On Sun, 01 May 2005 22:19:26 -0400, prodigal1 wrote:

You must have a serious sailing jones there Rhys. ;-)

Yep. But dragging the beers means they're always frosty...

You've got a
heater below yes?

At dock. Underway I just cower in front of the camp stove in my parka.


Anyway, have you noticed the weather charts recently?
This is a continuation of the pattern I've been noticing over the last
few years i.e., the continuous, rapid re-spawning of low pressure
systems over the midwest which stall over the Great Lakes and produce
protracted periods of E quadrant wind/weather. Of course some seasoned
sailors might say that this is the normal course of weather but the last
two spring/summer periods have been anomalous in my 35 years of
observing/sailing on the Great Lakes. Currently we can see the remains
of an absolutely huge low over James Bay that has been joined by two
other new large lows NE of the Lakes. Weird is all I can say.

I can't say I've analysed the "big picture" but I have noticed the
greater share of east wind plus a lot of intense downdrafting and
local squalliness that is not right for early May. I also have noticed
that the barometer's holding low and steady for long periods (your
"stuck lows") and yet the weather is not matching the typical pressure
profiles. Nor are the forecasters doing well lately.

As far as wind data is concerned, there is frankly too much of it to be
summarized here. Check out these links or do a search such as
wind +data +archives at google.ca
Some of the data sources are proprietary and need payment for access.

http://rredc.nrel.gov/wind/pubs/atlas/

http://www.climat.meteo.ec.gc.ca/Welcome_e.html

Good sailing!
Thanks, I will bookmark these and factor them in to my weather
watching.