Well Tony and I hit Belews Monday afternoon for what was forecasted to be a NNW 20mph day of madness. A north wind on Belews is a gorgeous thing. The forecast was promising enough I packed the 85L, 106L, 5.2 & 5.8 As usual Stokesdale was much cloudier and cooler than Greensboro- still the air temps were great and much appreciated. Tony rigged a 6.8 and I a 5.8 on the 106L. I waded out, perfect beach start, jumped on the plane and hooked. Aahhhhhh. After missing all of February this March sesh was so over due. Yep it was GUSTY. Yep the wind was switching 90 degrees W to N. I didn't wear gloves but did slip on the boots since my straps are still open anyway. We took what came at us and had a ball. I think next time I'll be able to go with the 4/3. Stoked.
So is it possible that there can exist a little dome effect on a lake? The air was much warmer than the water so is it possible that this causes the wind not to fill in? The tree tops pretty much stayed in motion but the wind was really streaky on the water. We'll see how SW fills in soon. I hope...
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I'm guessing that dome effect only happens with southwest wind...and only at the coast at a larger body of water. Is it possible for there to be a dome effect at Belews with that water so warm...even in the winter. I think what you experienced was just plain old lake sailing = gusty! I remember NW winds at Belews....it was always gusty & shifty. Thinking about road trip weekend of March 27th...start working on your hall pass.
ReplyDeleteHey Mac, To the first order I igree. The forecast was for NNW and it was actually W to WNW. That means snaking around hanging rock and then sliding right over the west to east banks of the lake above tree level. I've actually had better luck with W than WNW. N to NNE is a blast.
ReplyDeleteAbout this hall pass- obx?
probably points closer but depends on forecast.
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