eric, that is a newspaper story, and has much to do with what actually happened
as any other news story. Weather just does not and can not develop that
quickly. Besides you can tell the reporter was fictionalizing when s/he
slipped in that part about

Few of the participants
noticed an area of dark sky emerging behind them

you also can tell that by

blasted by a wall of water

huh? what "wall of water" is that?

most of the rest of the rhetoric in the story is the reporter "adding drama",
as the phrase goes in journalism school.

as far as the rest of that goes, one day a few years ago four people died in a
thunderstorm in the waters I normally sail when a thunderstorm came through
packing 90+ knots of wind. Many boats on the water damaged.

My boat was not. Why? because I didnt go out that day knowing full well the
chances of very high winds. I expected the high winds about 2:00, and they hit
about 4:00.

This ain't rocket science. Those dark clouds mean *something* and if they are
traveling to the north of you you might be in for a bit of trouble. Plan for
it.

And being out in potential storm conditions in a lightweight racing boat means
you have to keep your eyes open.

buuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuut, if it makes you feel better carry a baby blanket
and a binky.

The storm
On May 6, 1989 around 1:00 p.m., 93 sailboats were underway in a large
regatta on Lake Norman. By all accounts it was a "bluebird day" -- no
clouds, medium-heavy breeze (12-18 knots). A perfect day for a
sailboat race.

While the NOAA forecast had called for possible thunderstorms late
that afternoon, no one expected severe weather.

At about 12:30, NOAA issued a "microburst warning" for the area. By
then, the regatta was well underway. Everyone was watching their sail
trim and their competitors.

Most of the fleet was on a long down-wind leg. Few of the participants
noticed an area of dark sky emerging behind them. Ten minutes later,
the fleet was blasted by a wall of water and winds officially clocked
at 64 – 78 knots.

* Two sailors drowned.
* Nineteen sailors were swept overboard and had to be rescued.
* Four boats sank.
* Sixty-two boats were substantially damaged.

On Lake Norman -- a nice scenic inland lake (sound familiar??), two
and one-half hours from SML.

Survivors described the conditions thusly:

* "A wall of gray—30 feet above the water, roaring towards us."
* "The lake itself seemed to be lifted from its bed."
* "A mixture of lake water, rain, and hail blew like a firehose."
* "Seven foot waves broke over the banks."

One sailor, suddenly aware of the storm, tried to drop his sails, but
the sudden heavy pressure locked the halyards. He was knocked down
with shredded sails. Another sailor tried to secure his companionway
during a knockdown, but water was already pouring in the cabin. His
boat sank.

Many boats were either demasted or lost sails.

Right, Jaxie, a line squall isn't visible at a distance through the warm, humid
air the precedes it. And fast moving lines often don't develop the tradition
"anvils," and when they do occur they pop up fairly quickly. When a front is
coming through, its nice to be able to visualize the "prefrontal squall line" to
know what's coming.

"JAXAshby" wrote in message
...
There are lots of places where people sail and it's difficult to see a
thunderstorm coming

bull****. Thunderstorm clouds go as high as 60,000 feet sometimes, which
means
they can be seen up to 300 nm away. Even 10,000 foot high clouds can be seen
up to 122 nm away. Can't see that coming?

And there are many places where the potential
exists every day in the summer

thunderstorms don't form inside of 30 seconds. You *KNOW* they are coming, if
one just pays attention.

Right, Jaxie, a line squall isn't visible at a distance through the warm, humid
air the precedes it. And fast moving lines often don't develop the tradition
"anvils," and when they do occur they pop up fairly quickly. When a front is
coming through, its nice to be able to visualize the "prefrontal squall line" to
know what's coming.

"JAXAshby" wrote in message
...
There are lots of places where people sail and it's difficult to see a
thunderstorm coming

bull****. Thunderstorm clouds go as high as 60,000 feet sometimes, which
means
they can be seen up to 300 nm away. Even 10,000 foot high clouds can be seen
up to 122 nm away. Can't see that coming?

And there are many places where the potential
exists every day in the summer

thunderstorms don't form inside of 30 seconds. You *KNOW* they are coming, if
one just pays attention.

you're right, jeffie, thunderstorms appear out of nowhere and do so in less
than 9.87595957595 minutes. Do spend money on a service to tell you a
thunderstorm in coming 'cuz you shore ain't never gonna tell othewise.
Thunderstorms, theys God's way of tellin' ya hes gonna getcha.

