Wind Snobbery Most Heinous
Winds hinted at picking up today and actually broke 20 mph average for a brief period mid-day today. 20 mph average at Kanaha is pretty much my alarm to get moving. If it's been more than a week since I've sailed, I'll muster at 18 or 19 and if I've sailed for 7 days in a row or more it will take an average of 23 or 24 to motivate me. It's been only 3 days now without sailing though, so I'm still aiming for a sustainable 20.
Anyway, since it was reading 20 and even 22 at one time, I started finishing up work to get ready to head down the hill. I looked at iWindsurf again just to verify that it hadn't dropped off and sure enough it was back down to 19. Next reading was 18, then 17. Hmm. Back to work I guess. It hung around 17 - 18 the rest of the afternoon. Kihei was showing lower 20s from NNW later in the afternoon, but that's further away so I've really got to be desparate to head there now. I probably could have sailed 5.8 and my big board at Kanaha but I'm just not that desparate yet. Wind snob indeed!
Anyway, since it was reading 20 and even 22 at one time, I started finishing up work to get ready to head down the hill. I looked at iWindsurf again just to verify that it hadn't dropped off and sure enough it was back down to 19. Next reading was 18, then 17. Hmm. Back to work I guess. It hung around 17 - 18 the rest of the afternoon. Kihei was showing lower 20s from NNW later in the afternoon, but that's further away so I've really got to be desparate to head there now. I probably could have sailed 5.8 and my big board at Kanaha but I'm just not that desparate yet. Wind snob indeed!
posted by Jeff at
7:24 PM
2 Comments:
Jeff -- this suggests you believe the Kanaha sensor is highly accurate. True? Seems like some days when it has a bit of east in it, the wind can be stronger than the sensor suggests -- would be interested in your much greater experience on the matter. Michael
By
Anonymous, at 7:38 AM
I don't think the iWindsurf sensor is very accurate. It's just a general rule of thumb. They've relocated the sensor downwind further at the end of the harbor. I've found you have to look at them and Kahului Airport. I haven't gotten the iWindsurf sensor figured out yet. Some days it's dead on. Some days it's way off. I haven't been able to correlate it to direction yet, though that seems the most likely explanation.
Basically I think if they're reading in the 20s it's worth checking out. But I've needed 5.8 at times when they're saying low 20s and other times I've been OPd on 4.5 with the same readings. Ultimately I think it's a poor location for the sensor. The previous location at the water treatment plant was better and more accurat I think.
By
Jeff, at 8:26 PM
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