btw, can somebody please get this thread back on topic?
OK, I'll bite...
What's a "Weather Window"? One of those clear things the weatherguessers rarely seem to look through to see what's going on outside, perhaps?
Chris Parker is about as good as there is when it comes to forecasting East coast/Western North Atlantic marine weather... Late last week, he gave the green light to cruisers heading north along the SE coast, and all the forecast models and prognostications seemed to agree... Fairly benign SW flow, interrupted by
"a series of weak reinforcing dry cold fronts" - in other words, a bit of "frustrating" sailing conditions as winds clocked thru 360 degrees with the passage of these fronts, but no big deal... No squalls associated with these passages, winds in the 15-20 knot range, max, and the breeze retuning to light to moderate SW quickly thereafter...
I ran out of Sapelo Sound late Sunday morning, beautiful sailing wing & wing thru the afternoon... By the time Bubba Watson was putting on his very well deserved Green Jacket Sunday night, the breeze was a steady 25, and the seas had built quickly, in the steep confusion typically found in the shoal waters off the Georgia/S Carolina coast...
The first of these "Weak reinforcing fronts" came thru early Monday morning, and offered some decent, if not pretty sporty sailing, for as long as it blew NW... Well, that lasted for about an hour... Then it came straight NE, at a solid 25-30... Seas now built quickly in an opposition train to what had developed overnight out of the SW, and to describe the conditions as a washing machine would still be an understatement...
I was about 15 miles off Charleston, making little towards my destination on either tack, and getting beat up pretty good in the bargain. So, I parked it for about 6 hours, got some rest, and resumed sailing when it came SE, and then SW… By the time I approached Frying Pan Shoals yesterday morning, it had been blowing pretty good all night, and the seas were up once again… Another front came thru, wind came NW, then died… motored for about an hour, wind building again from the SW, quickly back up to 25…
By the time I approached Beaufort Inlet about 2300, conditions had gotten pretty sporty, breeze pretty steady between 25-30… Good news was, I was arriving on a flood tide, I don't even want to think what the seas there would have been like on the ebb… Bad news was, I was arriving at precisely the passage of yet another of these "weak reinforcing cold fronts"… This one did contain squall activity, lots of lightning off to the NW, and occasional gusts to 40… I poured myself a VERY tall Manhattan after the hook went down off Beaufort just after midnight, and I've spent a good part of the day today putting the boat back together, and licking my wounds… The crew of a Hylas 49 that arrived shortly before me sounded fairly shaken by their ordeal, and I expect the guy might have some trouble convincing his wife the next time around, to jump outside again on the promise of a good "Weather Window"…
Two points to all this… first, the notion of a weather window is merely a concept, nothing more… I and others were simply making a coastal passage, never more than about 30 miles offshore… But, I'm sure glad I didn't have to deal with either the conditions I encountered off Charleston on Monday, or approaching Beaufort last night, in a boat like a Hunter 25…
Sure, you can go places with that boat, no doubt about it… But I'd suggest as a general rule of thumb, you'd want to stay within sight of land… The exception might be crossing over to the Bahamas, that could certainly be doable… I think TQA has it exactly right, venturing much beyond the Bahamas in such a boat, probably not a very good idea…
Only one way to find out, of course - get out there and give it a whirl , and ultimately make your OWN decision as to the suitability of your boat for what you have in mind…