Wind conditions in Swanage Bay in the Summer can be weird. Our local geography gives us offshore sea breezes which cancel out the easterlies such as we’ve had recently. There’s also this thing where the surrounding areas up the hills where I live have plenty of wind, but the bay is calm. Frustrating, especially when I see that Poole Harbour has sailable wind.
I figure over the Summer when there is no wind in the Bay, I’ll either do SUPing or windsurf nearby in Bramblebush Bay.
Continuing the curious weather theme, here are some photos of an interesting day last week. That day we had a cold sea breeze hitting damp air in the bay or near land, causing it to condense.
I’m hunting for wind to sail in before or after work currently, and was on the water at 6.30am this morning (left picture below). There was enough wind for the RS Aero 9, with hiking conditions in the gusts.
When wind is from the east with any kind of waves, and I’m solo sailing, I usually take out a Laser to not risk damaging the Aero. It’s like sailing a tank compared to the Aero, but at least I’m out on the water.
Every time I sail a Laser, it makes me love the Aero even more. I’ll share my thoughts on Aero vs Laser in another post at some point.
And no, I’m not calling it an ILCA, the sticker on it says Laser.
Klaus Harris 