Wild Weather

[rhody98]

Maybe you guys see this all the time down in FL or Chesapeke Bay, but we don't here in southern NE. August is usually pretty lazy weather-wise. Could be my perception but sure seems we have had more than our share of Tstorms lately. This past Monday we were in a string of T-storms that lasted 2-1/2 hrs that seemed to cycle on and off in intensity, ramping up each time to a grand finale. We were sailing a 33' Cape Dory from Menemsha MV (the fishing village where they filmed Jaws) to Tiverton up the Sakonnet River. Its a full keeled boat and we were reefed and still got knocked over, luckily nothing broke and nobody hurt but first time I saw a winch go underwater. When that happened we were 3 miles south of the Buzzards Bay tower, so looking at the wind data from the tower off the website later I could see 30 minutes plus of 28-40 knot winds. Very sloppy tossed up seas and plenty of lightning.

I sent my observations into the NWS and they responded that the duration and rotation on the 8/11/08 storms were unusual for NE. We didn't see any funel clouds but shortly later that same storm produced one that capsized seven boats in Dartmouth harbor which is near New Bedford, and then two days ago two funnel clouds were spotted in Narragansett Bay. I just don't recall hearing about funnel clouds in NE - have you guys? Anyhow, I know this is a Seacraft site but just thought I'd mention it.

The rest of our trip was good although there were storms nearby everyday. We did see lots of nice Seacrafts, all CC's, in Menemsha, Edgertown, and Nantucket. Sure some were newer but certainly some Potters as well but they all stand out. By the way since buying the seacraft I can confirm that sailboats are slow and Cape Dory's even slower.

[Ed]

The weather has been very unusual for New England. In the Boston area, we've had over 30 thunderstorms. Last week, I was running a 36' Chris Craft Corsair from Pocasset to Boston and I had to outrun some nasty t-storms. Without 750+ horsepower...I may gotten zapped.

When I was a teenager, I lived in North-Central New Jersey (Basking Ridge) and violent, summer thunderstorms were a regular occurence. Our house was equipped with lighting rods. When I moved to Boston after college, I was surprised at how few thunderstorms we had...that is until this year!

[castalot]

i live in portsmouth right across the bay from you and had a great view of the waterspout thursday around 4:00 just north of jamestown this has been a crazy year weather wise i also saw the damage from the twister in warren a few weeks ago we should try and meet up with the boats sometime in the bay!!!

[Snookerd]

By the way since buying the seacraft I can confirm that sailboats are slow and Cape Dory's even slower.

rhody98-Great observation Seriously, If I want to be on the water, my wife and 3 kids are quite often with me. Kids and wives don't quite appreciate being stuck on a slow sailboat for hours on end I've got a 22 foot sailboat that doesn't move much. Another thumbs up for my SC. Gas prices are the big thumbs down right now [img]/forum/images/graemlins/tongue.gif[/img]

CSC.Com trivia for those that don't know this - Our famous founder and admin for the web site Jason AKA Trayder, credits his forum name from being a traitor to his sailing background and now considers himself a power boater

[76Red18]

Thats why us Florida boys need all that so often discussed "over powering" on the transom. We gotta out run those storms.

[rhody98]

Kids and wives don't quite appreciate being stuck on a slow sailboat for hours on end

That is exactly how I ended up with a Seacraft. Being on the water is priority one, worrying about what it looks like comes in a close second.