From the Med Bound 2007 Yahoo Group: Based on Bob Jones' forecast, I plan to delay Med Bound 2007's departure from Fort Lauderdale. We will NOT depart on Thursday May 24 as scheduled. The departure date will be determined based on later forecasts and announced as soon as practical. The Med Bound 2007 office will move from CRYC to Bluewater, effective Thursday. --Milt Baker, Med Bound 2007 organizer > To: Medbound 2007 > Fm: O.M.N.I./USA > 1030Z 21 MAY 2007 > > Current observations indicate ENE winds ranging 15-20kts across the SE > coast of Florida (off the coast of Ft. Lauderdale) with easier ENE winds > closer to 10-15kts north/east from Ft. Lauderdale toward Bermuda (toward > 30N lat). > > During the course of today and Tuesday, high pressure will build across > the NE/US and ridging will extend SW across the eastern/US to the central > Gulf of Mexico. Once this high ridge establishes itself during Tue/22nd, > it will tend to remain in place during Wed and Thur. The high cell is > expected to move southward along the ridge to the Cape Hatteras area > through Thur/morning where it should remain stationary through Friday. > However, the high cell should weaken during Thur/pm into Fri/am, but will > still remain at least 1024mb which is strong enough to keep the high cell > "moderately strong". > > There is also a stationary front that extends WSW across the > central-northern Bahamas and western Cuba. Waves of low pressure are > expected to form along this front between western Cuba and east of the > Bahamas during the next 3-4 days. None of these lows are currently > expected to deepen into a seperate low center, but each low will be strong > enough to enhance the NE-ENE wind/sea pattern from the Ft. Lauderdale area > north/east toward 30N. > > The combination of these two systems, the moderate to strong high center > to the north and stationary front with waves of low pressure moving E-ENE > along it, will produce a freshening NE-E wind/sea pattern that will > produce winds on the average of 20-30kts with locally higher gusts) with > building NE-ENE sea/swells on the order of at least 7-12ft from Ft. > Lauderdale toward Bermuda during Tue/22nd through at least Fri/25th. > > By Sat/26th, the high cell is expected to begin moving eastward toward > Bermuda and weaken. In fact the high (as of now) should become stationary > near Bermuda during 28th/pm and weaken to 1021mb. Even though the NE-ENE > wind/sea flow will still persist wind/sea/swell conditions should > gradually moderate beginning Saturday and continue to ease through > Mon/28th. > > Therefore, at this time, if conditions force the delay of Medbound 2007, > you may need to consider waiting until at least Sat/26th or even May/27-28 > in order for a more favorable (safer) wind/sea pattern to develop ftom Ft. > Lauderdale to Bermuda. > > We do note, if departure continues as planned on Thursday, there is the > risk that vessels will experience prolonged rough NE-E wind/sea conditions > that should be "at least" 7-12ft outside of the Gulf Stream. Within the > Gulf Stream, depending on the wind direction, seas could be as high as > 15ft. > > We will continue to keep a watch on the pattern. I will be in Ft. > Lauderdale tomorrow and we can look at this pattern in more detail > tomorrow. I will keep watch and update later today if there are > significant changes. > > B/Rgds, Bob/OMNI