what instruments and tools do you use for wind and weather ?

i am only just now reading about some of this for the first time.
obviously there is a wind vane for measuring wind direction, but how do
you measure wind speed ? or do you ? i know the basic tool for
measuring wind speed is an anemometer, but i've never actually used one
before. do you use one ? is it mounted on the boat or handheld ? or
do you just look at the waves and "guess" ? how do you use it, i mean,
how do you use the information yourself in your cruising, what purpose
does it serve for you ? how do you measure pressure and/or humidity ?
or do you ? what kind of instruments do you have, do you just use a
regular wall mounted barometer ? in general i'm curious what
instruments for wind and weather that you folks use, how you use it,
what purpose they serve for you, etc. i'm constantly reading in books
that some boat captain had 30 knot winds and the pressure was falling
such-and-such an amount per hour ... was s/he just guessing at the wind
speed based on wave heights and general observation, or was s/he
holding a handheld anemometer up in the air or what ? the books never
say! was the captain watching a glass barometer to get the pressure ?
i'm sure some boats have more sophisticated instruments and methods
than others, but what are they ? and i'm assuming too that some folks
use weatherfax and things to get weather reports in addition to making
direct measurements to help predict weather and see what's going on.
and i've even read about using airmail to get weather maps.
experience, i'm sure, also goes a long ways, cloud observations, that
kind of thing.

what kind of weather instruments do you use and how do you use them ?

can you recommend any good books on this topic for cruisers ?

I use a Davis wireless weather station and love it.

purple_stars wrote:
what instruments and tools do you use for wind and weather ?

i am only just now reading about some of this for the first time.
obviously there is a wind vane for measuring wind direction, but how
do you measure wind speed ? or do you ? i know the basic tool for
measuring wind speed is an anemometer, but i've never actually used
one before. do you use one ? is it mounted on the boat or handheld
? or do you just look at the waves and "guess" ? how do you use it,
i mean, how do you use the information yourself in your cruising,
what purpose does it serve for you ? how do you measure pressure
and/or humidity ? or do you ? what kind of instruments do you have,
do you just use a regular wall mounted barometer ? in general i'm
curious what instruments for wind and weather that you folks use, how
you use it, what purpose they serve for you, etc. i'm constantly
reading in books that some boat captain had 30 knot winds and the
pressure was falling such-and-such an amount per hour ... was s/he
just guessing at the wind speed based on wave heights and general
observation, or was s/he holding a handheld anemometer up in the air
or what ? the books never say! was the captain watching a glass
barometer to get the pressure ? i'm sure some boats have more
sophisticated instruments and methods than others, but what are they
? and i'm assuming too that some folks use weatherfax and things to
get weather reports in addition to making direct measurements to help
predict weather and see what's going on. and i've even read about
using airmail to get weather maps. experience, i'm sure, also goes a
long ways, cloud observations, that kind of thing.

what kind of weather instruments do you use and how do you use them ?

can you recommend any good books on this topic for cruisers ?

We must assume from your questions that you are a comparative newcomer to
the sport of sailing, otherwise you would be aware of the immense plethora
of wind and weather instrumentation available to the boat owner.

Most modern instrumentation is by means of various suitably-located sensors
linked to a central computer, and thence sent to various instrument heads
situated adjacent to the helm, some of which are multi-functional, i.e. they
depict more than one parameter by using a built-in switch.

Any boat equipped with Raymarine instrumentation (or other similar set-up)
will answer most if not all of your questions far better than we can, and my
advice is to find such a vessel in your anchorage or marina, and make
friends with the owner, most of whom will be only too pleased to show off
their expensive hardware!


Dennis.

On 17 Feb 2006 09:15:30 -0800, "Andy"
wrote:


Barometers are good if you are in areas where a dropping barometer can
predict a coming storm. Down south of California I never noticed any
reliable correlation between barometer and wind.

