Developed in 1805 by Sir Francis Beaufort of England as a standardized - PDF document

Developed in 1805 by Sir Francis Beaufort of England as a standardized description for weather observations including wind spee Wind Speed1 Appearance of Wind Effects Beaufort Force Scale Knots MPH WMO2 Scaly ripples, no foam crests Smoke drift indicates wind Breeze Small wavelets, crests glassy, no breaking Wind felt on face, leaves rustle, vanes begin to move Novices will experience weathercocking 3 Breeze Larger waves with whitecaps common, more spray Larger tree branches moving, whistling in wires Experienced paddlers only. Very hard paddling into wind. Rescues very difficult. Near Gale 13½-19 Sea heaps up and white foam 48-55 55-63 29-41 Very high waves with overhanging crests, sea white with densely blown foam, heavy rolling, lowered visibility Seldom experienced on land, trees broken or uprooted, "conside

rable structural damage" Pray 56-63 64-72 37-52 Exceptionally high waves, foam patches cover sea, visibility more reduced 5 knots -0.5 knots 10 knots -1 knots 15 knots -1.5 knots 20 knots -2 knots 25 knots -3 knots Time Paddling to Cover 6 Nautical Miles Based on 2.5 knot paddling speed 0 knots 2.5 – 0 = 2.5 knots 5 knots 2.5 – 0.5 = 2 knots 10 knots 2.5 – 1.0 = 1.5 knots 10 knots 15 knots 3 – 1.5 = 1.5 knots 20 knots 3 – 2 = 1 knots Question: Now that we can predict wind speed for aspeed, if you have 6 miles to paddle back to camp and suddenly get hit by a 15 knot headwind? me assuming a 2.5 knot paddle speed and then compare it to a paddling time using a 3.5 knot speed. 1 nautical mile = 1.2 miles; NOAA issues small crrro/windsurfing/beaufort.html for good pics on Beaufort Scale