Squalls over the Isles of Fleet.

[Douglas Wilcox]

Conditions in The Irish sea have been very unsettled for the last few days. Huge squalls of wind and rain have been rattling down from the NW. I was rather frustrated on the Solway coast, I didn't go out on Thursday, Friday or Saturday due to the squalls but on Sunday morning, at last the winds dropped.

Tony and I decided to head out from Fleet Bay along the cliffs to Dove cave.


We got out to the reefs at the SE end of Barlocco..


...but huge squall clouds began to gather over Wigtown Bay so we turned back and went round the magnificent...


Islands of Fleet instead.


As we drew closer...


We could see the isles were alive with birds: cormorants, herring gulls, common gulls, oyster catchers, knot, dunlin and ringed plovers. We kept well out to avoid frightening the cormorants off their nests as the gulls were hovering waiting to dive in on unprotected eggs. The air was full of the birds' cries and the smell of their guano.


We only paddled 11km but it was a joy to experience the birds and Dove Cave will be there for another time.

Douglas

[andreadawn]

The air was full of the birds' cries and the smell of their guano

Wonderful!!! Lovely pictures of a really lovely area Douglas. I was working at the weekend and passed through some spectacular hailstorms. I wouldn't have wanted to be out on the water in them.

Andrea Collins

[Owen]

I was rather frustrated on the Solway coast, I didn't go out on Thursday, Friday or Saturday due to the squalls but on Sunday morning, at last the winds dropped.
Douglas

Interesting, our little group were at Tayvallich for the weekend, we paddled from Carsaig Bay to the MacCormaig Isles and back up Loch Sween in perfect sunshine. There were squalls all around us but not over us. We came across a seal with something in its flippers, we were not at all sure what it was but now think it may have been a Thornback Ray. The seal was ripping chunks off the ray and eating them before diving down and picking up the ray again for another bite. Yesterday we weren't so lucky weather wise, got very wet and cold but did sight an Osprey on its nest and a mink, so not such a bad day.

[Douglas Wilcox]

Thank you Andrea. I hope you get a chance to revisit the bird colonies of St Bees soon. Although we got out to Ailsa Craig back in March, we didn't paddle round it to see the birds there as there was wind on the horizon, so we scarpered...we will need to return soon. I love spring near bird colonies.

Hi Owen it really has been typical April showers this year. Did you meet Alan Wilson in a dark blue metallic Cetus MV who is paddling up from Galloway towards the Caledonian Canal at the moment? He was in that area at the weekend. What great sightings you had!

Douglas

[Owen]

We did meet a solo paddler in a blue kayak, said he was kayaking around Scotland, he asked about the campsite but we didn't see him again.

[soundoftheseagull]

Love those clear shots, mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm, one day not!

[Douglas Wilcox]

Hi Dave thank you. I like taking risks....with my camera!!!

Owen that would have been Alan.

Douglas :o)

[swagstaff]

Cathy said Alan came into Sea Kayak Oban today on his way to Fort William.

[Douglas Wilcox]

Hello Stuart, thanks for the update on Alan's progress. I told him to give you a call and ask if you had any merino underwear! I understand his Hellies are... well... Smellies!

Douglas

[Jim]

The weather was not a great deal better in S Wales this weekend, nowhere near as rough as it was on the Solway 3 weeks ago so I did actually race, but plenty of CN drifting through with associated changes in the wind. Annoyingly I had a conversation after the first race with a couple I know I know quite well about the clouds and the variable wind, he said he thought it was settling down for the afternoon I said I thought the hot weather would just keep them coming and she agreed. In the next race the wind gradually built up as the leading edge of big CN approached, I found myself going airborne at a mark and at roughly the same time at the other end of the beach she went to spin a twist out of her lines and grabbed the wrong handle, getting impressive air without her buggy and breaking her pelvis and thumb. I did skip the next couple of races after that.

Still we had a nice end of season party!

And on the way home I almost crashed by leaning forward and trying to look up out of my windscreen - I'm sure a red kite flew over....

