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Old 05-07-2008
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Plain Mr Wombat (TD)
 
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Quote:
Originally Posted by bestfriend View Post
The report said 25 to 30 knot winds,(probably correct) and 12 foot seas (wrong) much bigger and or closer in frequency. Position N 29,24 W 129,22 Ber 180 deg speed 6.5 to 7.1 knots wing & wing.
Isn't local knowledge interesting ? Simon and I pretty much cruise the same waters here in the Land of Aus. His home waters are a bit further south than Sydney but close enough for comparisons sake.

25 knots of breeze is not any big deal to us. Prefer less for sure particularly an old fart like me but you will see this on Sydney Harbour on very many summers afternoons when the nor easterly pipes up, which in summer is nearly every day. Outside the heads there will be plenty of sailing boats out having fun and not overly concerned. So for Simon to head off into 25-30 knots is really no big deal. He might well have preferred 15-20 but I'm sure he wouldn't have been overly concerned about 20-25.

However, when we get 12' swell it is usually a longish well spaced wave pattern. not close. not lumpy. hop on board and surf the sucker down the coast if you have the right bit of kit or make an old girl like Raven lift up her skirts and pretend she's Hobart bound if only for an afternoon.

I'm not being gung-ho macho about this, just making the point that it's as much sea state as wind and if Simon was expecting NSW south coast he might have been in for a bit of a rude shock.
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