Lies, Darn Lies and Weather Forecasts ... Monday 1st July
2013
Mike carefully checked the weather forecast before we set
out this morning. The prediction was for
thunderstorms after 2pm. We thought we
should set off fairly early to ensure being tucked up in Oyster Bay before
these storms arrived. At nine o’clock we
were underway. The skies to the west
looked ominously dark. Once out of
Manhasset Bay we set the staysail and were moving along nicely, doing about 5
kts. The wind continued to build. The weather overlay on the GPS/chart-plotter
showed lots of thunderstorm activity to the west. The wind intensified. Then the rain came down in torrents. The visibility declined, especially for those
of us who wear glasses. At one point we
were doing 8 kts with the main and tiny foresail on a beam reach. We put a reef in the mainsail and carried
on. The first set of storms passed
over.
By the time we were turning into Cold Spring Harbor Bay, the
skies were black again. We anchored at the south of Oyster Bay. As Mike put it: If we’d waited and sailed in
the afternoon we might have avoided getting wet at all. The forecast predicted the storms but as for
the timing---hmm.
Gloria
Position: 40 52.893 N 73 30.772 W
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