[Douglas Wilcox]

Elsewhere today, a fellow poster made a rather disparaging reference to a

a flatwater junkie getting hit with an unexpected squall

I am sure it was just a coincidence but in case anyone visits the Solway and is unfamiliar with the area, you do need to be very careful in the NW wind, which is offshore and accelerates down through the gaps in the Galloway hills. Couple that with the squalls associated with April showers and conditions can go from flat calm to water lifting off the sea in seconds. In the last 12 years, 3 dinghy sailors and one kayaker have drowned in Fleet Bay alone (3 in gusty NW winds) and there have been innumerable near misses. There is now a privately funded but free inshore lifeboat stationed at Mossyard in the summer.

Oh and for our friend, us "flatwater junkies" do occasionally go out when there is a ripple on the water :o).


Corryvreckan


Rinns of Islay


Mull of Galloway

Douglas :o)

[Kayaks'N'Beer]

Wasn't intended as disparaging, Douglas, and certainly not a reference to yourself. I was merely making the point that whether your comfort zone is force1 or force7 all it takes is 1 more Beaufort to push you out of it. I'm aware that there's probably people out there who look down on others who aren't happy in big conditions, hopefully those guys are a minority. Aside from lighthearted banter with a few "flatwater junkie" friends of mine I've never put anyone down for liking it less rough than I do.

[Douglas Wilcox]

Thanks Kayaksnbeer, sorry for misinterpreting :o)

You make a very good point about it only being 1 Bft force to tip you over the edge. Back in the eighties I had been used to windsurfing in Force 8 (as measured on the beach with an averaging handheld anemometer). The day I called 999 for the coastguard was also in Fleet Bay on the Solway. We launched in force 8 and were having a great time but the problem arose when the wind increased (a lot) after the first hour. I made it back to the launch site but my pal didn't. Ever since, I have tried not to get into the situation of needing to call the coastguard again so I started only launching in a max of force 7 (and still frequently encountered force 8 as squalls came through) and fortunately never experienced the wind strength we encountered that day again.

As we are sea kayak sailing a lot now. I have several times been caught out and survived in the top of a force 5 (21knots average on the beach) but I would only launch with the intent of kayak sailing in a max of force 4 (except when practising in onshore conditions on a sandy beach like Seafield). For me that gives enough excitement but with a buffer zone above (which I know I can handle) to allow for weather changes.

I never set off on a trip thinking "I should just about be able to get round that." I like to have reserve to allow for deteriorating weather. Because I have been paddling for some time, I have been caught out by changes in the weather which has gradually increased my safe operating range. However, I don't go intentionally pushing it to my limit as I did when I was younger. Having to call out the coastguard at the age of 33, when I thought I was invincible, was a really humbling experience and a reality check. It was so rough that the RNLI could't launch the lifeboat and the sea king helicopter could't fly directly from Prestwick over the Galloway hills, It had to follow the coast round by Stranraer. I felt really bad that my bravado and lack of insight had put the air crew at risk.

I might still get caught out by exceptional circumstances and if so I would have no hesitation in calling the coastguard. However, I am much less likely to be caught out now than I was before that day 25 years ago. That was why it was so easy for Tony and I to turn back from our intended route on Sunday.

Cheers and sorry again for misinterpreting,

Douglas :o)

[Jim]

Thanks Kayaksnbeer, sorry for misinterpreting :o)

You make a very good point about it only being 1 Bft force to tip you over the edge. Back in the eighties I had been used to windsurfing in Force 8 (as measured on the beach with an averaging handheld anemometer). The day I called 999 for the coastguard was also in Fleet Bay on the Solway. We launched in force 8 and were having a great time but the problem arose when the wind increased (a lot) after the first hour. I made it back to the launch site but my pal didn't. Ever since, I have tried not to get into the situation of needing to call the coastguard again so I started only launching in a max of force 7 (and still frequently encountered force 8 as squalls came through) and fortunately never experienced the wind strength we encountered that day again.

For the mathematically minded there is a self evident problem with setting your limits on the Beaufort scale (although I also do for sea kayaking and to a lesser extent for kitesurfing, if I ever get back out).

Look at the scale (Click here to look at it), it starts off up to 1mph, the next is 1-3mph then 3-7mph. The range of wind speed for each beaufort number increases as you work up the scale. Why is this a problem - this is where some maths is useful, the force developed by the wind hitting an object, whether it be a sail or the lateral area of a sea kayak and paddler is proportional to the area of the object, the density of the air, and square of the wind speed. There are a number of coefficients to get the actual force and these vary because a sail of the same area as a kayak and paddler will generate more force due to it's shape, but the key component in all of this is the square of the wind speed.

