jeff wrote:

A typical Chesapeake squall line is more "interesting" than their
experience. Chesapeake squall lines are a wake-up call for world
cruisers who have been through 'canes or brushed by them. We often
experience 110+ knot winds for an hour or more. A fairly recent one
put 28 boats on a local anchorage's beaches.

I certainly wouldn't deny that thunderstorm squalls can be very intense,
but I seriously doubt they sustain 110+ knots for over an hour, and that
this happens "often." I've tried to find any record of extreme squalls
and in fact only one reporting station on the Chesapeake reported record
gusts of over 100 mph.

I have no doubt that "hurricane force gusts" occur somewhere in the Bay
several times a year, but that's not the same 110+ knots sustained for
over an hour.

Thanks for the research Jeff, I was rather incredulous about the
sustained 110+ knots, (125 mph) myself. Fortunately I had to go and
spend several hours on the water in a Zodiak helping to move moorings by
attaching and detaching lines from a big crane to said moorings before I
had time to look into the veracity of this claim.

Cheers
Marty

Ch