Wind - Sometimes you win, usually, you lose

We're headed from Atlanta to Houston tomorrow and the winds will be pretty
strong right in our face. The usual W-> E flow is compounded tomorrow by a
low in the Memphis area, causing a much stronger than usual flow from the
SW. Despite all that, it looks like we can keep the headwind component
under 10 knots by staying low. IF turbulence isn't a problem. If we have
to go higher than about 3k, we're looking at >25 knots on the nose.

If that isn't bad enough, when we come back on Sunday, the low will have
moved far enough East that we'll have a strong NNE wind when we head home.

That just ain't fair!

Of course, neither was the time I had a 400 nm X/C trip in my old Tomahawk
into the face of a 35 knot wind. That was probably a 7 hour trip, counting
fuel stops. The cars on the interstate were definitely passing us on that
day...






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Relevant Pages

  • Re: Ragged Islands to Ft. Pierce Passage - 3/3-3/6/2011
    ... first shoals saw us making 6.5-7.5 knots in only 12-15 knots of apparent ... That put us on a 305*T course, moving the wind forward to 90-105* ... and boosting the apparent wind to 14-17, but cutting our speed slightly to ... boat turning downwind, the wind, due to our being out of the islands' lee ...
    (rec.boats.cruising)
  • Miami Passage - Day 7 - October 14
    ... if we'd actually see all the wind forecast out on the open water. ... As I pulled in short sections of the anchor chain, ... By the time we got to the first marker in the channel about ... current aiding, we were also making 8+ knots, and by the time we ...
    (rec.boats.cruising)
  • Whole lotta shakin goin on, revisited - Part 3...
    ... We left you, still at anchor in Ft. Lauderdale's Lake Sylvia, reluctantly ... It was STUCK, good, from all the wind and tide ... 18-25 knots, which would make for 5-7' seas. ... charts at the helm for that portion of the trip, ...
    (rec.boats.cruising)
  • Re: Whole lotta shakin goin on, revisited - Part 3...
    ... We left you, still at anchor in Ft. Lauderdale's Lake Sylvia, reluctantly ... It was STUCK, good, from all the wind and tide ... 18-25 knots, which would make for 5-7' seas. ... charts at the helm for that portion of the trip, ...
    (rec.boats.cruising)
  • Lucaya, Grand Bahama Island to Saint Simons Island GA April 18-19
    ... When that's hit by a north wind, ... We made about 7 knots pretty consistently for the first several hours. ... efficient point of sail, but if you have the main out to one side, and the ... genoa out to the other, sometimes you can make very good progress. ...
    (rec.boats.cruising)