01/ 08 Thursday afternoon E /SE

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Langdon
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01/ 08 Thursday afternoon E /SE

I hope to sail Thursday afternoon around 3 or so.

I can go to Vanns or VP depending on the wishes of others.

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HamdiD
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Re: 01/ 08 Thursday afternoon E /SE
Langdon wrote:

I hope to sail Thursday afternoon around 3 or so.

I can go to Vanns or VP depending on the wishes of others.

I am hoping to go early afternoon, prefer Vanns
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webguy
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Re: 01/ 08 Thursday afternoon E /SE
HamdiD wrote:
Langdon wrote:

I hope to sail Thursday afternoon around 3 or so.

I can go to Vanns or VP depending on the wishes of others.

I am hoping to go early afternoon, prefer Vanns

Prefer Vanns. VP is really hard to sail on SE. You end up on the backside on a dead offshore and gusty breeze.

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Langdon
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Re: 01/ 08 Thursday afternoon E /SE

Vanns it is

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webguy
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Re: 01/ 08 Thursday afternoon E /SE

On my way after some errands

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Barrett
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Re: 01/ 08 Thursday afternoon E /SE

Im heading to Vann's.

Barrett

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Langdon
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Re: 01/ 08 Thursday afternoon E /SE

Another fun afternoon.

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Rogierkite
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Re: 01/ 08 Thursday afternoon E /SE

Nice afternoon. Great to see you guys. After reviewing the Gainesville airport 5 min readings, I can't help but feel that its under reporting the actual wind.

Any thoughts?

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webguy
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Randy
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Re: 01/ 08 Thursday afternoon E /SE

It certainly seems that way at time - esp. mornings when the wind is from the east or in cold weather months. Many times warm weather westerlies seem over reported by Gville.

What happens in a black hole stays in a black hole.

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webguy
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Re: 01/ 08 Thursday afternoon E /SE
rogier Kite wrote:

Nice afternoon. Great to see you guys. After reviewing the Gainesville airport 5 min readings, I can't help but feel that its under reporting the actual wind.

Any thoughts?

First, glad you made it. We had a great crew today - and missed all those who couldn't join us.

Yeah, I kinda felt like some of the gusts were a touch higher than Gilmer was reporting. I think there were some local effects going on as the wind was a lot stronger in specific places on the water. For example, the big patch right in front of the launch was pretty dead all day while over by the reefs and island to the right, it was usually windier. I found being about 400 yds upwind much more consistently windy, too. Maybe it was just the colder, denser air, too, that was just punchier? I think Randy is correct, too, about the Gilmer bias (W vs E).

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Barrett
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Re: 01/ 08 Thursday afternoon E /SE

When I used to pilot a plane I landed at Gilmer Airport, and noticed the wind gauge is shaddowed by trees when wind is from the East. The gauge under-reports East wind.

I turned out to be a good afternoon at Vann's.

Barrett

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FoilDodo
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Re: 01/ 08 Thursday afternoon E /SE

The buildings to the east of the windsock, and instrument I assume, (dropped pin) at Gilmer are on higher ground. The terrain drops off on the west side of the airport, so good exposure to a west wind. Good

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Re: 01/ 08 Thursday afternoon E /SE

Iwindsurf has a reporting station on the lake (I think it is at the dam.) It often seems to show more wind than G-ville on easterlies. It has a pretty clear fetch to the east, but not to the west. Unfortunately, it seems only hourly data is available, and we don't really know much about the quality of the installation etc. .

It is also worth keeping in mind that wind travels faster over water than land and changes direction bit as well. As a result, lake winds will differ from reporting stations.

What happens in a black hole stays in a black hole.

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Spanishalex
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Re: 01/ 08 Thursday afternoon E /SE

So N - W - SW should read clean right?

South - SE should read low because of obstacle 1

E seems clean but empirically seems to read lower.

NE - should read lower because of obstacle 2. That one doesn't seem so big.

(1) Can we donate some so the extend the weather station farther up?

(2) Has anyone ever tried to build a station in one of the middle islands in the lake? I would pitch in.

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webguy
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Re: 01/ 08 Thursday afternoon E /SE

First, thanks for asking these questions. It stirs the inner nerd in more than a few of us. Biggrin My probably flawed take in this conversation:

So N - W - SW should read clean right?


Yes, excepting those dome effect days in the spring.

South - SE should read low because of obstacle 1


Those are pretty unusual wind directions here. I believe you are right but they are almost edge cases.

E seems clean but empirically seems to read lower. NE - should read lower because of obstacle 2. That one doesn't seem so big.


They both seem to read maybe 1-2 mph lower but read still reasonably consistently.

(1) Can we donate some so the extend the weather station farther up?


That's either NWS or FAA and the paper work involved will be substantial. I'm certainly supportive of anyone who takes on the challenge. I think that's why most of us just said we'll mentally fudge the number 1-2 mph.

