I have seen the wsi on my boat pegged at 65 knots, with sustained gusts.

I guarantee you can see a thunderstorm coming for LOTs longer than ten minutes.
Or at least you can if you open your eyes and glance around on occasion.

I do recall a guy with full sails up heading east in about 10 knots of wind
looking at me funny for being in foul weather gear on my deck reefing the main,
my boat pointing west. Kind of a smirk on his face as he sailed by. Smirk
once, then smirk again, then puzzled look on his face. Then he glanced around
and saw the thunderstorm about a mile and a half away, to the north and west.
Suddenly he is taking in all the sail he could.

btw, jeffie, watch out for thunderstorms passing to your north. They will get
ya, while those to the south are of little interest.

Spoken like someone who's never actually seen a t-storm.

Welcome back, Jaxie. But really, get that prescription refilled.



"JAXAshby" wrote in message
...
jeff, ONLY a sailor of training wheels is totally oblivious to an
approaching
thunderstorm until 10 minutes before it arrives. The rest of us know their
potential exists for that particular day well before we cast off, and we
can
see one developing for a couple hours or more. This ain't rocket science,
except to those floating on training wheels (who be definition are scared
squatless of the water).

I used cell phone radar last season, and it came in handy. Aside from the
obvious advantage of
having an hour or two's notice of t-storms, rather than 10 minutes, its
nice
to be able to plan
shore trips, etc.