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Well Blow Me Down, an Anemometer

S

spartonboat1

Legendary Member
Joined
Apr 15, 2005
Messages
2,494
Hatteras Model
43' DOUBLE CABIN (1970 - 1984)
After getting caught out in two blows too many over 5 years I figure its time to get an anemometer (wind meter) installed on the boat this summer. Any brand preferences, any accessories I wouldn't think of, but should have. What's the wind speed knots on the Great Lakes that should keep me in? 22 and under?
 
There are lots of different systems that sailboaters use. Realise though that the wind you see in the harbor will be a bunch lower than what you see on the lake. That anemometer will only tell you what exists where you are, it can't look ahead. I would suggest using XM radio's marine weather system. These report from all the weather bouys and show wind flags on the entire lake's system. That is a much better way to find out what is going on in open water areas from the safety of your dock.:)
 
How will an anemometer help keep you out of blows. Wind speed where you may be sitting is usually unrelated to that out in open water. Rupp has the right idea: get some sort of weather reporting system...even the everyday NOAA forecasts are better than any reading you might get in a marina.

It's not only wind velocity but direction that is important....if waves have ten miles instead of a thousand feet to build up, for example, that's like night and day in terms of seas and could dictate where you'll want to move that day....
 
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The anonometer is great for wind direction while docking. The speed is only fun during cocktail hour for seeing how hard it's blowing. I've registered 50 knots at the dock on more than 1 occasion. 25 knots is pretty typical at my slip- get something with higher readings than that. I think mine is a data marine with analog direction, but digital speed.
 
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Agree above. Whenever I fish off shore I want to know whats hapenning now and whats predicted for the forseeable time that I am out there. The more sources the better. Before a fishing trip I check the NOAA Marine site multiple times as it WILL change. Next, my i phone has an app for "The Weather Channel" that has local conditions, RADAR and forcasts for several days. On the boat we have SIRIUS Satellite Weather (very good), vHF alerts for severe weather, NavNet RADAR etc.

As cited above, wind direction is key. Off Miami you can fish in 20 to 30 knot North-West and West winds without a big deal as long as you arent too far offshore. Those would be Black Diamond days if the wind was from any other point of the compass.

IMHO the anemometer has only limited utility for anything I can think of, therefore I dont have one. My iphone is more powerful and it doesnt require any holes in my boat. Good Luck,

Greg
1985 45C
Hat Time
N. Bay Village, FL
 
The best 100 bucks we have spent on a gizmo has been for a La Crosse wireless weather station we got on special at Sam's Club. Provides relative wind speed (mph and Beaufort scale) and direction, wind chill, barometer with trend, inside and outside temp, humidity, date and time. The Lacrosse folks have outstanding customer service. The wireless aspect is really nice, we keep it mostly at the helm but also bedside if weather is really going. It also came with a rain gauge that I didn't hook up. Ours is basically this one:

http://www.lacrossetechnology.com/1516/index.php

It has stood up well to 2 1/2 years of cruising, other than when I dropped the temp sensor/sender; they were liberal on their warrantee, very nice folks. Highly recommended!

I saw a much pricier but more rugged unit by Davis Instruments at CES; about $350 or so as I recall.

http://www.vantagevue.com/
 
That's waht I was going to mention...why does everyone seem stuck on ones designed for "boats"? You pay 10x and get 1/10 the functionality. Look into an inexpensive WIRELESS weather station designed for home. I have a Taylor 2752 and I believe I paid about $50 for it (comes with a Anemometer).

The display of the Taylor 2752 has three sections. The large top section displays outdoor conditions. At the top is remote temperature, with degree digits a little over 1/2 inch high (tenths are smaller). Below that is wind direction in one of 16 compass headings, and wind speed (in your choice of average or gust) in 3/8 inch digits (tenths are smaller). To the right is wind chill, in 3/8 inch digits (again, tenths are smaller). Below that is humidity, in digits a bit over 1/2 inch. If you choose to purchase additional thermo-hygro remotes, the remote temperature, humidity, and wind chill fields can display the conditions at any of the remote locations (up to three, including the included anemometer/thermo-hygro). Optionally, the display can be set to scroll through the remotes, displaying each for 10 seconds each. By pressing the "memory" button, maximum and minimum readings for all values, since the last manual reset, may be displayed.

