One of the great things about cruising is the day to day freedom to go and do what you want to do. You quickly learn that to enjoy those carefree days you have to choose whether today you will head out on a nice downwind run, stay in the harbor, or tuck yourself and your boat in a mangrove canal in preparation for a passing front or tropical system. The key to making those decisions and the root source for weather information is the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s forecasting. There are many places that take NOAA’s data and repackage it, some with great insight, but the 1st place I look each morning is NOAA.gov.
On of the critical skills that Margie and I teach couples that join us on for our cruising classes is finding and applying today’s weather forecast to our days activities. It is an inexact science and having different viewpoints when big systems are coming is great. There is some really wonderful computer modeling out there but, and this is a big caveat, you still need to be able to interpret it to for your area with the knowelege that things can change. Getting different viewpoints is a big part of the interpretive process.
Back to NOAA, I was reading a post this morning from Dr. Jeff Masters of Weather Underground, he is visiting the national hurricane center this week as a new tropical system (Tomas) ramps up in the Atlantic;
Since this is such a large increase in intensity from what was forecast–Tomas was not supposed to have 60 mph winds for another 24 hours–this necessitates issuance of a special advisory package. A full set of forecast maps, a marine advisory, wind probability forecast, and a discussion just went out to the world. While all this was occurring, several phone calls to Barbados, St. Lucia, and Martinique were made, alerting the islands to the fact that a Hurricane Warning may be required with the 11pm advisory tonight. NHC has both French speaking and Spanish speaking meteorologists on staff that can coordinate with the islands that don’t have English as their main language. I listened in on a 5-minute conversation in French between the weather service in Martinique and NHC meteorologist Mike Tichacek, as they discussed when Martinique may want to issue a Hurricane Warning.
What a great job our government does in providing this information and making it available to the world. Sometimes it’s hard when you get your tax bill to immediately appreciate all that we get, Noaa is one of the unsung heroes in the US.
We are back on our sailboat(s) after several weeks of vacation in California and Indiana. It was fun being on solid ground, Indiana felt especially non-moving with 1000 miles +/- to an ocean. Also fun to sleep in a fixed in place bed located in a hermetically sealed quiet room. Oh yeah, all the water pouring down on me in the shower, the endless flow of electricity without having to generate it myself.
So was I happy to get back? I think it’s an unqualified yes.The conveniences were nice but being sealed up in the house I didn’t stop to watch a sunset, there was no clear water to go snorkeling in, and all those empty rooms filled with stuff that still need cleaning made me once again appreciate the simplicity of our life.
Last night we had a drink at the Lorelei, watched the band and the sunset. I guess home is where the boat is.
Watching the Sunset from the Florida Keys
Just a few of the things I like after living on my sailboat for the last 8 years;
1. Having my morning coffee, watching the sunrise while dolphins are playing around the boat in the quiet of the morning.
2. When we invite fellow cruisers over for a sundowner it only takes a couple of minutes to clean the boat (it’s a small space).
3. The boat may be small but my backyard is huge.
4. Visiting new and different places then coming home to my bed at night.
5. If the anchorage we picked last night was a little rolly, I will appreciate tonights calm anchorage that much more.
6. Living comfortably yet having a low impact on the environment by using solar panels, sailing to get to my destination, catching rainwater, and using shade and natural ventilation instead of A/C. I do have wireless internet, cell phones and Netflix, so I’m not really off the grid.
7. You can hunt for a Lobster dinner with a dive from the back of your boat.
8. How easy it is to make new friends and how helpful cruisers are.
9. Planning and making improvements to the boat systems. This one may not be for everyone but I enjoy it.
10. Arrival at a new destination after a long passage is much more rewarding than stepping off a plane. We are much more in tune with the changes in the weather, not jet lagged, and we made the trip happen.