Flying Pig News, late edition...
 

Wayne.B wrote in
:

I'm pretty sure the "s" word was in there
someplace.


Not only the "s" word, but the "s", too, I suspect....(c;

Larry
--
VIRUS ALERT! VISTA has been released!
NOONE will be spared!

Flying Pig News, late edition...
 

"Jere Lull" wrote in message
...
In article ,
"Olecapt" wrote:

OK - I will go for it. This couple seems unsuited for short handed
sailing.
Helping them out simply helps them to kill themselves.

Why would you do that?


Evidently, you haven't been following them for very long.

As I see it, an understandable enthusiasm dulled their normal
cautiousness, compounded by the *many* dock mates wanting to say
farewell and the flurry of activity attending finally getting away
after so many years' hard work that we've been following, sometimes in
excruciating detail. They have many friends here.

I know they know the first rule of cruising: never sail to a "date", I
called them on it before they left the dock, but I can certainly
sympathize with a "just this one time".

Had they been in a similar situation after a week's settling in and
getting the watch schedules set, I'm sure they would have handled it
better.

--
Jere Lull
Xan-a-Deux ('73 Tanzer 28 #4 out of Tolchester, MD)
Xan's NEW Pages: http://web.mac.com/jerelull/iWeb/Xan/
Our BVI FAQs (290+ pics) http://homepage.mac.com/jerelull/BVI/

You are all making excuses. If these folk are your friends I would think
counsel that they not go off shore without at least a third capable member
on board would be in order.

Skip regardless of his skills or abilities ended up with a lady made ditzy
by seasickness on the helm in dangerous conditions in dangerous waters.
How much more can one screw up?

From long experience one has to be very careful with those who have a sea
sickness proclivity. They can get totally out of it particularly if they
dehydrate.

Sure it was the start of the voyage. That is one of the standard times when
things go wrong.

And no I have never run into anything hard on a bad weather night on the
deep blue. If I ever do I think that will be it.

Sure I can get demasted. Or charged by a whale I suppose. Those however
are problems that were inflected on me. Completely different from those I
inflect on myself.

I would very strongly suggest this couple is unsuited for double handling
anything more than day runs. Other than that they should have a good third
crew.

..

Flying Pig News, late edition...
 

On Feb 8, 8:39Â*pm, Larry wrote:

Stay tuned – this will be the last mail from me before we’re safely
back on the boat in the Keys Boat Yard, Marathon, which we anticipate
to be tomorrow. Â*Yay for that – I’m ready to kick butt again ï?Š

With love, Lydia (and Skip)

I read in other post the weather that brought these two down was:

NE at 25 and seas of 7-8 feet.

Is that true?????
Bob

Flying Pig News, late edition...
 

"Bob" wrote in news:1171091251.462212.220950
@v33g2000cwv.googlegroups.com:

NE at 25 and seas of 7-8 feet.

Is that true?????
Bob


Yes

Larry
--
VIRUS ALERT! VISTA has been released!
NOONE will be spared!

Flying Pig News, late edition...
 

"Bob" wrote:

On Feb 8, 8:39*pm, Larry wrote:

Stay tuned – this will be the last mail from me before we’re safely
back on the boat in the Keys Boat Yard, Marathon, which we anticipate
to be tomorrow. *Yay for that – I’m ready to kick butt again ?

With love, Lydia (and Skip)

I read in other post the weather that brought these two down was:

NE at 25 and seas of 7-8 feet.

Is that true?????
Bob

Sea height is VERY hard to estimate accurately, at least for me and I
suspect for other people as well. More important than just the height
is the wave period (that is how close together they are). Waves of
7-8 feet out in the Atlantic someplace are almost non-events. Waves
of 7-8 feet in the Chesapeake, and I suspect also along the Florida
Gulf Coast, and certainly in the Gulf Stream resulting from a NE wind
are entirely different and a MUCH worse problem, because they are
close enough together that the boat is burying the bow in the next
wave while still on the crest of the previous wave.

Flying Pig News, late edition...
 

On Feb 10, 6:01 am, Rosalie B. wrote:
"Bob" wrote:
On Feb 8, 8:39 pm, Larry wrote:

Stay tuned - this will be the last mail from me before we're safely
back on the boat in the Keys Boat Yard, Marathon, which we anticipate
to be tomorrow. Yay for that - I'm ready to kick butt again ?

With love, Lydia (and Skip)

I read in other post the weather that brought these two down was:

NE at 25 and seas of 7-8 feet.

