Jan 15 2010

Foul WX headed our way next week

Published by at 06:08 under Channel Islands,safety at sea,Sailing

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It looks like the near-coastal weather will be fine today and tomorrow, maybe Sunday, but we’re really in for it after that:
The NOAA reports are getting more and more ominous about next week:

CONFIDENCE IS GROWING THAT SIGNIFICANT AND POSSIBLY EXCESSIVE
RAINFALL WILL OCCUR OVER SOUTHWESTERN CALIFORNIA FROM SUNDAY THROUGH
MOST OF NEXT WEEK…BUT THE EXACT DETAILS OF TIMING ARE STILL
UNCLEAR. AT THIS TIME…

My experience is that you can’t expect them – the weather guessers – to get it exactly right, especially days ahead of serious weather. They’re good, but I never make a go/NO-GO decision until a few hours before the sailing event and that’s usually based on what I see out the window. But when they say that “favorable” coastal slopes may get as much as 20″ of rain, I make sure my dinghy is out of the water and inverted on the rack, that everything is tied down, that deck drains are clear and then I dry the bilge very carefully because I want to know if any deck fittings are leaking.

After those preparations, I’ll buy a suitable bottle of red figuring I’ll be reading about sailing next week.

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One response so far

One Response to “Foul WX headed our way next week”

  1. # Dave Johnsonon 17 Jan 2010 at 16:21

    Capt Dan,

    Inverting the dinghy for the rain is excellent advice. Another option is to drill holes in the bottom to let the water out. This concept was first introduced by the Three Stooges (A-Ducking They Will Go, 1939). It worked well at first, but ultimately failed, I believe because they used a gun to shoot holes, instead of drilling more precise holes. I haven’t tried this myself, but I did lower my dinghy without replacing the plug once, with the same result as the Stooges…

    Dave

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