The waves that had been generated by the light southerly now are completely turned around by the northerly. Consequently, the seas become lumpy. The wind is strong, coming in the direction of your destination. If you add in shallow water or seas reflected from rocky shorelines, you could find yourself dealing with a very confused sea state. This is when boaters are most vulnerable.
Smaller boats feel the waves and wind conditions much more than larger ones.
Heavy weather feels much heavier in a smaller boat, which means you should take precautions much earlier than you would aboard a larger vessel. At the mooring, the wind measured between 10 and 14 knots. We set sail and proceeded to make a very wet trip upwind. Spray came over the bow, and the boat occasionally seemed to stop as the apparent wind of 18 to 20 knots pounded us. Sailing downwind, the wind dropped to 6 to 8 knots and our sail became very pleasant.