I've also found this a very interesting thread. First off because my wife and I faced this exact situation last summer. We were out for a "dinner cruise" and because of the darkening skies and NOAA alerts stayed in the northern end of Paugus Bay, very close to home (Thurston's). Once we saw that huge bolt of lightning it was time to book it in. Going into the Weirs Channel I had the same thoughts - do I have to keep to NWZ speed or can I push it? There was little or no other traffic (probably because the smart boaters were already in) so I took it in somewhat faster, maybe 10mph. We docked, got the canvas on, and just got under cover when it opened up buckets. We learned our lesson that day.
But this thread has also been helpful on the bolt/thunder and distance. I'd always heard that the distance was 1 mile for every second between lightning seen and thunder heard.
And while I carry a VHF handheld radio with NOAA weather and alert notification, I'm going to look into the Verizon radar service mentioned. That could be a great complement.
As always, this is a great forum!
__________________
NHskier
|