The second section of the display shows indoor temperature in 1/2 inch digits. Maximum and minimum reading since the last reset are available by pressing the "memory" button.

The lower portion of the display shows time (in your choice of 12 or 24 hour format) with hours and minutes in 1/2 inch digits (seconds are smaller). To the right of the time is the date and day of the week.

The bottom section of the display normally displays indoor temperature (in degrees F or C) and humidity, in 1/2 inch digits, or the temperature and humidity for your choice of remote locations. The temperature display can also display dew point for the selected location. Also displayed are temperature and humidity trend arrows, and comfort level. By pressing the "memory" button, you may also display the maximum or minimum values reached for temperature, humidity, or dew point for any of the locations since the last time the memory was cleared.
 
Hi Quincy:

I have a SIMRAD unit and I like it very much. Direction and speed relative and actual at the push of a button. I don't remember how much it cost; I bought it because we got our @#$ts kicked in Lake Huron when NOAA said the winds were 15-20. I decided then and there I wanted to be able to know the actual wind at my location. My electronics guy did it all. Have fun choosing!

DC
 
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If anyone is interested, I have the wind cups for the Datamarine unit, new in a plastic package. DMI accidentally sent them with another order. You pay shipping and its yours. I think they list for $25.
 
DLCameron2 said:
Hi Quincy:

I have a SIMRAD unit and I like it very much. Direction and speed relative and actual at the push of a button. I don't remember how much it cost; I bought it because we got our @#$ts kicked in Lake Huron when NOAA said the winds were 15-20. I decided then and there I wanted to be able to know the actual wind at my location. My electronics guy did it all. Have fun choosing!

DC
Click to expand...

Sky, others suggest wind speed at the dock is not valuable and I agree. Instead, as you point out, I would go "stick my nose out" and get a wind speed reading at idle, or if in a bay or cove, I could get a read on the wind. Twice now I was exposed to the true wind, but was not out "in the brew" and got caught in the 7-9's once, and 13-17's another. A wind meter would have brought me to my senses, and I would have turned back.

I have promised the Admiral it will be avoided in the future, if at all possible. To again quote the old skipper, "I might be in when I should be out, but I am never out, when I should be in". I am trying to make that my motto.
 
Sky- some nice new shiny black wind cups would be great; instead of my weather beaten black/white/grayish wind cups! PM shortly to you!
 
Don't forget, most anemometers read only what they see. If you are moving at 20 knots on a calm wind day, the wind speed will show 20. On sailboats we have "true wind speed" available through our computers. These systems are a bunch more money though. A cheap anemometesr, like one from Walmart is useless when underway. The speed and direction are both totally false. If you really want true wind speed and true wind direction, you need to buy a pretty expensive sailboat system. That is why I recomended the XM radio Mariner or if you really want to be a metorologist, the Master Mariner program is awesome. They charge $50.00/month for that Master program though. I have the radio unit and only subscribe for June and July. That gets me and the sailboat through the bulk of the longer races like the Mackinac. Then I cancel the subscription until the next year. They don't have any cancellation penalities.:)
 
TopHattandTails said:
Sky- some nice new shiny black wind cups would be great; instead of my weather beaten black/white/grayish wind cups! PM shortly to you!
Click to expand...

They are yours, Brian. Enjoy!
 
They are not worthless at all when underway, unless you have no ability to do simple arithmetic using the same vector math you do for calculating the effect of current. For a practical matter, you don't even to need to get that precise. I find mine extremely informative and useful. If you are addition and subtraction challenged, then one of those high end wired Airmar systems will do the math for you.
 
SKYCHENEY said:
They are yours, Brian. Enjoy!
Click to expand...


Thanks Sky! It will be real nice to look up and see some nice new wind cups! Just goes to show you how great this forum is and how lucky we all are to have this resource! You can't buy this kind of knowledge! Way to go Sam's!
 
Timeout said:
Just go here. Great surface wind forecast for the great lakes:

http://tidesandcurrents.noaa.gov/ofs/leofs/fore_wind.shtml
Click to expand...

Sorry, but that's what go me into trouble before, and I watched it like a hawk. The weather was so wild and variable on the GL that it was not reliable...changed wildly hour to hour. Reminds my of the old Calculus class 'some differentiation equations will swing wildly as they become very near the point...". Well God did that this last summer.

Also, I would suspect that you would get a 'feel' for wind speed vs. conditions (?).
 
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