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Weather

Marine weather forecasts are vital to all sailors. It is important to understand not only that it is going to be windy or calm but also to understand the reasons behind your current and future weather.  This will allow a safe journey throughout your travels.
 
Some of the small details that every sailor should know is that different pressure systems on earth have their own internal weather conditions and wind.  If we have a high pressure system located northwest of our position in the morning, moves north of our position at noon and then continues on to the northeast in the evening, we could say that the wind at our position will clock from the north/northeast to southeast/southwest during that same period of time. Your exact wind direction will be determined by the size of the pressure system and your distance from the center. High pressure systems have cockwise weather rotation. Low pressure systems have counter cockwise rotation. Hurricanes are a good example of a low pressure system. If a hurricane passes off the coast of Jacksonville, FL going north, the winds in the city will come from the northeast/north as the hurricane moves north in the ocean. If a hurricane makes landfall south of Jacksonville, the winds in the city would be from the southeast/south as the storm moves inland.
 

What makes some months so turbulent is fronts moving through an area with different weather conditions on each side. If we have warm conditions on one side of a front and cold conditions on the other, the area between the two will be very windy. An example is the famous "Nor-Easters" that runs down our east coast during the winter. The "Grave Yard Of The Atlantic" earned its' name from those severe storm conditions and the gulf stream meeting just off the North Carlina coast.

On most sunny days, sailors have more wind in the afternoon than they have in the morning. The reason is convection or the sun's heat being reflected back into space. Convection can also cause afternoon thunderstorms that can be dangerous. A thunderstorm that has lightning in the storm means we need to take evasive action as soon as possible to avoid the storm. Sailboats are slow movers and reaching shore and a safe building or automobile is not always possible. Cruising boats with cabins should anchor and everyone on board should seek shelter in the cabin during the storm. Day sailing boats without cabins need to dock or beach their boats and seek shelter on land. Day sailing in an area where your car is parked is a good idea if you own a boat without a cabin. Long distance cruising without a cabin should be avoided.
 
Make sure to have an SMS Application able to provide up to date wind forecasts before any voyage whether it's near or far.  The information above is meant only as a tool to assist you in your travels.  Happy sailing!




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