Waterspout watch

Sitting in Pender Harbour tonight this forecast caught my attention. I've never seen a waterspout watch in these waters. Maybe I've lead a sheltered life.

See them on occasion. Had a few waterspouts this June in between Comox and Powell River.
View attachment 121232

The closest I've been to an actual waterspout is the opening graphic on the WindAlert app. And that's fine with me.

Have you seen them in person?

I didn't know they issued alerts.
We had a couple a few yrs ago on our inland lake in NY.
Watched one form, travel a short ways (~1 mi). A second formed mid lake and made it to our shore where it continued as a dust devil across a parking lot and campground. Lots of pop up awnings in the dumpster the next day.

Years ago, on a hot and still summer afternoon while fishing 55-60 miles offshore of VA Beach, a couple of waterspouts formed in the area. They're quite docile in appearance since they're water laden and lumbering, unlike a tornado. Anyway , one of the sport fishing boats close by thought it would fun or interesting...I don't have a clue what the captains reasoning was...to run through it. When he drove his boat through literally tons of water suspended in the air by high winds ,it tore every antenna and basically everything else off the boat that wasn't securely bolted or fiberglassed down. I'm guessing he wont to that again!

I got hit by one on my sailboat in Tampa Bay. Small one though. Very wet!

The J24 that was a mile or so ahead of us in a race caught the edge of one. They let go of all the sheets before it hit but it was unforgettable seeing the spinnaker pointing straight up.

Crossroads said:

The closest I've been to an actual waterspout is the opening graphic on the WindAlert app. And that's fine with me.



Have you seen them in person?

Click to expand...

Yes. I saw one of the several ones reported in June off of Harwood and several in Guam.

One hot, weirdly still summer day during a delivery across the NE corner of the Gulf of Mexico (a/k/a the "Big Bend"), I found myself amidst eight or nine waterspouts - at least one appeared on nearly every point of the compass. The surface was glassy calm, without a hint of breeze and a low overcast. As I steered to avoid them, they moved across my bow and alongside. It was almost as if some of them tried to follow me, and I wound up doing countless radical course changes - 45, 90, 180 and ultimately 360 degrees. My track must have looked like a drunk's.

Thankfully they were slow and lumbering. My maximum speed of 9.6 knots was enough to dodge them, but we got close enough that from outside the pilothouse I could hear their hissing noise.

Saw one in Desolation Sound maybe 20 years ago in August. The sky turned black and squally winds came up. The funnel was well-defined...right in front of Refuge Cove. Didn't last long.

I had to look up pictures of them - they do look awesome. Beautiful and no doubt scary if too close. I’ve been much too close to a tornado when I was growing up and seen the aftermath - one house untouched but for a few shingles missing yet the house next to it reduced to a cellar hole. I wonder what the relative strength between them is.

Summer 2006 on 4th of July we were caught in a legendary 4pm squall, trying to head around Thomas Point up to Annapolis. Had a waterspout spin up about 3/4 mile from us. It was... unsettling but eerily beautiful, in a way.

But then sea conditions went all to Hell and I had bigger problems to deal with. 7' seas and gusts that kept us from doing anything other than not turning abeam. Engine horsepower is no match for mother nature's fury. The chartplotter showed us just corkscrewing eastward on the Bay. It was only the storm passing that allowed me to regain control and head for home again. Shook up, and one kid threw up a virgin strawberry daquiri on the carpet (pro-tip Dawn, a towel and a clothes iron was the eventual method that succeeded in removing the stain).

Upside was the Admiral asking "would that expensive satellite weather gizmo you talked about have saved us from that storm?" This being before the days of phones and readily available weather... "yes, yes it would have" and thus I bought a new toy.

There aren't too many situations on the Bay when you get caught by surprise, but a Summer afternoon with a front passing parallel with the shore is DEFINITELY one that can ruin an otherwise fun trip. Squalls just boil up out of nowhere on days like that.

This happened between Anguilla and Saba. It’s starts with fish on, go to idle and neutral. It quickly turned into put it back in gear while I try to pull this thing in!

We watched a trimaran in the Fernadina beach mooring field pick up off the water. That was scary as we were firmly attached to a ball, and don’t think we could get away fast enough. This was in the last boat a 1982 34’ mainship. A lot lighter than our current setup.