Local knowledge is often better than the weatherman’s forecast

The last week or so of bad fishing weather is certainly not unusual around the equinox. It seems that when the seasons change, the weather has a problem catching up. This year has been particularly bad, with several tropical storms and hurricanes rumbling around in the Atlantic creating big swells even when the wind is not blowing 20 or 30 knots.

The folks at NOAA who try to keep up with all of this and put out a marine forecast every day have their work cut out for them. It does seem they are doing a better job than they did in years past when I was running charters out of Virginia Beach.

I recall one day when I had a party out at the First Island of the Chesapeake Bay Bridge-Tunnel and we were hiding behind the island because of the wind. The NOAA weather kept saying the winds at the First Island were 5 to 10 and we were looking at the flags standing straight out. I told the party that the three and fours we had on the lee side were NOAA ones and twos.

I am sure that anyone who has ever been in the charter or head boat business can tell you about trips lost because the NOAA weather report the night before was bad, but the day of the trip turned out fine. I have also had the reverse happen. A good report the night before, but the day of the trip turned nasty.

Most of the people who fish on charter or head boats come from other locations, so the captain must decide the night before if the trip is a go or not. He relies on the marine forecast from NOAA to make that decision.

Then you have the hard-headed parties. Capt. Bill Massey on the Aquarius had a six-man party come down from Pennsylvania to fish Boston mackerel back in the day when those fish showed up every March. The wind was howling out of the northeast, but these six guys were determined to go. Massey told them if they cleared the inlet it was a trip and they would have to pay. About 15 minutes after they left the dock at South Shore Marina, they were back. Those six guys were never so happy to get on dry land in their lives, paid the full fare and headed back to Pennsylvania.

Other fishermen come down here with only the blow-dry weather person’s report for Philadelphia or Baltimore that promised a beautiful day with cool temperatures and a nice breeze. They show up at the tackle shop to buy some bait and see all the boats tied to the dock and all the fishermen sitting on broken furniture solving the problems of the world. The nice cool breeze just about blows them back in their truck and eventually it dawns on them that fishing is not going to be in the plans for today.

There are other marine weather-related conditions that would be considered local knowledge. One is the standing waves at the mouth of Indian River Inlet during outgoing current and a northeast wind. The current is pushing against the wind that will stand the waves up to a dangerous level for most of the boats that fishermen use. A northwest wind will do the same at the mouth of Delaware Bay and Roosevelt Inlet.

Any time the wind is against the current flow, the waves will build up. The current flows from right to left facing the ocean on incoming water and from left to right on the outgoing.

Another factor of marine weather is the temperature difference between the ocean, bay and land. The large bodies of water don’t change temperature as quickly as the land does. This results in a major temperature difference between the two that creates a sea breeze in the summer and can keep snow away from us during the winter. Of course, if the water temperature in the ocean drops to 32 degrees and a big nor’easter comes up the coast, get out the snow shovels.

I guess I am a weather nerd. The first thing I do every morning is listen to the weather report on TV while I eat my breakfast. When I go to work, I check the marine forecast between Cape Henlopen and Fenwick Island, look at the radar and get the 10-day forecast from the Weather Channel. Somewhere along the way I will also check the tides at Indian River Inlet and Lewes.

Hey, I’m too old for porn, I don’t bet sports anymore and I just can’t get interested in computer games. Keeping up on the weather is better than watching daytime TV, and I enjoy the science.