I had the misfortune to be out in the Estuary recently to see a couple of RiBs and 2 PWC's in company. Whilst it was sunny when I saw them,
the forecast was not great - Wind SW F4/5 with squally showers, the swell was building and the PWC's were catching a bit of air, the crews were dressed for a day at the beach and looked unprepared for the looming weather. They were going the same way we were so I decided to keep a weather eye (no pun intended) on them from a distance. Around 20 minutes passed, the wind started to build and the 1st squally shower hit us. The vessels started pounding the waves hard, the PWC's lost their crews but were able to regain their craft but appeared shaken. The RiBs were clearly finding it hard going with not just the squalls but now wind over tide and a decent swell into the mix. It was at that point I went over and suggested slowing down and adjusting their course to reduce the weather effects on them. After a brief chat it transpired that they were all friends and had only recently bought the vessels and were out "giving them a try", By now there were soaked with no sign of foul weather gear. I recommended going back to the marina they had come from. I was happy to accompany them to make sure they made it (it was only a 30 minute trip in calm conditions). By the time they arrived back into the marina the trip had taken over an hour, the crews were wet, cold and exhausted but seemed to be OK in themselves. They gathered their belongings, returned to their cars and went home with the promise of meeting up in a few days.
True to their word, we met up a few days later at the marina cafe and talked about their experience, although two if them had some boating experience around the Greek islands, none had any formal qualifications. We spent some time talking about all the things they should have considered starting with the passage plan and going from there. They have all now booked onto various courses and have since our time together spent time sorting their craft out and making them a bit more fit for purpose.
One of the team asked to meet me a couple of days ago for tea and cake - be rude to decline. During our conversation the weather topic came up and other than weather forecasts, how to predict what is going to happen. We talked about the various common formations and the likely weather they produce. He has a new found interest in forecasting.
Many of us look at the sky to try and forecast what the next few hours weather may have in store for us. I came across this website recently and found this page Clouds and the weather they predict. I recommend it as a good read for those of you venturing onto Day Skipper or beyond.