If you are sitting in a boat or in St. Nicholas, a sound coming from the north shore will sound louder than the same sound heard by a person on land. Sound can be amplified when it travels over water.
The reason is that the water cools the air above its surface, which then slows down the sound waves near the surface. This causes refraction or bending of the sound wave, such that more sound reaches the boat passenger or St Nicholas resident. Sound waves skimming the surface of the water can add to the amplification effect, if the water is calm.
The speed of sound is the distance travelled during a unit of time by a sound wave propagating through an elastic medium. In dry air at 68 Â°F, the speed of sound is 1,126 ft/s. This is 768 mph, or approximately one mile in five seconds.
However, the speed of sound varies from substance to substance. Sound travels faster in liquids and non-porous solids than it does in air. It travels about 4.3 times as fast in water 4868.766 f/s, and nearly 15 times as fast in iron 16,797.9 f/s than in air at 68F degrees.
Just hold the concerts on wet windy days when the water is at a chop and you'll have no complaints.