[Public-List] (no subject)

[Dave Terrell]

Thanks to all who responded
 
I sail in West Grand Traverse Bay in northwestern Michigan.Grand Traverse Bay is about 30 miles long and is divided into east and west bay by an 18 mile long peninsula. Both bays are fairly narrow. I think I was between a  half mile and a  mile from shore.  Since the end of August the mid west  has been the beneficary of a stable large high. That day there was hardly any wind. I have no reason to think the lake and the bay were having much different conditions. I could check the weather history and confirm that observation. These waves came from east to west. To the extent that there was any wave train that day, it would typically be from the northeast.
 
A soliton looks like looks like a good possibility. What I could see from the boat looked a lot like the soliton in the strait of Gibralter image. The one difference is that that the Gibralter soliton appeared to be curved while the wave pattern I saw was straighter. It held together going all the way across the bay. 
 
I am interested in any other approaches to understanding this event that may be out there.
 
David

>>> Hugh McCormack <hugh_alberg at hotmail.com> 09/19/09 8:58 AM >>> 

Hello Dave, 



I am intrigued by your experience and was looking at Google Maps for some ideas. I have some questions that might help solve the mystery. From the info you have already given I think it is safe to say that the local 2-4 knots of wind were not the cause. 



Where abouts on the bay were you when you experienced these waves? Was Lake Michigan as calm as the bay? Also what was the approximate distance between wave crests? From which direction did the wave train come? 


Cheers, 



Hugh 


> Date: Fri, 18 Sep 2009 09:35:01 -0400 
> From: Dterrell at message.nmc.edu 
> To: public-list at alberg30.org 
> Subject: [Public-List] (no subject) 
> 
> Earlier this summer while I was sailing Grand Traverse Bay in winds of 2 to 4 kts apparent with calm flat water and no power boats in the area, there suddenly appeared about about ten wave crests - one was a breaking wave - I thiink some of them might have been two feet high. The water around these waves was flat like all the rest of the water on the bay. When they passed - having bumped me around pretty well - the sea remained flat and the winds remained at the same speeds for most of the rest of the afternoon. The wave crests went all the way across the bay. I saw an other sail boat get knocked around as I was. The whole event lasted about two minutes - maybe a little more or less.                        
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