d parker wrote:

"Ian Malcolm" wrote:
snip
D. Parker's comment about being able to read the weather building to the
south and getting 20 minutes warning is not confidence inspiring. Say
five minutes of innattention, and 5 minutes of Hmm, is it headed this way?
then 10 minutes of struggling to get the main down and you are out of time
and quite probably swimming. Personally, I'd like time to check all gear
is secure, pop a quick plot on the chart and get some foul weather gear
on. Say 7-8 minutes total. Cut back the 'Hmm, thinking time' a bit and
you still need to be able to drop and stow the main in about three
minutes.

Snip

Sorry, you may have missed the sarcasm in my previous post.
Probably. Sarcasm is hard to do well on usenet. Too many posters who's
version of english is different to one's own. If you are subtle, most
miss it and if not you get flamed for being gratuitously offensive. :-)

He wont need the 5 minutes of "hmm, is it headed this way". If your off the
coast of NSW and to the south you see a big MoFo Anvil. Its coming your way!
Local knowlage trumps general experiance anytime.

He will already be wearing a wet suit so he shouldnt need time to change
Been caught out in a hail storm in a wetsuit? I frequently wear a
wetsuit when dinghy cruising. (Not the most comfortable sailing gear if
you aren't planning on going in, but without one, spring water temps and
a little wind chill afterwards wont give you much chance if you do go in
and have 10 more miles to do till you reach shelter). I *WANT* that set
of offshore yachting foulies rolled up under the foredeck on before the
1/2" to 1" hailstones start hitting me. Of course, we've got weather
and you've got a climate VBG

There was a guy some years ago who sailed the east coast on the hobie. But
he used a support vessel to help along the way. I forget his name. But from
memory he had all sorts of Australian titles under his belt. Another reader
may be able to enlighten us further.

DP
Sounds interesting.

--
Ian Malcolm. London, ENGLAND. (NEWSGROUP REPLY PREFERRED)
ianm[at]the[dash]malcolms[dot]freeserve[dot]co[dot]uk
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