– or what I’ve learned after 450 miles sailed this summer and 7 weeks on board Reflection.
Calm – Air is still, water like glass. 0-3kts Beautiful way to start a day. Out on deck, cup of coffee in hand marveling at the mirror like reflections.
Slight Breeze – Start to feel air on your face. 4-8kts Enjoy the cool breeze from the cockpit watch the water come to life.
Nice Breeze – Brim of hats start to move, ripples start on the water. 8-10kts
Start to think this is going to be a great day to sail.
Cruising Breeze – Sweet spot for sailing. Decide to take off on a passage. Secure hat on head, unfurl and adjust the sails all the way and sit back knowing the free, fun, fuel for your boat is doing all the work. 10-15kts
Reefing Breeze – Should we reef crosses your mind and of course we should. Now. Adjust the sails. Feels like we are gliding swiftly over the water – may reach hull speed. Waves start to build. 15-18kts.
Zesty Breeze – Caught out in a zesty breeze? Brace your self – always one hand for you one hand for the boat. Waves continue to build, surfing may happen, start to exceed hull speed, the boat wants to round up – reef some more. 19-25kts.
Concerning Wind – May be strong and gusty up rigging starts to whistle, consider hand steering to minimize impact of the waves. Brace with feet. Adopt a serious composure – tell yourself it’s only xxx more miles….25-29kts.
Too Much Wind – Depending on direction of wind and waves….completely roll up sails – well maybe leave out a little mainsail, fire up Mr. Westerbeke (our trusty diesel engine) and make for port ASAP. Anything over 29kts. Eager for passage to end. Look for a marina and take a slip.
Howling Wind – Roaring across the water and land, whistling through the rigging, creating wind chime symphony effect on loose halyards clanging on masts. Hang on, grit teeth,sing your favorite sea shanty refrain over and over…. I sing “Unsinkable”, by Sail North. ( Link: https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=sOpWzTeqUgQ ) try not to break anything – boat or body! 30-45kts.
Screaming Banshee of a Gale – All of the attributes of the Howling Wind plus shrieking shrouds, White caps, big waves, demanding respect. Layover day, stay tied up. Bobbing around, waves flogging and slapping the sides of the boat listen to the wind scream and howl. In addition to the rock and roll of the boat, there is the toss and turn trying to get through the night.
Wait for morning to assess the wind….. Such is our life on the water. Sometime we are blessed with perfect, but most of the time we have a wide range of conditions on any given passage. Even when we check the sky, the weather, the wind models, the predictions NOAA weather radio, barometric pressure, high fronts and low fronts, clouds, sky, waves, local conditions, conditions where we are headed and in between. Suffice it to say. No matter how sophisticated weather reporting/forecasting has become. It’s still variable – by a lot – on an given day. Maybe that’s why it seems like such an adventure. Sailing into the unknown, trusting your skills, learning new things, and living with the thrill(???) of potentially serious unknown conditions. Just like living.