Posted by Brad on February 04, 2004 at 17:23:07:
In Reply to: John Delany rule for booking dive trips. posted by Chris on February 04, 2004 at 00:51:53:
Good points. To avoid bad weather, i plan to go every weekend of the year, but i simply stay back when the weather is bad. Planning for a trip like that weeks ahead of the date is asking for trouble unless you happen to get lucky.
Staking your safety on luck is a fool's proposition.
I have been watching the offshore weather literally around the clock since 1984. There are about 10-12 predictable 2-3 day slack wind periods each year. Those are the ones that can be predicted 2 days ahead of the first good day. There are about another 20 or so 24-36 hour slack wind periods that are indicated 12-18 hours prior to the period. I am on constant vigil for the times when the winds go slack. The only times i have been in severe weather is when the event went completely unpredicted. That has happened three times in the last 80,000nm. For those of us who work for a living, it is a real drag when those good times are not associated with a weekend...