Thread: Dead Calm
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[email protected] thunder@TAKEOUTgti.net is offline
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First recorded activity by BoatBanter: Nov 2007
Posts: 864
Default Dead Calm

On Sun, 28 Sep 2008 10:20:53 -0500, Vic Smith wrote:

Good movie, but...
Since I'm tending more and more toward a sailboat, I have a question.
How often in your various areas is it impossible to move under sail
because it is dead calm?
Anybody care to give an estimate in terms of days/hours/season? Ohara
has said there is "no wind" in the summer on the Florida gulf coast, but
since I'm not there with a sailboat I don't how to interpret that in a
meaningful way.
Thanks.

--Vic


In coastal areas, "dead calm" is relatively rare. Just the sun's heat,
and the differences between water and land, will provide a daily offshore/
onshore breeze. However, the difference between a breeze and wind,
between ghosting and burying a rail, is often the difference between
boredom and fun. I would interpret O'Hara's comment as sailing the
Florida Gulf Coast in summer as not being fun, not that there isn't
enough wind to move.