September Public Meeting: Elliot Rappaport - Reading the Glass
For more than 30 years, Elliot Rappaport has sailed as a captain in the US maritime industry aboard traditional tall sailing ships—like those that traversed the oceans before the days of steamships. These types of ships are still used for scientific expeditions, and although they are now equipped with modern technology, they ultimately depend on wind to get them from place to place, much like humans have been sailing for millennia.
READING THE GLASS—which takes its name from an old-fashioned expression for reading barometric pressure—is a wonderful mix of weather science, travelogue, and professional confessional, taking us on a journey around the world to witness weather from the deck of a sailing ship.
Rappaport will talk about:
• How sailors handle fearsome storms they can’t avoid.
• How climate change is impacting sailors.
• What separates a tropical storm from a winter blizzard, or a gentle breeze from a gale, and how warm water and winds combine to create vastly different land climates.
• How to read the clouds.
• When the worst happens.
• The fascinating pioneers of meteorology.
• How nations protect against underwater invaders.
• And more, like what’s the snowiest place on earth? Which letters of the alphabet are never used to name hurricanes? What is sea smoke? Which country experiences lightning on average 300 days per year?
In Person: Savin Hill Yacht Club doors open at 6:30pm. Optionally bring a snack to share.
Virtual: Zoom link sent via email after registration.
This even is free and is open to the public.