Coastal wind speed advice

[Mark Donnelly]

Hi guys,
Pretty new to this P3P. Would like to fly around the coast/sea. The coast is generally known to be windier than inland. Can someone give me advice on how to know if it's safe to fly round the beaches/over the sea (wind related and how to find wind speed?)

Many thanks!
Mark (From Ireland)


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[Ken Nash]

Make sure battery is fully charged, allow for enough battery power to get home as you may have to fight the wind coming back, keep line of sight and give yourself sufficient altitude but remember consider wind speed whilst flying check manual for more details.

 

[Mark Donnelly]

Cheers Ken. Is the wind around the sea generally in the one direction or does it change frequently? Is there usually much difference in wind speed, say 10m altitude and 10m in the sea compared to 60-100m altitude and 200m into the water?

Scary


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[Ken Nash]

Wind speed will be different at different altitudes and being coastal winds they do change directions at will.

 

[embayweather]

Take an anemometer with you to make sure. Watch the clouds or flags for direction and also be aware of the sea breeze effect too, especially in summer. My own weather station is 500m from the sea and the wind can be quite different even at low levels. Also if the beach you are flying on has a long fetch (distance over the sea before land) then that can increase your wind speeds too.

 

[embayweather]

Try looking at windfinder.com for more information and local results.