clouds: better at a distance

phil and i took a short sail today, left the marina at 2 and were right off san francisco by 4. the national weather service had a hazardous weather warning out for possible thunderstorms in the afternoon. yesterday i believed them, and they were right, but today turned out to be a perfect day. phil just got his pilot’s license recently, and is much better versed on clouds than i am. we kept a pretty close eye on some anvil-shaped formations (they can punch up from 1,000 up to 45,000 feet, creating severe updrafts in the process). these anvil clouds are the real hell-hammer type, the ones that can put a serious damper (or is that dampening) on an otherwise perfect spring day of sailing. also, i have not personally tested the theory that boats are entirely safe in a thunderstorm. there is part of me that looks at that 30′ aluminum mast as a lightning tickler.