On the other hand, some people feel thunderstorms are Darwin's way of improving
the breeding stock.

Right, Jaxie, a line squall isn't visible at a distance through the warm,
humid
air the precedes it. And fast moving lines often don't develop the tradition
"anvils," and when they do occur they pop up fairly quickly. When a front is
coming through, its nice to be able to visualize the "prefrontal squall line"
to
know what's coming.

"JAXAshby" wrote in message
...
There are lots of places where people sail and it's difficult to see a
thunderstorm coming

bull****. Thunderstorm clouds go as high as 60,000 feet sometimes, which
means
they can be seen up to 300 nm away. Even 10,000 foot high clouds can be
seen
up to 122 nm away. Can't see that coming?

And there are many places where the potential
exists every day in the summer

thunderstorms don't form inside of 30 seconds. You *KNOW* they are coming,
if
one just pays attention.

you're right, jeffie, thunderstorms appear out of nowhere and do so in less
than 9.87595957595 minutes. Do spend money on a service to tell you a
thunderstorm in coming 'cuz you shore ain't never gonna tell othewise.
Thunderstorms, theys God's way of tellin' ya hes gonna getcha.

On the other hand, some people feel thunderstorms are Darwin's way of improving
the breeding stock.

Right, Jaxie, a line squall isn't visible at a distance through the warm,
humid
air the precedes it. And fast moving lines often don't develop the tradition
"anvils," and when they do occur they pop up fairly quickly. When a front is
coming through, its nice to be able to visualize the "prefrontal squall line"
to
know what's coming.

"JAXAshby" wrote in message
...
There are lots of places where people sail and it's difficult to see a
thunderstorm coming

bull****. Thunderstorm clouds go as high as 60,000 feet sometimes, which
means
they can be seen up to 300 nm away. Even 10,000 foot high clouds can be
seen
up to 122 nm away. Can't see that coming?

And there are many places where the potential
exists every day in the summer

thunderstorms don't form inside of 30 seconds. You *KNOW* they are coming,
if
one just pays attention.

In article ,
(JAXAshby) wrote:

jerry, what a yo-yo are.

while thunderstorms *move* from the sw to the ne, the ROUGHEST frickin' winds
come when the darkest (ya no, as in frickin' DARK) cloud are ta da north of
ya.

jerry, you read waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay too many books without actually
gittin' out out on da watah to see WTF es happin'


It's Jere, not jerry....

What I wrote was not "book reading". It was 20 years' experience on the
Chesapeake, easily 1000 days away from the dock.

Your area may have different characteristics, probably does. What you
have learned may not serve you well if you wander onto the Bay.

Related story from a friend: He befriended a UK family just starting
onto the Bay for a season's cruising before they completed their
circumnavigation. He warned them of squalls. They pooh-poohed the
warnings. After all, they had 20-30k miles under that stout boat's keel,
had been brushed (once hard) by several hurricanes or cyclones, and had
experienced lots of "weather". Simple thunderstorms didn't bother them
much.

A week or so later, they left the Potomac north bound. North of the
Solomons, they found out what the warnings were all about. They were SO
shaken that they returned to the Potomac that they knew rather than the
Solomons that seemed tight under the conditions.

Our friend didn't pay for any drinks when next they met.

--
Jere Lull
Xan-a-Deux ('73 Tanzer 28 #4 out of Tolchester, MD)
Xan's Pages: http://members.dca.net/jerelull/X-Main.html
Our BVI FAQs (290+ pics) http://homepage.mac.com/jerelull/BVI/

In article ,
(JAXAshby) wrote:

jerry, what a yo-yo are.

while thunderstorms *move* from the sw to the ne, the ROUGHEST frickin' winds
come when the darkest (ya no, as in frickin' DARK) cloud are ta da north of
ya.

jerry, you read waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay too many books without actually
gittin' out out on da watah to see WTF es happin'


It's Jere, not jerry....

What I wrote was not "book reading". It was 20 years' experience on the
Chesapeake, easily 1000 days away from the dock.

Your area may have different characteristics, probably does. What you
have learned may not serve you well if you wander onto the Bay.

Related story from a friend: He befriended a UK family just starting
onto the Bay for a season's cruising before they completed their
circumnavigation. He warned them of squalls. They pooh-poohed the
warnings. After all, they had 20-30k miles under that stout boat's keel,
had been brushed (once hard) by several hurricanes or cyclones, and had
experienced lots of "weather". Simple thunderstorms didn't bother them
much.

