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Island Girl · 06-13-2004, 08:55 AM

Living on the broads side of Rattlesnake poses the same issues with the wind. My 20 ft boat could probably handle the waves better than my 18' did but landing at the dock might prove impossible.

Early in the week I start looking at wind forecasts from various places including accuweather (I check the hour by hour forecast), Intellicast, weather.com and wunderground. I also look for cold fronts. With a cold front a NW wind almost always follows, sometime it will howl for three days. Any wind direction from the N, NW, WNW and W seem to produce those lovely large waves. They build up from the other end of the lake and are ferocious once then get to our part of the lake. Any direction with an S is usually passable and well as E.

The night before I am traveling I take a very critical view of the forecast and determine if I will have to delay or cancel. If the trip is an afternoon or evening crossing I will check the wind during the day and look at the various lake webcams to see if the weather sites current wind speed match the actual conditions. I make a travel decision at the last minute by understanding if the wind is going to die down or pick up within a couple of hours of my arrival. Some times there is a narrow window of opportunity at dawn and dusk.

My rule of thumb is 10 mph is getting bumpy, 12 is too much to travel and 15 is impossible.

My larger cuddy cabin has not been put to the test in the higher winds but my smaller bowrider got swamped in 15+ mph and I am not willing to repeat that.

Have Fun

06-13-2004, 08:55 AM	#7
Island Girl Senior Member Join Date: Jul 2002 Location: Central MA Posts: 2,356 Thanks: 18 Thanked 574 Times in 181 Posts	Here is what I do Living on the broads side of Rattlesnake poses the same issues with the wind. My 20 ft boat could probably handle the waves better than my 18' did but landing at the dock might prove impossible. Early in the week I start looking at wind forecasts from various places including accuweather (I check the hour by hour forecast), Intellicast, weather.com and wunderground. I also look for cold fronts. With a cold front a NW wind almost always follows, sometime it will howl for three days. Any wind direction from the N, NW, WNW and W seem to produce those lovely large waves. They build up from the other end of the lake and are ferocious once then get to our part of the lake. Any direction with an S is usually passable and well as E. The night before I am traveling I take a very critical view of the forecast and determine if I will have to delay or cancel. If the trip is an afternoon or evening crossing I will check the wind during the day and look at the various lake webcams to see if the weather sites current wind speed match the actual conditions. I make a travel decision at the last minute by understanding if the wind is going to die down or pick up within a couple of hours of my arrival. Some times there is a narrow window of opportunity at dawn and dusk. My rule of thumb is 10 mph is getting bumpy, 12 is too much to travel and 15 is impossible. My larger cuddy cabin has not been put to the test in the higher winds but my smaller bowrider got swamped in 15+ mph and I am not willing to repeat that. Have Fun __________________ Island Girl ....... Make Lemonade Last edited by Island Girl; 06-13-2004 at 08:58 AM.