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PUBLIC INFORMATION STATEMENT...NATIONAL SAFE BOATING WEEK 
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GRAY ME 
615 PM EDT TUE MAY 21 2013 

...THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE AND NERACOOS (NORTHEASTERN REGIONAL 
ASSOCIATION OF COASTAL OCEAN OBSERVING SYSTEMS) CONTINUES TO OBSERVE 
MAY 18TH THROUGH 24TH AS NATIONAL SAFE BOATING WEEK... 

...WIND AND WAVES... 

THE FOLLOWING IS A SAFE BOATING MESSAGE FROM THE NATIONAL SAFE 
BOATING COUNCIL AND THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE...REMINDING YOU 
THAT NATIONAL SAFE BOATING WEEK IS MAY 18TH THROUGH MAY 24TH. 

NATIONAL STATISTICS IN 2011 INDICATED THAT 377 BOATS WENT DOWN IN 
CALM SEAS NATIONALLY.  HOWEVER...287 CRAFTS ALSO SUNK UNDER 
CHOPPY...ROUCH OR VERY ROUGH CONDITIONS DURING THIS PERIOD.

WIND AND WAVES AFFECT ALL TYPES OF BOATS SO IT IS IMPORTANT ALL 
BOATERS KNOW SOME BASIC FACTS ABOUT WINDS AND WAVES. WIND OVER WATER 
IS USUALLY STRONGER THAN OVER NEARBY LAND. WIND IS THE MAIN FACTOR 
IN WAVE DEVELOPMENT AND IN GENERAL...THE STRONGER THE WIND...THE 
LARGER THE WAVES. 

INDIVIDUAL WAVES ARE MEASURED FROM TROUGH TO CREST. SEAS ARE THE 
COMBINATION OF BOTH LOCALLY GENERATED WIND WAVES AND DISTANTLY 
GENERATED SWELL WAVES AND ARE EXPRESSED IN THE TERMS OF THE 
SIGNIFICANT-WAVE-HEIGHT...THE MEAN OR AVERAGE HEIGHT OF THE HIGHEST 
ONE THIRD OF THE WAVES. IT APPROXIMATES THE VALUE AN EXPERIENCED 
OBSERVER WOULD REPORT IF VISUALLY ESTIMATING SEA HEIGHT. WHEN 
EXPRESSED AS A RANGE (FOR EXAMPLE...SEAS 3 TO 5 FT)...THIS INDICATES 
A DEGREE OF UNCERTAINTY IN THE FORECAST AND/OR EXPECTED CHANGING 
CONDITIONS. THE DANGER PRESENTED TO A VESSEL IS A FUNCTION OF WAVE 
STEEPNESS AS WELL AS WAVE HEIGHT AND IS UNIQUE TO EACH VESSEL. IN 
GENERAL FOR SMALL VESSELS...FOR A GIVEN WAVE HEIGHT THE DANGER 
INCREASES AS THE WAVE PERIOD DECREASES. 

"THE SEVENTH WAVE OF THE SEVENTH SET"...AN OLD FISHERMAN'S TALE? 
PERHAPS...BUT IT DOES SERVE TO HIGHLIGHT THAT WAVE AND SURF 
CONDITIONS ARE NOT ALWAYS CONSTANT. IN OPEN WATERS...THE OCCASIONAL 
WAVE MAY BE TWICE THAT OF THE SURROUNDING SEA. THERE ARE OCCASIONAL 
REPORTS OF "ROGUE" WAVES OF AN EVEN GREATER RATIO. NEAR 
SHORE...WAVES ARE EVEN LESS PREDICTABLE. SO-CALLED "SNEAKER WAVES" 
CAN GRAB THE UNWARY WHO VENTURE TOO CLOSE TO THE UNPREDICTABLE SEA. 
MARINERS MAY BE DRAWN TOO CLOSE TO THE SURF ZONE DURING PERIODS OF 
RELATIVE CALM. PROCEED CAUTIOUSLY AND ALWAYS BE WARY OF THIS NOT 
UNCOMMON PHENOMENON...ESPECIALLY IN AREAS WHERE BREAKING SURF IS 
KNOWN TO OCCUR OR APPEARS LIKELY.  

WINDS AND WAVES CAN CHANGE QUICKLY IN SPEED...DIRECTION AND 
STEEPNESS SO IT IS IMPORTANT YOU INCLUDE A MARINE FORECAST IN YOUR 
PREPARATIONS FOR BOATING. 

THIS MESSAGE FROM THE NATIONAL SAFE BOATING COUNCIL WAS FORWARDED TO 
YOU BY THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE AND THE NORTHEAST REGIONAL OCEAN 
OBSERVING SYSTEM...NERACOOS. 
$$

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