New Sensor @ sherman??

[mfremont]

Dave, I beg to differ. Yesterday PM the sensor was reading WSW all afternoon, when in fact the wind was more SSW or SW -- everyone who tried to kite will confirm it. I was pissed at myself because I looked at the graph before I left and I assumed I had just read it wrong in my enthusiasm, but when I got back home I saw that it wasn't me.

I wouldn't drive down there if the wind is too far to the south, but I guess this new sensor isn't going to help us out in that regard.

Are we talking about Thursday afternoon? I was finding it a bit hard to get very far upwind, but had a good time nonetheless. I also had to leave early, so I was off the water by 3:45 or so.

That morning I had the distinct impression that the wind had a bigger SW component near the channel, about halfway between #12 and the powerlines, compared to the wind direction near the beach.

Is this common at Sherman? Is it an example of a local change in wind direction due to interaction with a curving shoreline?

If so, then I suspect that the placement of ANY sensor could cause it to give very different readings for the direction than you might observe at any specific spot on the water. The river makes a pretty significant bend in the area where most people are kiting. Check out the NOAA chart.

In any case, #12 is closer to where most people kite than #14.

[Bulldog]

When the wind at SI is more SW, it is harder to get upwind because you can't get a good reach on the return tack. It has to do with the shape of the shoreline. The best bet on these days (apart from just skipping them) is to head out into the channel and kite way out there like Dave said. If you try to come back to the south, you end up very close to where you started.

I don't think the wind is curving through the channel. The giveaway that it's a SW day is that your board is at a different angle to the swell compared with a "normal" day. It is the same out in the channel as close to the beach. For me, I can't ramp off the swell to starboard because doing so is going too far upwind and kills all the power to the kite.

[jono]

All:

Does anyone know if these sensors are providing raw (text) data somewhere? Are they private or .gov? I can only seem to find references to the sherman marker stations on ikitesurf...

[fearlu]

I think those sensors are iwindsurf.com owned and installed, not available elsewhere.