Using an anemometer when kayaking

When kayak fishing, I often wondered how fast the wind was blowing.  And when checking weather predictions, I often wondered how to evaluate the wind speed prediction. To help answer these questions, I bought a hand-held anemometer and have started bringing it on kayak fishing trips. It has been educational.  Now I can tell if the wind is blowing 10 mph, 15 mph, or 20 mph.  I'm starting to learn what those wind speeds feel like on my face, what waves and whitecaps coming from a long fetch look like at those wind speeds, how those wind speeds affect my efforts to hold myself stationary over the bottom when jigging, how much a headwind of those speeds slows up my kayak, and how much a tail wind of those speeds speeds up my kayak. And it has helped me make better decisions about whether to go kayaking based on wind speed predictions.

The anemometer I bought cost $28.00, and is easy to use.  The buttons are clear and intuitive. I can pull it out and check the wind speed in a couple of seconds. The wind direction indicator I mount on my kayak when fishing helps me keep the anemometer pointed directly into the wind - see https://www.northwestkayakanglers.com/index.php?topic=18212.msg195603#msg195603. I store the anemometer in a $5.88 Outdoor Products dry box which I bought at Walmart, which just fits the anemometer in its zipper case.

 

So were you overestimating or underestimating before getting scientific? You can get within 5kts with a windsock, but I rarely see windsocks while fishing so...

So were you overestimating or underestimating before getting scientific? You can get within 5kts with a windsock, but I rarely see windsocks while fishing so...

before I started checking wind speeds with my anemometer, I tended to think that the wind was blowing faster than it actually was. For example, if the wind was blowing at 10 mph, I might think it was blowing at 15 mph. The problem with that kind of over-estimating is if the wind was predicted to be 20 mph, I might think "hey, I can handle 15 mph no problem, so 20 mph should be OK," and then discover that the wind was a bit stiffer than I anticipated.