Is that true?????
Bob

Sea height is VERY hard to estimate accurately, at least for me and I
suspect for other people as well. More important than just the height
is the wave period (that is how close together they are). Waves of
7-8 feet out in the Atlantic someplace are almost non-events. Waves
of 7-8 feet in the Chesapeake, and I suspect also along the Florida
Gulf Coast, and certainly in the Gulf Stream resulting from a NE wind
are entirely different and a MUCH worse problem, because they are
close enough together that the boat is burying the bow in the next
wave while still on the crest of the previous wave.

Good points you describe. I agree. But was that weather I read above
an operator observatoin or from NWS/OPC?
Bob

Flying Pig News, late edition...
 

"Bob" wrote:

On Feb 10, 6:01 am, Rosalie B. wrote:
"Bob" wrote:
On Feb 8, 8:39 pm, Larry wrote:

Stay tuned - this will be the last mail from me before we're safely
back on the boat in the Keys Boat Yard, Marathon, which we anticipate
to be tomorrow. Yay for that - I'm ready to kick butt again ?

With love, Lydia (and Skip)

I read in other post the weather that brought these two down was:

NE at 25 and seas of 7-8 feet.

Is that true?????
Bob

Sea height is VERY hard to estimate accurately, at least for me and I
suspect for other people as well. More important than just the height
is the wave period (that is how close together they are). Waves of
7-8 feet out in the Atlantic someplace are almost non-events. Waves
of 7-8 feet in the Chesapeake, and I suspect also along the Florida
Gulf Coast, and certainly in the Gulf Stream resulting from a NE wind
are entirely different and a MUCH worse problem, because they are
close enough together that the boat is burying the bow in the next
wave while still on the crest of the previous wave.

Good points you describe. I agree. But was that weather I read above
an operator observatoin or from NWS/OPC?
Bob

I don't know, but IME the wave heights reported by NOAA aren't very
accurate either. I don't really know how wave heights can be
accurately measured.

When I'm in our boat, I measure them against the topsides of the boat
if they are close enough and at an angle that I can do that. If the
wave is crashing down over the bow and green water rolling down the
deck of our boat, I know the waves are at least 10 feet.

From an airplane or from a large ship, it becomes more difficult,
because there's no scale to go by. (Unless as happened to Bob once,
the green water is crashing over the flight deck of the aircraft
carrier and then you know that the waves are probably 50 feet)

I'm not sure how they do the waves from the buoys, but there aren't
that many of those.

As far as weather forecasts go - more than once the forecast has been
15-20 decreasing during the day, and it has actually been 15-20
increasing to 25-30 with gusts to 50.

Flying Pig News, late edition...
 

I don't know, but IME the wave heights reported by NOAA aren't very
accurate either. I don't really know how wave heights can be
accurately measured.

I'm not sure how they do the waves from the buoys, but there aren't
that many of those.

Bouys, satellites, ship obsevations....





As far as weather forecasts go - more than once the forecast has been
15-20 decreasing during the day, and it has actually been 15-20
increasing to 25-30 with gusts to 50.

More important at the top of every Ocean Prediction Center weather fax
you'll read:
SIGNIFICANT WAVE HEIGHT IS SHOWN (THE AVERAGE HEIGHT OF THE HIGHEST
ONE-THIRD OF THE WAVES)

In other words, the forcasted/observed wave hight means you gonna see
lots bigger ones too. Average = mean.
Bob

That is exactly what happens in the Gulf. Although, as I'm sure you know, you are never in the Gulf Stream in that area of the Gulf.
And as you approach the Keys from the Gulf side it gets very shallow well offshore of the Keys.

I'm not sure who's local knowledge Skip was relying on but I bet if they real had made 200 deliveries to that area and known it was going to be blowing 20-30 with 6-8 foot seas with a 6 1/2 draft vessel, they would have told them to go to Key West and not try to get in Marathon in those conditions. If they had to go.

The distance to Key West from the Tampa Bay sea buoy is in fact a few miles less (as the crow flies) than if you go to Vaca Key (Marathon). And the entrance to Key West in bad weather out of the North is much better than Marathon to say the least.

Of course going to Key West adds distance to your trip to the Bahamas. But at least you are going with the Gulf Stream on your way up and over.

Flying Pig News, late edition...
 

On Sat, 10 Feb 2007 20:14:27 GMT, Rosalie B.
wrote:

As far as weather forecasts go - more than once the forecast has been
15-20 decreasing during the day, and it has actually been 15-20
increasing to 25-30 with gusts to 50.


Amen to that! Once on the way from Dog Island to Anclote Key, leaving
with a forecast of 10-15 with 2 to 5 ft seas, we were in 30-40 with 15
ft seas. NOAA was still giving that same forecast/conditions that
night, but when the bouy (about 15 or 20 miles away) report came on it
agreed with what we were experiencing. Don't the NOAA folks check
their own bouy reports and listen to their own computer voice
forecasts? Believe the bad forecasts / don't believe the good.

Rick