1 squared is 1. 1mph is top end of force 0
10 squared is 100. 10 mph is middle of force 3

So we increased 2.5 beaufort numbers and the wind force increased 100 times - wow!

A sobering thought?

[Kayaks'N'Beer]

Thanks Kayaksnbeer, sorry for misinterpreting :o)

You make a very good point about it only being 1 Bft force to tip you over the edge. Back in the eighties I had been used to windsurfing in Force 8 (as measured on the beach with an averaging handheld anemometer). The day I called 999 for the coastguard was also in Fleet Bay on the Solway. We launched in force 8 and were having a great time but the problem arose when the wind increased (a lot) after the first hour. I made it back to the launch site but my pal didn't. Ever since, I have tried not to get into the situation of needing to call the coastguard again so I started only launching in a max of force 7 (and still frequently encountered force 8 as squalls came through) and fortunately never experienced the wind strength we encountered that day again.

For the mathematically minded there is a self evident problem with setting your limits on the Beaufort scale (although I also do for sea kayaking and to a lesser extent for kitesurfing, if I ever get back out).

Look at the scale (Click here to look at it), it starts off up to 1mph, the next is 1-3mph then 3-7mph. The range of wind speed for each beaufort number increases as you work up the scale. Why is this a problem - this is where some maths is useful, the force developed by the wind hitting an object, whether it be a sail or the lateral area of a sea kayak and paddler is proportional to the area of the object, the density of the air, and square of the wind speed. There are a number of coefficients to get the actual force and these vary because a sail of the same area as a kayak and paddler will generate more force due to it's shape, but the key component in all of this is the square of the wind speed.

1 squared is 1. 1mph is top end of force 0
10 squared is 100. 10 mph is middle of force 3

So we increased 2.5 beaufort numbers and the wind force increased 100 times - wow!

A sobering thought?

It is when you put it like that but, in practice, the different sea states all translate to different levels of difficulty. I'm aware there's a strong six and a not so strong six but, to all intents and purposes when the water is behaving like f6 (at a glance) you have a good idea what to expect - hard work to paddle into, will slow your progress significantly, wind maybe beginning to get a little grabby with your paddles, and so on...

So when you say f3 is 100 times more force than f1 then that's fine but what I would extrapolate from this is that 100 times more force does not equal 100 times more difficult. More like it equals slightly more difficult, when you're talking about going from 1 to 3 at least.

[Douglas Wilcox]

Another important point is that wind speed is not that easy to estimate from appearances, unless you are on the open sea. As a long time sailor and windsurfer I have noticed that many sea kayakers tend to overestimate wind speed in the varied waters of coastal locations. Like Jim (a kite surfer and buggyer, I typed that carefully) I use an anemometer.

Douglas

[Kayaks'N'Beer]

The Beaufort scale we use nowadays is vastly different to the original mandate but it's still talking about open water with regards height and length of waves. Inshore, without the fetch it can look a lot calmer than it is. I've paddled Loch Lomond all my life so I know just how true this is - waves are always tiny there in comparison to the Atlantic but, if the wind is blowing seven, you'd damn well better be planning on going the same direction, regardless of the ickle two foot high wavelets ;)

Funnily enough my mate usually overestimates the sea state, whereas I've normally got a pretty good handle on it. We use an anemometer, too (only way to settle the disputes) I tend to think in Beufort much more than MPH or KPH which is okay in some ways but not as good at ballparking speed into wind. I really need to work on that particular area.

[Jim]

So when you say f3 is 100 times more force than f1 then that's fine but what I would extrapolate from this is that 100 times more force does not equal 100 times more difficult. More like it equals slightly more difficult, when you're talking about going from 1 to 3 at least.

Well spotted, this is part of the problem, it is difficult to perceive the difference up to about force 3, it is when you are nearing your limit, (be it 3, 4, or something else) that the square effect starts to mean the difficulty inceases greatly from one beaufort number to the next.

In engineering a gust is often taken to be about 1.4 times the steady wind speed for a short duratin (30 secs, 5 mins something like that), 1.4 is approx the square root of 2, so the suggestion is that wind force doubles in a gust. Actually I have measured some gusts on the Solway recently, ranging from about 4 mph to 20 mph - even if you take the mean speed as the base, the gust factor that day was over 1.4 so the gusts were more than doubling the wind force.....