Wind
The wind is an important feature of sea swimming and in most cases
creates waves.
In Brighton winds are mostly from the south west (prevailing winds)
If a wind comes from the north you will have a flat sea!
Wind from the south produces a sea with waves.
Wind from the South or South West often produces the roughest seas (sometimes called swells)
If you plan your swims to catch the tide and you have the wind behind you it will increase your speed
significantly.
If both are against you will slow down and possibly move forward very slowly! (In this situation its best
to swim against the current/wind first and then to swim back with them supporting you).
Sometimes you may swim with the current but against the wind and depending on how fast the wind is
blowing the sea state will at least be “choppy”.
I would categorise the
following sea state as
Beaufort scale 2 (possibly
moving up to a 3 as there
are small white caps forming
on the sea).
When we go into the sea we
will aim to be swimming in
seas states as this level or
below (and possibly slightly
higher).
The gulls were looking into
the wind (It was blowing
from the north east).
How can you tell which way the wind is blowing?
Watch the direction of flags
Birds when resting on the beach will face into the wind.
Wave direction follows the direction of the waves that are blowing it.
Mark your position on the shore, float and observe it for 20 seconds and see how far you have moved.
Measuring wind speed
The Beaufort Wind Force Scale measures wind speed between Force 0 – 12.
0 is a completely flat mirror like sea with almost no wind.
12 is a completely white sea with driving spray and very poor visibility. Wind speed would be above 70
miles per hour. Wave height on the beach would be well in excess of 3 metres (and considerably higher
out at sea) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beaufort_scale
One point that may be worth mentioning is that :
When the wind speed doubles the effect is 4 times greater. So the difference between 20 knots and 30
knots is much greater than the difference between 10 knots and 20 knots.
Such extreme storms in Brighton are very rare – winter storms can produce a force 9 (although there
have been some very big storms in our cities history – eg 1703 and 1705)
http://www.mybrightonandhove.org.uk/page_id__5752_path__0p116p183p1019p.aspx
Some kind of very large and mysterious wave also struck Brighton in 1929.
http://www.bygones.org.uk/page_id__55_path__0p2p14p.aspx
Forecasting Weather
It’s very important before going swimming to check the weather forecast (as well as the tide tables).
http://www.visitbrighton.com/site/tourist-information/tide-timetables
I find www.xcweather.co.uk very useful. It provides forecasts every three hours for the next five days
(including wind direction, wind speed, temperature and whether it’s going to be sunny/cloudy/misty
etc.
Some of you have also suggested additional sites and these include www.sharkbait.co.uk/todayssurf.htm
- many thanks to those of you that have sent in suggestions.