Extreme Lake Winnipesaukee weather

[VtSteve]

[QUOTE=Yankee;142662]

Originally Posted by Grant

Well, these weren't ten-footers, but some were easily in the five- to seven-foot range. QUOTE]

Your're kidding, right? I watched the video. 2-3 ft MAYBE. That kind of wave action is commonly seen on the far west side of the lake. Anything more and you wouldn't be up on plane in that size of boat.

The crest of a wave 5-7ft high would be nearly even with the height of your camera.

It's easier to watch on full screen. That FW 190 was bouncing pretty good, but bow up is always nice

My "guess" is 2-3' waves, some decent swells, possibly a 4 footer thrown in every now and again. I've been out (unfortunately), in some 5' to 7' waves, and it's not something I want to do with my 22' boat again. Thankfully, a closed bow boat.

As for being on plane. If the waves are smashing my boat, I have to get to a happy medium between plowing and not getting soaked, if possible. It's a different story with following seas and a smaller boat. Going slow can be a dangerous thing in heavy seas. Without the length of hull, smaller boats can be pitched, even overtaken by large following seas.

I had one instance this summer where I had following seas so large, I had to traverse them at around 20 mph, which kept the bow up. About every 4th or 5th wave, they were starting to swell apart, so I had to goose the throttle, making sure the bow got to the top of the wave which was passing me. This prevented stuffing the bow, and also kept my transom ahead of the following wave, many of which would have swamped the transom had I slowed

Old timers and especially islanders, know that deep cockpits, and lengths around 26' to 28', will make your boating safer, and more comfortable. Aside from that, I prefer just to stay at the dock.


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Just to add some interesting lake weather. This is the week's forecast for Lake Michigan.

...GALE WARNING IN EFFECT UNTIL 1 PM CDT THIS AFTERNOON...
...STORM WARNING IN EFFECT FROM 1 PM CDT THIS AFTERNOON THROUGH
WEDNESDAY EVENING...
.REST OF TODAY...SOUTHEAST GALES TO 45 KT BECOMING SOUTHWEST
STORM FORCE WINDS TO 60 KT. SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS THROUGH MID
MORNING...THEN CHANCE OF SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS THIS
AFTERNOON. WAVES 8 TO 12 FT BUILDING TO 12 TO 16 KT.
.TONIGHT...SOUTH STORM FORCE WINDS TO 55 KT INCREASING TO STORM
FORCE WINDS TO 60 KT. WAVES 15 TO 20 FT.
.WEDNESDAY...SOUTH STORM FORCE WINDS TO 60 KT BECOMING SOUTHWEST
STORM FORCE WINDS TO 55 KT. WAVES 15 TO 20 FT.
.WEDNESDAY NIGHT...WEST STORM FORCE WINDS TO 55 KT DIMINISHING TO
GALES TO 40 KT. CHANCE OF SHOWERS. WAVES 14 TO 18 FT SUBSIDING TO
8 TO 12 FT.
.THURSDAY...WEST GALES TO 35 KT. CHANCE OF SHOWERS. WAVES 7 TO
10 FT.
.THURSDAY NIGHT...NORTHWEST GALES TO 35 KT. WAVES 7 TO 10 FT
SUBSIDING TO 5 TO 7 FT.
.FRIDAY...WEST WINDS 15 TO 25 KT. WAVES 3 TO 5 FT.
.SATURDAY...WEST WINDS 5 TO 10 KT. WAVES 3 TO 5 FT.
$$