Capt. JG wrote:
I'm not sure if it's quite the same thing, but we encountered one in the
south bay coming off the marsh land. They're kind of unpredictable there...
see them quite frequently. We lost sight of it, then wham it hit the boat
and pushed it over until the main touched the water, then we popped back up,
and it kept going. We were on a mid-20' Merit. I wouldn't really call it a
waterspout, more like a whirly wind. Guessing 50 kts or slightly more.

We get those back un out pasture in MI...call them dust
devils....they're about 6-8 ft tall and are heat generated...one chased
the cat up a tree....