Bruce, Suzanne and I met with Bob McDavitt (Jessica's weather adviser) on Monday in Auckland, New Zealand. There he was, all nestled into his office right in the middle of Boatbooks...bit like heaven really. Well certainly Jessica's version of heaven, if she wasn't out there.
It was great to meet Bob, we have worked with him when he did Jessica's weather routing across the Tasman in January. (Wow January just seems so very long ago).
We went over in detail, the forecast for the next week and also what he expected for the next month. He has various sites he looks at and also some computer modeling programs. If you were into weather, you really need to become rather good on the computer, seems the two go hand in hand! Weather and Bob seem to be synonymous. He had a remarkable way of making it all sound quite simple and understandable...although his statement about weather being a mix of pattern and chaos, reminds us that it really is a difficult thing to predict.
We went through some of Bob's charts looking at some specific areas Jessica will go through. He showed us some typical weather patterns in these areas and the currents (if any) she will expect.
Jessica called in while we were there for her regular sked and spoke to Bob about the weather she had right there and then. She had spoken to him at length whilst planning her route prior to her departure. In that preparation time, Jessica prepared some information for Bob about the yachts 'Polars' so that he would know what speeds Ella's Pink Lady can do at particular angles to the wind. This makes his forecasting more accurate.
It is a pleasure to be working with you Bob, thanks for being on the team!
Julie (Mum)
Posting Komentar