question for the guys around tampa, sarasota...

...just wondering what the sailing's like here in the summer. i've been getting some great days out here lately; it seems like the last two weeks have been full of days with 12-15kt winds. are the summers as good as the winters? does the wind blow all day in the summer, or are we limited to afternoon offshores, and if so, how strong are they?

also, i know there is lightning almost every day here during some parts of the summer. what do you guys do about that?

i pay attention to the weather quite a bit in the winter, because that's when we get our surf, but unless there's a hurricane in the gulf, i don't look to closely at the wind during the eight months of summer, so i have no idea what i'm in for. this will be my first summer with my new boat.

I live in Largo, and have sailed around here on and off for 20 years. I can tell you after the last cold fronts roll through in the spring, the summer winds prevail with offshores in the afternoon, maybe getting to 10 mph on average. With a tropical storm nearby or blown through, we see more wind. The afternoon thunderstorms do prevail most everyday in the summer, they are scattered, you have to watch for them. The winds in the thunderstorm can be 30 mph. I try to avoid them, or sail to the beach and wait them out since they have lots of lightning, they usually only last for 30 minutes or so.