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Day 49 Starter's guide to following the weather !
Original article · 7 June 2009
This is the starter’s guide to following the weather forecasts for anyone that has not yet mastered this fantastic and easily available information. The Woodvale site has an up to date section on weather. There are two charts: Surface winds in knots & Wave height in metres and direction Both these charts cover a period from the current time “000” hours to “180” hours future forecasts. This equates to 7.5 days ahead. The first two days are split into 3 hour forecasts then it goes to 6 hour forecasts for the third day then 12 hour forecasts for the remainder of the 7.5 days. Both charts are changed by hitting “Next” below the relevant chart to provide the future hours forecast the relevant hour is shown above the chart on the left. The surface wind speed summaries are denoted by colours with winds over 30 knots shown in yellow to red colours these are serious winds to watch out for. If you put your pencil on the computer screen and scroll through you can see the change in wind direction that they are experiencing as the weather fronts pass through. The best wind direction is any arrow pointing from Australia towards Mauritius or one that flattens out the swell, which generally comes from the south. Substantial waves and currents are created with local winds and the massive storms coming up from the Southen Ocean.  In the case of the wave height [shown in metres] it is the white and blue which makes for a more comfortable row for Guy and Andy. The best wind direction is any arrow pointing from Australia towards Mauritius. Anything over 15 knots or so [Force 3+] or towards the yellow or red colours in swell would be potentially more difficult and will stop the rowing until it passes them by at which point they anchor and wait for it to pass. The boat may well move towards incoming wind and swell so as to be corrected back on path while they are at anchor and are driven back to the most direct route. If you have any questions please leave them in the comments below, we’ll endeavour to get back to you directly. Flying Ferkins Support Crew out.
6 comment(s) found · Showing 1–6
Day 49 Starter's guide to following the weather ! #913
johnp7 June 2009
Can you also tell the thousands who are reading these blogs daily a bit about what the differene arrows on the wind chart mean. What is the significance of 1, 2 3 barbs on the end of the arrow? Is there a significance as to which side of the arrow the barbs are placed? Also I notice on th woodvale charts there are a number of, for want of a better name, blobs. There are a pair of them at approx 22S 56E. What are these.
Day 49 Starter's guide to following the weather ! #914
Helen7 June 2009
Hi there guys, Hope all is well with you both.Sorry not to have posted for a while but life has been a bit busy here in Rutland! ( I was gpoing to say "sunny" BUT we have had RAIN, RAIN and yet more RAIN today!!! and thunder and lightening too. Very wet indeed!....just in case you think you have the monopoly on weather, I thought you ought to know that we still get weather here too!! have just read an email from Sarah, she sends her best wishes to you both. She's having a mixed bag of weather too...Bob's been oput again, but she did have a bit of a break and manage some serious rowing today too. How was the party....sorry I ddin't make it but my swimsuit was at the cleaners, and then i couldn't find the right shoea to wear....you know the sport of theing!Anyway, hope it went well and that you had something suitable to toast with............................if not, I'm sure you'll make up for ut on Mauritius!! take care, you're doing really well. HUGZ Helen
Day 49 Starter's guide to following the weather ! #916
xtina7 June 2009
Come on Helen it's that glass of wine and the addiction at the end of the day we are all getting hooked on!! It's great that you are here supporting the girl's(as Jem calls them) what with your own huge support for Sarah,dipper's and Bob. I met a friend's husband the other day in town and he told me that his wife is coming up to bed later and later,he hardly ever see's her now!! I'm thinking it must be the addiction that's getting to us all; hey Jill? Has anyone ever seen a Moonbow? Woodvale reported that J&J saw one last night! Moonbows or Lunar rainbows are rare ~ A bright moon near to full is needed,it must be raining opposite the moon,the sky must be dark and the moon must be less than 42* high. Wonder if Guy and Andy have seen one yet? T
Day 49 Starter's guide to following the weather ! #917
JeremyChristey8 June 2009
JohnP, The barbs on the arrows indicate the wind speed, difficult to explain without drawing, but I'll have a go, but it's very easy to understand. The longest line of the barb with the smaller ones at one end indicate where the wind is coming from [winds always come from]. The smaller lines are two different lengths and indicate the wind speed. The longer one equates to +2 forces of wind on the beaufort scale, the smaller one, +1 force of wind. So two longer ones would be force 4 and one large and one small one would be force 4, and so on. For more information on the beaufort wind scale, see here http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beaufort_scale They currently have a westerly wind scheduled to go southerly, so scroll through and you can see the barbs and wind direction change. The pair of blobs around 22S, 56E are Reunion Island and Mauritius, and hitting Mauritius is like threading a needle at 3000 miles as it's only 17 miles long, but here we come! Jem