Edward Boyd wrote:

> To all of the folks planning to be on the Saturday pelagic out of 
> Lewes, DE, here are the various forecasts for the ocean conditions 
> later in the week. You'll notice that as you progress through the 
> forecasts from inland and then offshore, and from north to south, that 
> each forecast looks more and more ominous. If I'd be a betting man, I 
> would say our chances of getting out are less than 25% right now since 
> we are trying to get to at least 40 NM out and the offshore winds are 
> forecasted to be blowing quite strongly. Going out won't be horrible 
> but once we're there and when we return, there will be huge amounts of 
> spray and there won't be a location outside on deck in which to stay 
> dry. Inside will not be a comfortable alternative because, 1 - it'll 
> be very crowded, and 2 - with the seas being what they are forecasted 
> to be, there will be lots of "thar she blows!" being hollered but it 
> won't be due to the sightings of cetaceans in the sea. All of the 
> spouts will be manmade and will likely be launched at horizontal 
> angles or lower. These forecasts have a tendency to change drastically 
> from day to day, so stay tuned. You can follow the forecasts at the 
> links below and then selecting the areas on each page.

You forgot to mention that the forecast low temperature onshore is 24 
degrees.

However, in my experience the chances of leaving the dock this time of 
year is about 33% on any given day, so 25% is not all that bad.  
Forecasts have improved, but when I started doing these trips I decided 
that my best guess the previous night on whether we would go or not was 
to say "no" from mid-October to mid-April and "yes" the rest of the 
year, regardless of what the weather forecast said.

-- 
Maurice Barnhill 
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Department of Physics and Astronomy
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Newark, DE 19716