Articles with the topic 'Weather'

Monday, the 8th of May, and the transformation is complete, as in, we're in full hurricane mode here folks. You may possibly be asking, what is hurricane mode? It's that tedious, but brief span of time that seems to go on forever when all you can do is wait for the thing to pass, kinda like a kidney stone, but this one's about 400 miles across. Donna, the kidney stone's name, is...

We'd just arrived off our passage from Brisbane, Australia in lovely New Caledonia to discover a late season tropical depression was forming north of Vanuatu. Over the course of the following week, the storm spun up into Cyclone Donna. Come aboard with the crew of S/Y Feelin' Good as we prepare for the storm and then ride out at anchor in our 'hurricane hole'. When it was over, we...

Cyclone season in the Pacific is opposite to hurricane season in the Caribbean. Over here, it starts November 1 and is supposed to be over by the end of April. This year there was absolutely nothing until late March when Cyclone Debbie slammed into northern Queensland (getting us pretty wet with heavy rains in Brisbane). Everyone assumed the show was over, no more cyclones now as...

It was at around four this morning that the Tsunami warnings went off here in Tonga. Apparently this region of the Pacific received a meter high wave courtesy of the Chilean earth quake. For us here aboard Feelin' Good it was thankfully a non-event. Art has informed me that I slept through the whole thing, so I have no recollection of the tsunami's arrival. I will have no exciting...

For most yachts, when Il Maestrale winds come to Sardegna, they hunker down in some wind-protected anchorage to wait it out. Hoping it to last only a day or two while the winds take charge and blow at 35-45 kts or more, they swing along their anchorages with their captains losing sleep to check continuously that the yacht is not slipping off the anchorage and crashing into the many...

It's eight-thirty in the morning, the sun is up and light fills a blue sky, however these small facts defy the reality of the situation. Outside a 45 knot gale is raging, what is famously known here in the Mediterranean as "Il Maestrale", and even though we're securely anchored, it feels more like we're being tossed about in rough seas.

Weather is something I'm rather fond of. When I was an active pilot, it was crucial to get a good understanding of the weather before I took off or landed somewhere. Sailing has a similar need for good weather understanding. The difference being the slower speed of the yacht versus an airplane and the size of the area you need to study the weather. I find my prior knowledge of...

A magnificent book that will take me a long time to work through. I think it's a terrific reference to have on-board so I can do some review before I tackle any weather. Obviously Peter Bruce is an expert on heavy weather sailing techniques and there's a lot to learn from him. In talking with others, this book appears in the conversation whenever the topic of sailing in heavy weather...