OceanAir, your detachment is admirable. So long as you do not communicate with other paddlers about wind and sea conditions, then your indifference to the actual, measured wind speed makes no difference whatever to anyone else's decisions about when and where to paddle. The value of actually knowing how hard the wind is blowing is that it provides a common, verifiable language among kayakers and other mariners, just like agreeing on a common standard for measuring distance (sea miles), boat or wind speed (knots), etc. Anemometers, viewed in this light, are just like a kayaker having charts, timepieces, compasses, etc.; an anemometer is yet another tool for knowing what's really going on around you, and being able to exchange accurate data with others.