wind vs. swells

[Brad100]

I know you have to look at all the weather data but, after a few trips to Catalina and the Channel Islands, I'm beginning to think, within reason, that the wind reports are more important than the swell reports for an open center console boat... With swells, I can slow down but with wind, I take a saltwater shower repeatedly, even at a slow speed! I'm still a relative newbie and would appreciate your comments on this.
Thanks,
Brad

http://fishingnetwork.net/images/tmp2/wind.JPG

[Baseballer44]

it definitly depends on the size of the boat. i got a 17' arima, and i feel the same as you. i dont care about the swells AT ALL! but once the wind hits a few miles an hour, i will be taking water. with my size boat, we just go up and down with the swells while still cruising. but when there is wind, the periods become very short and that is what causes the problems. with other boats, they just care about how high the swell is (and also how short the periods are) but with me, all i care about is if the next wave is hitting me while i am coming down from the last one, no matter what the size.

so out of all that, im just saying that with smaller boats, the winds is a much larger factor.

[Brad100]

Ya, my boat is 20' and you're right about the wind causing a chop that's tough for us... Thanks.
Brad

[Tail Chaser]

The wind is your enemy.
At 20k winds, Thats when the small craft advisory comes out.
Its the wind that makes the waves go vertical, Sometimes breaking waves.
Things are usually moving like 19 kts.

[TroutChaser]

I agree wind is way worse for small boats than wave size but I want to take it a step further. :wink: I have a 15ft boat I take out often and found big groundswells much easier to navigate then some pretty small windswells. As already mentioned its not the size of the waves (as smaller boats easilly idle up or down as neccesary) but the intervals between them hitting you. A good groundswell as longer intervals than a bunched up windswell.

remember even if you get stuck out in the wind, the slow ans easier you go the better..
CHASER

[Fish Dog]

Yeah, I'd say that running over 10 foot swells, if there's no wind, is sort of like driving over a road with a lot of small dips and hills in it. No real problem, just an easy roller coaster motion. Add 15 or 20 knots of wind blowing the tops off the swell and mixing things up like a blender and then you've got trouble!