On the Water

Swell information — Part II

Ihavegreatly appreciated the new swell forecasts that the National Weather Service has released over the course of the winter (or semiwinter) so far. February is about half over as I write this column, and despite a couple of nasty cold snaps, there have been very few instances of real cold on the Eastern Seaboard. This has made some things easier, with icing not being a concern.

Unfortunately, there has been a lot of very chaotic marine weather to contend with in place of the cold, which is unusual. Of course, there is always some natural variation, but spring and fall are generally expected to be the unpredictable disrupters, with summer and winter being the most stable seasons of the year. Once fully established they usually settle into a relatively predictable groove that makes short-to-medium distance coastwise voyage planning simple.

During the winter, the weather normally kicks up preceding the arrival of a cold front, with