From sitting on the water that may seem often the case but from an aviation perspective that is not entirely correct. Those big cummulo nimbus ( the big vertical clouds with explosive looking tops ) are incrediably destructive due to the amount of air being sucked up ( something to fear if you are a hang glider or parascending plot )but equally at ground level they create fantastic lines of " wind " which you can run along the front of in your boat, thats how they get across the atlantic averaging 30 odd knots.

Now if you start talking about nimbo stratus and the like then you need to start thinking about " dewpoint " which is the key to forecasting height of the cloud and just how much you are going to get hosed down today.