Weather
From a book I am currently reading, Sailing a Serious Ocean by John Kretschmer:
"I love weather, the good, the bad-even he truly ugly. You must love weather to be a sailor; it is a core part of the package. I am not a slave to forecasts, however, and I don't worship at the altar of satellite GRIB files. I don't dispute that GRIB models are very accurate, but the pursuit of weather information can border on obsession. The more you sail, the more you accept the fact that weather is also influenced by local phenomena, and forecasts can still be inaccurate. Your own observations are often just as important and usually more useful than the professional mumbo jumbo. Still, sailors go to great lengths to obtain weather information via radio and satellite and then doggedly believe it, even when the evidence blowing directly in their faces suggests otherwise. I have seen sailors desperately trying to download forecasts from their perch at the navigation station below, completely ignoring towering cumulus clouds shrinking the dark horizon above deck. Weather forecasts have become somewhat of a self fulfilling prophesy; you want to believe them, you want to trust them."
The importance of pilot charts, personal observation and the hourly monitoring of the barometer cannot be overshadowed by reliance on modern technology. I like this man's books.
__________________
__________________
" if at first you don't succeed....Redefine success"!
|