(2) Has anyone ever tried to build a station in one of the middle islands in the lake? I would pitch in.

Welcome to the discussion "Wind meter on Lake Lanier", now in it's 25th consecutive year. ROFL

To summarize for those who may have missed the previous 24 seasons, here's a recap biased by my preferences. I invite anyone with different recollections to add their perspective.

  • A wind meter would be nice - we all agree. Lacking one, we get Gene to drive down to Van Pugh and give it a look. That way if we drive there and there's no wind, we can blame him. Biggrin If Gene is out of town, Langdon is usually willing when that job thing doesn't get in the way.
  • The location has always been highly problematic as almost any good setup for one wind direction probably sucks for another. A good example would be a SW/W/NW facing location off the tip of Aqualand which would capture most of the strength down the main channel. On any east, it would be shadowed by Aqualand.
  • The cost - I think at one time, someone investigated it and found that we would need x number of subscribers for iWindsurf to set up a station somewhere and that's assuming we would actually get Corps of Engineers permission. I can't remember what X is and the technology has certainly changed since then with IoT devices and cell connectivity.
  • Gilmer has long been the default since it works reasonably well and although has certain limitations (e.g. a little lower on E), it tends to be pretty consistent over most conditions. As well, since we don't have highly location specific issues such as sea breeze, etc. that it's not on the lake itself isn't as much a restriction as it might seem. We don't use it as much but Briscoe Field, Gwinnett, is pretty good, too.
  • Another important thing about Gilmer is that it seems to be a good proxy for open parts of Lanier. There are some wind gauges on Lanier but they are often wind shadowed (Buford Dam, the Olympic Rowing Center and Port Royale Marina all have one, iirc). The difference in wind in front of the section where Aqualand is won't measure accurately what's going on either 500-1000 m to the north (LLSC/Vann's) or south (Van Pugh).

These are the reasons most initiatives peter out (this is a pretty laid back group) and we all collectively just learn to fudge the Gilmer numbers, check the LLSC web cam or hope someone drives buy and snaps a pic. In fact, getting a web cam with an E view might be the easier solution. We might find it cheaper to pay someone who lives N of Vanns to install one.

None of this is to dissuade anyone from pursuing whatever they think worthwhile. It's just some background to help point your efforts in a way that you aren't spending time covering old ground. I think also enlisting the efforts of the broader sailing community would be helpful.

For grins
from '05: https://windsportatlanta.com/content/new-windmeter-installed-lanier
from '06: https://windsportatlanta.com/content/iwinsurf-opportunity
Note that a lot of anonymous/guest comments on the old versions of the forums now are attributed to me because of how we did the migration.

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Langdon
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Re: 01/ 08 Thursday afternoon E /SE

Regardless of any forecast,

Lanier can be fickle.... Dome effect, wrong end of the lake, botched forcast because there is not enough stations to gather info, drunk meteorologist, a cat tipped a cup of coffee on the forecast computer etc.

More often than not I can find enough wind to foil if any forecast predicts higher than 12mph.
Yes there has been a few times I have been skunked but not many over the last 3 years.

Before I started foiling I used to bring a longboard and a Freeride board to the lake and I usually would have a good time on one of them

In my opinion watching the forecast too closly causes many of us to miss good sessions.
I am on the water a lot of times having a blast and wonder "where is everone at?"

I know if you are driving a long way you do not want to make a wasted trip.
Then I suggest that you find a new favorite Barbeque ( or other place of dining ) place/s near your watery destination so that you can enjoy some good food in liu of windsurfing.

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rufus
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Re: 01/ 08 Thursday afternoon E /SE
Langdon wrote:

Regardless of any forecast,

Lanier can be fickle.... Dome effect, wrong end of the lake, botched forcast because there is not enough stations to gather info, drunk meteorologist, a cat tipped a cup of coffee on the forecast computer etc.

Yeah, it's usually the cat's fault in my experience... Biggrin

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Randy
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Re: 01/ 08 Thursday afternoon E /SE

TBH it is a wonder we do as well as we do. Even with a wind meter at G-ville (and the LLSC webcam) most of us are 30-60 minutes from the lake (and probably 30 miles or so) and it take say 30 minutes to rig and get suited up. So we are trying to decide to go an hour in the future at a place 30+ miles away. The problem won't always be lack of wind - sometimes too much wind can ruin your day too (esp. if you didn't bring a busload of sails, masts, booms, boards, fins, foils, etc etc etc.) And even with wind and the right gear sometimes the wind is just so darn crazy it is more work than fun. Or I forget to check the radar for rain, or didn't realize the temp was dropping instead of going up. Or a t-storm shows up and kills the wind. I always figure if I get 3 good days out of 4 I'm doing well. If I get less than that - I'm trying too hard. More than that - not trying hard enough. So windsport is tough on the ego and morale, but almost never boring......

What happens in a black hole stays in a black hole.

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nitro