A week or so later, they left the Potomac north bound. North of the
Solomons, they found out what the warnings were all about. They were SO
shaken that they returned to the Potomac that they knew rather than the
Solomons that seemed tight under the conditions.

Our friend didn't pay for any drinks when next they met.

--
Jere Lull
Xan-a-Deux ('73 Tanzer 28 #4 out of Tolchester, MD)
Xan's Pages: http://members.dca.net/jerelull/X-Main.html
Our BVI FAQs (290+ pics) http://homepage.mac.com/jerelull/BVI/

right, jerry, in the Chesey the REALLY strong winds in a thunderstorm are in
the NW quadrant, and the storms move in from the NE. The rest of the n.
hemisphere follows its own path.

In article ,
(JAXAshby) wrote:

jerry, what a yo-yo are.

while thunderstorms *move* from the sw to the ne, the ROUGHEST frickin'
winds
come when the darkest (ya no, as in frickin' DARK) cloud are ta da north of

ya.

jerry, you read waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay too many books without actually
gittin' out out on da watah to see WTF es happin'


It's Jere, not jerry....

What I wrote was not "book reading". It was 20 years' experience on the
Chesapeake, easily 1000 days away from the dock.

Your area may have different characteristics, probably does. What you
have learned may not serve you well if you wander onto the Bay.

Related story from a friend: He befriended a UK family just starting
onto the Bay for a season's cruising before they completed their
circumnavigation. He warned them of squalls. They pooh-poohed the
warnings. After all, they had 20-30k miles under that stout boat's keel,
had been brushed (once hard) by several hurricanes or cyclones, and had
experienced lots of "weather". Simple thunderstorms didn't bother them
much.

A week or so later, they left the Potomac north bound. North of the
Solomons, they found out what the warnings were all about. They were SO
shaken that they returned to the Potomac that they knew rather than the
Solomons that seemed tight under the conditions.

Our friend didn't pay for any drinks when next they met.

--
Jere Lull
Xan-a-Deux ('73 Tanzer 28 #4 out of Tolchester, MD)
Xan's Pages: http://members.dca.net/jerelull/X-Main.html
Our BVI FAQs (290+ pics) http://homepage.mac.com/jerelull/BVI/

right, jerry, in the Chesey the REALLY strong winds in a thunderstorm are in
the NW quadrant, and the storms move in from the NE. The rest of the n.
hemisphere follows its own path.

In article ,
(JAXAshby) wrote:

jerry, what a yo-yo are.

while thunderstorms *move* from the sw to the ne, the ROUGHEST frickin'
winds
come when the darkest (ya no, as in frickin' DARK) cloud are ta da north of

ya.

jerry, you read waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay too many books without actually
gittin' out out on da watah to see WTF es happin'


It's Jere, not jerry....

What I wrote was not "book reading". It was 20 years' experience on the
Chesapeake, easily 1000 days away from the dock.

Your area may have different characteristics, probably does. What you
have learned may not serve you well if you wander onto the Bay.

Related story from a friend: He befriended a UK family just starting
onto the Bay for a season's cruising before they completed their
circumnavigation. He warned them of squalls. They pooh-poohed the
warnings. After all, they had 20-30k miles under that stout boat's keel,
had been brushed (once hard) by several hurricanes or cyclones, and had
experienced lots of "weather". Simple thunderstorms didn't bother them
much.

A week or so later, they left the Potomac north bound. North of the
Solomons, they found out what the warnings were all about. They were SO
shaken that they returned to the Potomac that they knew rather than the
Solomons that seemed tight under the conditions.

Our friend didn't pay for any drinks when next they met.

--
Jere Lull
Xan-a-Deux ('73 Tanzer 28 #4 out of Tolchester, MD)
Xan's Pages: http://members.dca.net/jerelull/X-Main.html
Our BVI FAQs (290+ pics) http://homepage.mac.com/jerelull/BVI/

Hmm.. I have rarely seen T-storms at night, course my eyes are not that good
as some.

Foregoing Vitriol, raving and puffery deleted..

As part of keeping your log with regular observations at say even bells.
SOP in Lioness is to plot position and sweep the radar to look for vessels
and thunderclouds.

With 48 mile range you do get a good warning. A cell phone that gave you a
message on weather would be nice, yet does not work offshore.


Course if all you do is sail in category 4 water it is no biggie.

Sheldon