I would recommend electronic barometers that can record a history and
display it graphically. Speedtech makes a decent one that I've used
for a couple of years and it eats 4 AA batteries every nine months or
so. Here on the Great Lakes, I *do* notice a correlation between
advancing highs and lows, the rapidity of change and winds. For
instance, today an Arctic high is rapidly filling in and the
temperature has dropped 20 F from this morning and the winds are
blowing gale force (40-45 knots on the water earlier today with 10-12
foot "freezing spray"...yummy).

I do recommend getting a reliable shortwave receiver that can receive
SSB, which you can use to listen to the daily local cruiser's SSB nets.
These nets will usually have someone who keeps up to date on the
latest weather information and gives a daily weather report, and some
of them are quite good. This was how we got most of our weather
information when we were away from port.

Very good advice.

When you are in port you can download all the weatherfaxes, and all
kinds of other detailed weather info, over the internet at the local
cybercafe. When you are away from a developed port you can sometimes
get info from the latest weatherfaxes from other cruisers or cruise
ships using the VHF.

Equally good. The advantage of having onboard weather instruments,
however, is that you can frequently "barter" with amateur or semi-pro
weather providers like Herb H. to give him "spot" conditions that he
can turn into more reliable regional forecasts.

R.

"purple_stars" wrote in
oups.com:

what kind of weather instruments do you use and how do you use them ?


B&G Network Wind:
http://www.pyacht.net/cgi-local/Soft...in/pagegen.pl?
U+scstore+jwlw1278ff16a116+pr+bgNETWSYS.html
sorry for the wordwrap. After a while you forget what it costs...(c;
Gives us true wind, apparent wind for sailing, speed and direction and
encodes it to all the other NMEA instruments listening on the network.

http://ftv.3amsystems.com/
WEFAX charts, NAVTEX messages, WWV broadcast warnings using software-based
decoders that run on the laptop's sound card plugged into the headphone
jack on the Icom M802 HF-SSB radio. Nice to have weather charts from NOAA
offshore...even this slow.

A recording barometer. Every Amel yacht comes with the most beautiful
chart-recording barometer. It's not really necessary with all the
electronics, but it's very local warning to look up there and see that line
start dropping! Runs on a little battery for a year.

Using the Wind instrument is just turning it on, mostly. It keeps you from
having to crane your neck in the day and continues to give you relative
wind info into the darkness when you can't see the vane.

The WEFAX is the same chart you get on the net. Not sure how to tell you
"how do you use it"....??

On 17 Feb 2006 09:15:30 -0800, in message
.com
"Andy" wrote:

With regard to wind speed, it is what it is, and having a number for
the wind you are experiencing will not help you manage the boat one
bit.

However, if you have experience with how your boat handles X knots and
you have a forecast of X knots, then you can be better prepared,
provided you have instruments on board to put a solid figure on X.

On top of that, unless you are way different from me, watching the
digits climb on the instrument will reinforce your inclination to
respond sooner rather than later. Or save you the trouble by showing
clearly that the wind speed has peaked and is falling, despite the
occasional gusts.

At current prices, I think it would be silly not to have wind data
directly available.

Ryk

On Sat, 18 Feb 2006 23:41:33 -0500, Ryk
wrote:


At current prices, I think it would be silly not to have wind data
directly available.

I agree. Many instruments give not only "live" wind speed, but record
the speed of the last sustained gust. I tend to reef for that gust
figure, because I am not racing. If I were, I'd figure if I could use
the gusts or ease sheets to compensate so as not to make leeway.

The flip side of the coin, of course, is noticing when the wind is
*dropping*. The sea state will persist for a long time even after the
wind starts to drop, and sometimes the boat will slow so gradually
that one misses an opportunity to shake out a reef.

Finally, if you notice a plunging barometer and the frequently
occuring "calm before the storm", you can batten down and reef in the
very brief period before a squall or other violent front passes over.

Knowing the wind speed isn't always necessary, but as with any
information on board, it's rarely *unnecessary.*

R.