Wednesday is Photoday!! I miss a good squall. Do you get them out on the water?

[TomY]

I'm not sure of the reason(s) but we just don't see many squalls sailing in my area. I'm guessing it's our cooler water temperatures.

We used to see them pretty regularly in July and August sailing on Lake Champlain years ago. I remember some good ones sailing the Bahamas and Southeast coast, even though that was during the spring winter and fall.

A squall comes up quietly, I recollect. Too quietly. You might feel it in the air as a change in temperature. Likely a bolt of lightening and crack of thunder (no delay) comes out of nowhere. Then you usually spot it, barreling down on you, too late if your sails are up.

In a squall, all hell breaks loose as winds of 20-30+ knots would knock your boat over complete with torrential rain, even hail stones. They don't last long, squalls, but they are exciting!

I thought this might be an approaching squall anchored off Marshall Island in East Penobscot Bay last August. A little rain, a little wind, not bad, and it was gone.

 

[Davidasailor26]

There is some drama in that line of clouds.

This line came through on July 4th weekend here. The timing was just unfortunate enough to cancel our town’s fireworks.

 

[jon hansen]

we get squalls. all season long. you want to pay attention

 

[Phil]

Same here...

 

[Scott B]

This one was halfway across Georgian Bay, went from 15 knots NW to 35 knots E. Watched it come across the bay so everything was down and secured.

 

[Captain Larry-DH]

I don’t miss a ”good squall”. I fear them. I’ve seen some scary line squalls and been caught out in intense wind, hail and close lightning. They are dangerous and damaging. IMHO there are only bad squalls. The power of nature is awe inspiring and beautiful. But it’s better not to be in it.

 

[jon hansen]

i do not "like" squalls for two reasons: 1 lightning scares me, 2 tornados scare me. been too close to both. i have been in squalls on the great lakes that have had winds all the way up to 100 mph. wind i can deal with. blow out a sail at worst. those other two can kill you. on the ocean the air is salted and the squalls never get very big, but still lightning. the biggest thunderstorms in the world develop on the great plains of north america and they can slam into the great lakes. when i was young and stupid i thought i liked a good storm, now that i'm old and stupid they scare the heck out of me. ever been really close to a big tornado? they always look as though they are coming straight at you, never again thank you, please!

 

[Charlie Jones s/v Tehani]

been in a few. Never a tornado, but an 85 knot squall is bad enough-Been in two of those ugh!!

 

[Will Gilmore]

Growing up in the Tampa Bay area, squalls were very common. Even been surrounded by waterspouts (I counted 7 from the deck of our schooner). I've personally not been that close to one, but they have hit our fishing boats. Can be costly.

-Will (Dragonfly)

 

[TomY]

Thanks you guys. You brought back memories. Jon's plains squalls, tornado's, water spouts down South, amazing and scary. I haven't been near even a good bolt of lightening in years.

I thought we were in for a good squall hanging on a mooring on Isle of Shoals off New Hampshire 2 seasons ago.

It had the lead up drama to a good squall but fizzled.

A blistering hot day, I think the cold water took the power out of it.

 

[Justin_NSA]

I do not like them Sam I am. I do not like squalls at all. I do not like them here or there. I would not like them anywhere.

 

[Will Gilmore]

I do not like them Sam I am. I do not like squalls at all. I do not like them here or there. I would not like them anywhere.

Not with a goat? Not on a...


-Will (Dragonfly)

 

[Justin_NSA]

I do not like them Sam I am. I do not like squalls at all. I do not like them here or there. I would not like them anywhere.

The "likes" reassure me that I'm not the only one with an eccentric sense of humor.

 

[Will Gilmore]

The "likes" reassure me that I'm not the only one with an eccentric sense of humor.

You've been on SBO long enough to know you're in good company for that.

-Will (Dragonfly)

 

[PaulK]

Too busy to take pictures of the squalls I’ve been in. One on the Chi-Mac race had the sky so dark it looked like sundown at 2PM. We saw it coming and got ready. Black cloud covered half the sky, cut by lightning with echoing rolls of thunder. A half inch of hail fell straight down on deck in the first 30 seconds. At 31seconds, it blew away, and we were going 8 knots dead downwind with more than 50 knots showing on the anemometer and no sails up. Ten minutes later, it was gone, and we were left rolling in an oily calm, trying to get the spinnaker to fill.

 

[PaulK]

Thanks you guys. You brought back memories. Jon's plains squalls, tornado's, water spouts down South, amazing and scary. I haven't been near even a good bolt of lightening in years.

I thought we were in for a good squall hanging on a mooring on Isle of Shoals off New Hampshire 2 seasons ago.

It had the lead up drama to a good squall but fizzled.

A blistering hot day, I think the cold water took the power out of it.

View attachment 174327

I think it saw your watchdog and thought better of it.

 

[JimFacey]

I am not sure what qualifies a squall but we got the winds in these pictures one Saturday this past July.

The club racing series was 30 minutes underway so we all got caught, we had two small catamarans out both of whom were turtled (each was recovered fine). On my boat I was temporarily engineless, so we furled the jib and ran off on a broad reach under main only, thought we might run of of sea room, but we still had at least a mile to hit Islesboro when it slacked enough to head back. Other boats dropped all sails and motored into it. When the winds had slacked, we we learned via radio that we had a girl from the cat pictured who was unaccounted for and we headed back to join the search. Fortunately she had grabbed a loose daggerboard from the cat and paddled to shore on it. On learning that, we stood by to help with the righting of the two cats. The pictures are by a friend, Baysider Tim Samway.

 

[DougM]

Living on the Lake Michigan shore, I’ve seem my share of them. We got caught in one that we saw coming even though weather radar never showed it. We had the sails down, and made it inside the breakwater before it hit. I had to do a 360 waiting for a sportfisherman exiting the marina when it finally dumped. It lasted all of about 5 minutes. We were soaked, my shoes and wallet were drenched and didn’t dry out for 3 days. By the time I got to my mooring, the sun was out again.

You can see them coming. Usually there is a little time to prepare, but normally not enough to outrun them in a sailboat. I really don’t like lightning, especially when I have 40 feet of aluminum sticking up in the air and nothing taller nearby.

 

[PaulK]

Photo of a photo. En route to Bermuda.

 

[TomY]

Be careful what you wish for? Season 2020's weather has been as weird as the year. Record heat, record cold. It included a few memorable squalls.

This one was 'lake like' in that it came off the nearby western shore. The clouds looked surreal.

You can hear it approach in the wind. It's behind you pup.

Then in a heartbeat, it's on you.

Beautiful, short, and sweet, if you're safely anchored.