Archive | October, 2012

Hurricane Sandy from our NYC apartment

October 29, 2012 by

Here are a few Facebook posts I made during the storm.‎

984 millibars, new low. Looking at the window at Roosevelt Island which has been breeched by the East River, the lighthouse at the end of the island is now mid river.

View out window of east river

View out window of east river

 

Pre Storm view

Pre Storm view

“968 millibars now…. wind at 42 knots (gusts shy of 60 knots) tide out now”

 “Hells Gate Weather update: Breezy with occasional clouds. 45knots of sustained breeze and 962 millibars. Apartment building noticeably swaying so headed to the second floor gym for a workout. Avoiding all my north and eastern facing rooms and glass is flexing menacingly. South facing rooms are like being on the deck of a ship but much calmer. High tide coming at midnight for hell’s gate.”

“wind speeds that i am quoting are from the weather station. I am sure its blowing harder on our balcony but thinks it is not a good idea to go out there with my anemometer.”

“NEW RECORD. Apartment rocking so hard that sliding closet door is opening a closing on its own. Lucky I still have power as the downtown gang is out of power. Fireman are launching boats on ave a. go away sandy!”

weather data

weather data

 

The worst in terms of wind and barometer are over for the Upper East Side? I really hope all are safe. Winds are a mere 40 knots sustained. Heard the water rose almost to the front door of the bank. Does that mean the gold at the Fed is under water? Now I would go bobbing for those apples.

Black box for the boat?

October 20, 2012 by
Maetron Black Box

Maretron Black Box

 

All of the data about boat speed, wind angle, wind speed and more, travel from the sensors across the NMEA network to the various displays.   But how do you record this data?      Just write a nice sized check to Maretron and they will send you an orange box that is no more than a thumb drive.   It listens to the NMEA network with all the boat telemetry data and stores this data on the internal memory.   After a 1 month voyage you can then upload the data to Excel or their special PC application.

But why would you want this data?  This data can help understand the optimal performance of the boat by wind angle and wind speed.   It can also be the source of data for blog posts.   Sailor’s blogs seemed jammed with “it was 35 knots on the nose” and “puffs over 50 knots”.   But what is the wind really like over a period of 6 months, only the true data can tell you.   Maybe that will ruin the romance of the dramatic blog post?  We do not plan on buying this day one but I can hear the sirens of the chandleries singing my name.