Wind in your ear is definitely a sign.
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Thanks for that insight!
i was wearing a ball cap with a very stiff brim (its snug elastic headliner and my thick ponytail pulled through the opening above the rear buckle kept it on my head in the “gale”) and it seemed as if the whistling noise I was hearing during the gusts was from air flowing over that brim in front of my ears.
Great paddling hat, by the way – a $4.99 pickleball-themed cap from Aldi’s. I happened to have an embroidered patch that I stitched on to cover the racket logo. The brow liner is soft absorbent fleece all the way around and the brim is completely inflexible. It’s damp in the pic because I just finished mowing my lawn in subtropical conditions. I’ve learned that th poly fabric dries very quickly. Might not be as reliable in wind if the wearer lacks enough hair for a ponytail, though.
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Here is a GPS record of our longer outing two days after the one against the wind. The multiple squiggles on the left were our departure from Flood’s Cove – the paddler with the tracker chose to go down to the end of the cove and come back as the remaining 2 of us were getting our crap together to launch. Then we cut through the over the reef (it was the morning high tide) northwest of the launch and turned south along the peninsula to head towards our easterly route.
For the windy paddle on Sunday, 2 of us had paddled to the end of the cove (low tide so the short cut was not navigable) and rounded the peninsula to head north. We reached that hook-shaped island (at the land gap above the “a” in “Nature”) way at the top left corner of the map before I was finally able to convince my companion (after nagging her for a mile) that we were out way past what the Marine weather report had said was safe that day. She was miffed that I refused to accompany her in rounding that island but 20 minutes into our return trip the predicted winds and waves kicked up. Can’t see it in that map view but there are no islands between our route that day and the open Atlantic so the reach was major and the winds there trend from the SSE – nothing between us and Cape Cod to buffer them.
First time paddling with that person – would not do so again without others along who could back me up in making judgements on when to turn back (or were willing to stick with her while I bailed.) On later trips her friend who joined us up there the next day shared my cautions and would vote with me on our route and timing decisions.
After they left I had a great day paddling around Cow Island (off the map to the southwest of Martin) with my trusted long time friend and seasoned kayaker Celia (who I met through these forums and who knows those waters intimately after nearly 4 decades of summering there in a cabin adjacent to the one I rented.)
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Nice hat. Paddling for 90 minutes into 28 mph wind is a demanding experience, especially with a narrow GP. Finding a good paddling partner is rewarding and a real bonus when in unfamiliar waters. Fortunately, you had the right instincts. I’ve only noticed wind whistling in my ears a few times when wind speed is reported as 15 to 20 mph with gusts to 30 mph.
You’re a long time paddler, so you’re undoubtedly familiar with reading wind speed, but new kayakers might not be aware of methods for estimating wind speed and direction. This book had some tips that I found helpful, so I’ll mention a few that help me with estimating wind strength.
For kayakers who are unfamiliar with open water, wind and current can become overpowering in an instant, especially with a change in the tide which is significant in that area (I’m accustomed to a tidal range of 1.2 to 2 ft).
Wind isn’t felt on the face until about 4 mph. So paddling at 4 mph with wind to your back feels stagnant. If there is no wind, turning around to paddle in the opposite direction will feel equally stagnant, but paddling at 4 mph into a 4 mph wind will then feel like 8 mph. When the wind approaches 10 mph, cat paw ripples show up between the waves (circled).
With wind from behind and paddling at 4 mph, wind over 8 mph will be felt curling on your face and ears when turning your head left or right. When wind speed hits around 7 mph to 15 mph, i noticed that froth bubbles form in parralel rows. The rows are about 20 to 30 feet apart and in line with the wind. The phenomenon is known as Langmuir circulation, and the lines point in the direction of the wind. The lines typically form in my area when SE wind travels up the Chesapeake Bay unobstructed from the ocean for over 100 miles.
While current will slow or aid progress proportiknally, wind resistance under 10 mph is negligible. However, resistance grows exponentially as wind velocity increases. I’ve seen a head wind of 20 mph wind stall forward progress of recreation boats.
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Growing up on the coast and years latter sea kayaking and then taking up sailing you learn to pay much closer attention to tidal changes and winds. It’s an important part of the skill set needed as is understanding navigation techniques. I have several books on the topics, but don’t remember wind speed and whistling in the ears but did know humming in the rigging is caused by approximately 20mph winds. Thanks for that tidbit. Also, you start to see whitecaps about 10mph. At 15 you see about half the waves white capping and at 20 almost all the waves do so. At 25 to 30 you get spray off the waves.
The moon phase and tides go hand in hand.
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I should add wind against tide often makes for rougher conditions.
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We had the daily tide charts for the month, thanks to Celia. High to low ranges for the week we were there were between roughly 7 and 11 feet. This, and the marine maps, were important to account for due to the many reefs and peripheral rock ledges in our routes.
During the dicey run we were driving directly into trains of sharp topped waves with periods shorter than the length of our 16’ kayaks. Likely due to the shallowness of the coves. I have encountered this before in large shallow lakes with a few miles of reach. Would have been nasty in anything but a competent sea kayak. We lucked out that the tide was rising by that point — we were midpoint between low and high.
I was glad I had the GP — would have been fighting the wind with a standard blade. I carry a 72” GP storm as a deck spare when I use either type of paddle.
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Hope Celia is well.
-sing
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It’s amazing what conditions kayaks can handle.
She admitted to being a bit out of paddling shape (a busy lady with all of her musical and volunteer commitments) but did fine on our circumnavigation of Cow Island on my last day up there. I finally have a kayak capable of keeping up with her in her Romany, at least.
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Good to hear - the trip report and update on Celia. 
-sing
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Once I relocate my camera in the piles of gear I unloaded from the camper on Tuesday I will download my photos of from our Cow Island outing.
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Got one photo downloaded. Process is slow in sorting and editing the images (it was overcast both days I shot with the Pentax and they have to be enhanced because they are so murky) .
Won’t finish tonight – too tired. But here’s Celia as we started around Cow Island.
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Looks well used. Plastic is heavy, but it sure takes punishment.
OK, I’ve uploaded this but it doesn’t seem to be in the main blog. Any advice about how to get more involved would be appreciated.
I’ve actually got this pic up, but don’t know how 
In the middle of the header at the top of the reply box in which you are writing your reply is a rectangle that represents a photo. You click on that symbol and another box pops up on your screen in which you then locate the folder with the photos you want to add to your reply. You click on the photo you want to add to your reply. The photo will then be placed in your reply where you have the cursor located in the reply. You can add multiple photos to your reply.
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Often there is a delay in loading a JPEG image. Just be patient – same can occur when you make an edit.