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Subject: RE: [worldcruising] Cruising radio (HF and Amateur)
From: SV ARAMOANA (Roger Chin & Eric Register) (aramoana@XXX.XXX)
Date: Wed Mar 07 2001 - 01:45:26 EST
> From: Rick the Mouseherder [mailto:nh2f@XXX.XXX]
> Sent: Saturday, March 03, 2001 5:47 AM
> Caution! HF radio can be as addicting as the Internet in the fact that
> there are so many information rich sources out there. Cruising neophytes
> begin thinking that they must gather every piece of information to be
> absolutely safe out there. So they join nets and catch all of the WeFax and
Yes, HF radio can be engrossing and neophytes will be on there a lot. But I
think it's a good thing at the beginning.
On our '98/99 trip down the West Coast, we didn't monitor all the weather info
we were able to get. We were motoring down the Washington and Oregon coast and
the weather was innocuous. We skipped a couple of weather faxes, one due to
poor reception and another due to a seasick navigator (me). Well, two days
after leaving BC, we stumbled into a local phenomenon called a shearline (which
can be difficult to spot on an IR photo) and got caught in a storm (35 foot
seas, 55 knot winds). USCG couldn't even spot us with their 96-mile search
radar until 2 miles away because the seas were so high. They even cracked their
mast from the rough seas. (You can read about the "Cape Mendocino Washing
Machine" on our web page.)
Well, ever since that storm (and subsequent "rescue" by USCG), we've been extra
cautious by gleaning weather info from all sources. Probably too cautious but
given our experience, it was understandable. While we never experienced another
storm in the rest of the trip, we did encounter a gale two days before we
arrived back in BC at a time of year when gales were unlikely. Personally, I
find the weather/navigation/sailing tactics aspect to be the most interesting
part of cruising (and in a past life, racing).
After 10000 Nm, I know which weather sources are reliable and which are not.
When starting out, neophytes will need to evaluate everything. But this is good
since it gets them to know their equipment especially for times of duress.
Roger Chin
SV Aramoana
aramoana@XXX.XXX
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