pretty good. Needless to say, this is more for the bigger picture than for an isolated bay but it might help plan your timings.

 

[omega2]

it's rough in the channel when it's calm!! wind over tide is murder, too many ships churning it up, fished for years but gave up on the channel many moons ago, moved round the the Thames Estuary not as bad there, still restrict outings if over force 4 and against the run of tide though, yes I am a whimp, but still breathing. LOL