Catalina - Capri - 25s International Assocaition Logo(2006)  
Assn Members Area · Join
h.jpg Home.
a.jpg Association Forum
s.jpg Ships Store
c.jpg Cruising
r.jpg Racing
t.jpg Technical Tips
g.jpg Photo Gallery - New
o.jpg Boat Search - Updated
m.jpg Manuals & Brochures
3rdrpt.jpg Swap Meet
l.jpg Links
f.jpg Officer Flag Line & Staff
b.jpg Bylaws & Constitution
 
1.jpg Members Area
1.jpg Join the Association
 
Notice:
The advice given on this site is based upon individual or quoted experience, yours may differ.
The Officers, Staff and members of this site only provide information based upon the concept that anyone utilizing this information does so at their own risk and holds harmless all contributors to this site.
 
Association Forum
Association Forum
Home | Profile | Register | Active Topics | Forum Users | Search | FAQ
Username:
 Password:
Save Password
Forgot your Password?

 All Forums
 Catalina/Capri 25/250 Sailor's Forums
 General Sailing Forum
 Smoking Water Phenonema		  New Topic  Topic Locked
 Printer Friendly
Author Previous Topic Topic Next Topic  

ClamBeach
Master Marine Consultant

Member Avatar

3072 Posts
Initially Posted - 11/29/2005 :  13:12:48  Show Profile
I was lucky to (safely) observe this effect for the first time in my life yesterday. Smoking water is the state where the wind is blowing so hard the surface of the water turns to a smoke-like mist. Beautiful and eerie at the same time.

The tops of incoming breakers were being blown off half-way up and tornados of the white 'smoke' where whipping across the sea surface.

I was quite happy that Wotam was resting comfortably in the marina as it would take a substantial vessel to not simply be at the mercy of the wind in those conditions. From the Beaufort scale I figure it was Force 10 or about 55-63 kts.
WOTAM - '77 Catalina 25 SK/SR Sail Number 158
Edited by - on

dlucier
Master Marine Consultant

Members Avatar

Virgin Islands (United Kingdom)
7583 Posts
Response Posted - 11/29/2005 :  14:02:15  Show Profile
Once I got caught in conditions that went from flat glass water and no hint of wind, to a 50mph sustained blow with steep breaking waves. The wind went from 0 to 50 within seconds, and the surface of the still glass flat water took on a very eerie wintery look that resembled how snow dances in spiderweblike lines across a windswept expanse of ice. When the waves caught up to the wind a few minutes later, water spray blew horizontally from the crests just like snow blowing from over the top of a drift. The whole scene was very surreal and reminded me of video I'd seen of Around Alone sailors in the Southern Ocean. Very spooky!
Edited by - on
Go to Top of Page

Tom Potter
Master Marine Consultant

Members Avatar

USA
1913 Posts
Response Posted - 11/29/2005 :  14:28:51  Show Profile
Made me think of the movie "White Squall" heres what I found on the web.

Q: What is a 'white squall'?

A: Here’s the answer we found on a National Weather Service Web site:

A white squall is the culprit of many sea stories and blamed for quite a few tragedies. It is described as a sudden increase in wind velocity in tropical and sub-tropical waters, and lacks the usual dark, ominous squall clouds. The white squall may be myth, or it may be a microburst. If they form during daylight you might see the approach as a line of broken water or whitecaps rushing at your vessel, but usually they appear out of nowhere.

"The Pride Of Baltimore, a fine 137 foot schooner, was reportedly struck by a white squall. The 121-ton vessel sank about 240 miles north of Puerto Rico, casting the surviving crew members adrift for five days. The Toro, a Norwegian freighter picked them up at 2:30 a.m. May 19th, 1986.

"Here is an eyewitness account of the sinking: ‘A tremendous whistling sound suddenly roared through the rigging and a wall of wind hit us in the back. The Pride heeled over in a matter of seconds. The 70-knot wind pushed a 20 foot high wall of water into the starboard side. She sank in minutes.’"

A USATODAY.com graphic shows what a microburst is.
http://www.usatoday.com/weather/tg/wmcrbrst/wmcrbrst.htm

While the graphic shows what a microburst can do to an airplane that’s taking off or landing and much of the research into microbursts was prompted by the danger to aviation, microbursts have caused other kinds of damage on the ground.

I know of at least one case in which a microburst overturned a boat, killing 11 people. This accident occurred on July 7, 1984 when a sternwheeler tour boat, with 18 people on board, capsized on the Tennessee River south of Huntsville, Ala. A weather station about five miles away measured a sudden 70 mph wind gusts and winds flattened trees and overturned sheds near the where the boat capsized. These sudden winds were probably faster than 70 mph when they hit the boat. This accident is one that the late Ted Fujita examined in detail. It’s described in his book, The Downburst: Microburst and Macroburst, published by the University of Chicago in 1985.

(Answered by Jack Williams, USATODAY.com Weather editor, 3-20-00)
Edited by - on
Go to Top of Page
  Previous Topic Topic Next Topic  
 New Topic  Topic Locked
 Printer Friendly
Jump To:
Association Forum © since 1999 Catalina Capri 25s International Association Go To Top Of Page
Powered By: Snitz Forums 2000 Version 3.4.06
Notice: The advice given on this site is based upon individual or quoted experience, yours may differ.
The Officers, Staff and members of this site only provide information based upon the concept that anyone utilizing this information does so at their own risk and holds harmless all contributors to this site.