Heavy Weather

[Octavia Leithoff]

Atfirst I installed software from CD (Heavy weather and Heavy weather review). After that I saw a passive heavy weather window with no data. Then I uninstalled and reinstalled heavy weather and heavy weather review programs. This time I downloaded them from here: Untitled Document

I have checked that ports between station and computer are same. I have tried ports 1-4.

does thaat usb to serial show up under device manager, ports?

windows should then assign a com port number to that, which you then set the software to use

but the la crosse stations if used with a USB to serial adaptor, it needs to be a good quality usb to serial adaptor, otherwise you will have problems

the 2310 type station uses some non standard communications and so you need a good quality USB to serial convertor (i.e certain brands based on certain type chips do work Ok)

or get a PCI serial card

I am new here, I just bought a WS2300 yesterday and I tried to connect to trough the internet without using a noisy PC based server. I succeed in a couple of hours, finding the trick. ( RS232 to Ethernet adapter )

Depowering techniques include flattening sails, increasing twist, and reducing angle of attack; these are the first steps in dealing with increasing winds. When these methods are not sufficient, stronger measures are called for.

The waves that accompany strong winds can be as big a problem as the wind itself. Waves make depowering tricky, as sailing underpowered in waves can leave you at their mercy. The challenge is to keep enough power to handle the waves, while still maintaining control.

There are several ways to reduce pounding. First, add twist to your trim for a wider steering groove. This will allow you to steer around the biggest waves. Next, change speeds. Sometimes sailing faster will smooth out the ride, as you power through the waves. Ease sails a bit, and bear off a couple degrees.

As mentioned above, sometimes slowing down a little can dramatically improve the motion and comfort of the boat. At other times, adding power and speed to help you steer around the biggest waves can improve the ride. Often adding twist by easing sheets just a couple of inches will help the boat find a wider steering groove which will, in turn, help you find a smoother path through waves. If the motion is bad, then experiment to improve it.

Roller reefing genoas make it possible to shorten sail without changing jibs, a nice convenience especially when short-handed. Foam or rope luffs and other refinements have vastly improved reefed sail performance, but the shape of a reefed genoa will still not be as good as an unreefed one. And to protect the life of your sail, be sure to leave a portion of the tack patch exposed to handle the loads along the foot.

The waves that come with big winds can make basic maneuvers challenging. When tacking, look for a relatively smooth spot, and start your turn as the bow climbs a wave. Push the helm over so that the next wave will push the bow down onto the new tack.

Of course, jibing in heavy air is no picnic. Often the best way to handle the jib is to roll it up. A heavy air jibe is best accomplished at speed. As the boats surfs down a wave, loads on the sails are reduced. Use extra hands to jibe the main, and ease it quickly once it crosses centerline. Watch your course and steer to control the boat as it tries to round up coming out of the jibe.

Make sure cooling water is pumping through the engine. On some boats, the water intake will lift out of the water when heeled. Violent pitching can also allow air into fuel line, which can stall the engine, and may require a bleed to get it going again. The pitching motion may also stir sediments off the bottom of the fuel tank, which may then clog the fuel lines or fuel filter.

Rising global average temperature is associated with widespread changes in weather patterns. Scientific studies indicate that extreme weather events such as heat waves and large storms are likely to become more frequent or more intense with human-induced climate change. This chapter focuses on observed changes in temperature, precipitation, storms, floods, and droughts.

Long-term changes in climate can directly or indirectly affect many aspects of society in potentially disruptive ways. For example, warmer average temperatures could increase air conditioning costs and affect the spread of diseases like Lyme disease, but could also improve conditions for growing some crops. More extreme variations in weather are also a threat to society. More frequent and intense extreme heat events can increase illnesses and deaths, especially among vulnerable populations, and damage some crops. While increased precipitation can replenish water supplies and support agriculture, intense storms can damage property, cause loss of life and population displacement, and temporarily disrupt essential services such as transportation, telecommunications, energy, and water supplies.

Weather is the state of the atmosphere at any given time and place. Most of the weather that affects people, agriculture, and ecosystems takes place in the lower layer of the atmosphere. Familiar aspects of weather include temperature, precipitation, clouds, and wind that people experience throughout the course of a day. Severe weather conditions include hurricanes, tornadoes, blizzards, and droughts.

Climate is the long-term average of the weather in a given place. While the weather can change in minutes or hours, a change in climate is something that develops over longer periods of decades to centuries. Climate is defined not only by average temperature and precipitation but also by the type, frequency, duration, and intensity of weather events such as heat waves, cold spells, storms, floods, and droughts.

The concepts of climate and weather are often confused, so it may be helpful to think about the difference between weather and climate with an analogy: weather influences what clothes you wear on a given day, while the climate where you live influences the entire wardrobe you buy.

Lying with the weather on either quarter is in line with my experience. The raised forecastle and accomodation block causes the vessel to weathercock but this exposes deck penetrations on the back deck to the full force of the sea.

"Some multihull designers find inspiration on the screen of the computer. I find inspiration when I am s**t scared at the rapid approach of a huge white capped wave. It is as if the adrenaline of 'how do I get out of this'? gets connected to 'how do I design my way out of this?'"

Someone asked, what did I mean? Recently, going through our files I discovered this range of storm wave pictures, dating from the first in the history of multihulls North Atlantic crossing aboard the Rongo in 1959, ending with the pictures of Spirit of Gaia in the Red Sea in 1998.

A fellow speaker at the German Multihull Symposium in Bonn 1999 was Henk de Velde, a Dutch Ocean Multihull racer, who began his ocean sailing life sailing an ORO around the world. I realised during his lecture, from the emotions he expressed, our sea kinship. From that I realised what made me different from most other multihull designers (not all).

"After ten days, beginning with calms, light winds, sunbathing weather, we were 1000 miles on our way. Then on the edge of the Gulf Stream one night I saw lightning on the horizon. I had heard on the radio of an ex-tropical cyclone doing damage in Halifax. Carelessly I went to sleep leaving the boat under headsail and mizzen, to be awakened later to the moaning of the wind and the shouts of the girls. On deck vivid flashes of lightning lit up the dark. The wind I now estimate through years of experience (I could not stand or breath against it) about 60 knots.

"Jutta, steering, had done as we had learnt, run off before the wind. Great white bow waves roared out, a rooster tail plumed behind. The mizzen sail, eased out had jammed against the rigging. Death was suddenly close to us. Even in 1959 from my Ancient Pacific studies I knew of the dangers of pitch poling, the danger of driving the hulls into the waves ahead and capsizing over the bows.

"From the beginning of my design career I have always tried to get low centre of effort rigs (to give stability) with good windward performance. Rongo was not only the first catamaran to sail the North Atlantic, it was the first one (at sea) to use full-length battens to get a large roach and now, most of the wooden battens (no fibreglass in those days) had snapped, and the sail was bent over the mizzen backstay.

"Crawling back to the cockpit in the vivid lightning flashes, I saw Jutta sitting astride the steering bench, working the tiller backwards and forwards like a great oar, her long golden hair streaming in the wind like a banner of defiance. She was twenty years old. No one could have handled the ship better. As each wave with its snarling crest leapt at us, Jutta eased our pointed twin sterns into them. The wave parted, then ran down the side of the hulls, hardly checked in speed. So there was no build-up of water pressure to pile up and wash over our decks sweeping us away."

I am not the only Wharram sailor. "Out there" are many Wharram sailors, who have experienced sufficient offshore bad weather to have positive practical knowledge. Would they like to submit their experience to this website?

Don Brazier, Wharram agent in New Zealand and owner/builder of a beautiful 41 foot Narai Mk IV, has been collecting accounts from many Wharram sailors who have experienced severe weather at sea. He himself has made a number of voyages in the Pacific and encountered severe weather, in which he deployed drogue and parachute. Read them here.

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