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October 27th, 2009 – At Sea, 25 38N, 077 09W
by Herb McCormick
Along with powerful ocean currents like the Gulf Stream, an epic force of nature that plays a major role in regulating temperatures on both sides of the Atlantic – and which the crew of Ocean Watch has gained fresh appreciation for since sailing down the Eastern Seaboard this autumn – the trade winds are yet another forceful entity that must be contended with on long oceanic passages. And today, as Ocean Watch zigzagged through the Bahamas in the teeth of fresh, spanking trades, we’re contending to them as best we can.
Day 2 of our voyage from Miami to San Juan has been conducted in boisterous easterly trade winds, and the old seamen’s adage, “One hand for yourself, one for the ship” – a fancy way of saying, “Hold on, son!” – is a useful catchphrase indeed.
Those who’ve never experienced trade-wind sailing might ask if they truly do exist or are yet another fiction concocted by the fertile minds of mariners with too much time on their hands. But the trades are a true, scientific and atmospheric phenomenon, defined as such in one of our favorite go-to textbooks, The Sailor’s Dictionary, in the following manner:
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| Tom Hoymer (left) and Mark Schrader bask in the trade winds as Ocean Watch zigzags its way through the Bahamas. |
“Trade winds: Global winds which blow at the surface in the trade wind belt, between the low-pressure Intertropical Convergence Zone (ITCZ) and the high-pressure belts about 30-degrees north and south of the equator. Hot air rises at the ITCZ and, instead of flowing due north and south at high latitude, is diverted to flow towards the north-east and south-east by the earth’s rotation. The air then sinks and flows back as a surface wind in the opposite direction, blowing towards the equator as the NE trades in the northern hemisphere and as the SE trades in the southern.
“The trade wind belts move further north during the northern summer and further south during the northern winter. Because trade winds blow steadily and virtually constantly, they are useful to sailors who can run or reach across oceans.”
This latter point is particularly relevant, as the trade winds were so named for the reliable downwind sailing conditions favored by the square-rigged vessels of yore in the great ages of exploration and commerce under sail. Quite literally, they were agents of business and trade, and ship’s captains locked into their reliable power to sail the fastest, most efficient routes possible. And trade-wind sailing can be exhilarating, as skipper Mark Schrader, first mate Dave Logan and I discovered when racing the Cal 40, Dancing Bear, in the Transpac Race from Los Angeles to Honolulu a few years ago. Flying into the islands under spinnaker, notching double-digit boat speeds before the beautiful trades, was some of the best downwind sailing of our lives.
There’s only one problem with the trade winds, really. Sometimes, like today, you need to make miles upwind and directly into them. It’s what you might call a trade-off.
Unlike those ancient square-riggers, Ocean Watch is equipped with a mighty Lugger auxiliary diesel engine, and it’s been ticking over ever since leaving Miami on Monday. In concert with our reefed mainsail, we’ve been tacking upwind through the Bahamian chain, and making steady if lumpy progress. Last evening, the shipping traffic through the islands was incredible, particularly the cruise ships that beat a well-worn path from South Florida, and the sheer volume was actually quite surprising. We saw more freighters, tankers and cruise ships last night than on any other single night of the voyage thus far.
As always, it could be worse. The trade winds really kick in later in the season; in the Caribbean, the “Christmas trades” are especially renowned for their punch. Last year was an especially windy year in the islands, but of course, when the trades beset and hammer cruising sailors, they have an option we don’t currently enjoy. They stay in harbor and enjoy their surroundings, and wait for conditions to improve.
So, while the big easterlies are still weeks away here in the Bahamas, it’s still quite breezy, with steady winds
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| While the big easterlies are weeks away, it’s still quite breezy, with steady winds ranging from 18-25 knots. |
ranging anywhere from 18-25 knots. The bigger problem, actually, isn’t on deck, but below. In a previous incarnation, Ocean Watch was equipped with not one but three air-conditioning units, all of which were removed when the boat was refit for the trip around the Americas. There were good reasons, of course: AC burns a lot of power and fuel, and the space it took up has been reallocated for such items as our SeaKeeper 1000 ocean-sampling system. Still, when it’s blowing 25-knots, on deck there’s plenty of spray and commotion, and as a result all the hatches are shut and secured. We’re now learning that OW, bless her sturdy, steel heart, is not the best ventilated boat on the Seven Seas. In fact, as I write, there’s a thermometer off to my side that’s currently registering 91 degrees in the main cabin, and I’m guessing it may be off a degree or two, and not on the cool side.
It’s never fun when you break a sweat typing.
So, you know, there’s that. But, honestly, we’re not complaining…not after several frigid months above the Arctic Circle. Less enlightened chaps than we might wish for less extreme changes, but a typical day in the Arctic, taken with the present weather, averages out to a most pleasant 60-65 degrees.
I’m hoping if I keep telling myself that, I’ll start to believe it. But lest on thinks I’m the only one here verging on heat stroke, here’s an excerpt from today’s edition of Skipper Mark Schrader’s log:
“Several times today I’ve reflected on the last weather report I watched on the Weather Channel yesterday morning. Wet, cold and breezy weather was happening in the Pacific Northwest with snow predicted in parts of Colorado and Wyoming. Apparently some ski resorts have opened early. That’s not what’s happening here. Right now while I’m sitting at the chart table a small fan is circulating 100° air over my head. Herb is sitting behind me without benefit of fan, typing away on today’s story.
“With help from a moderate easterly breeze the outside temperature isn’t all that uncomfortable – the problem is we can’t get that outside breeze inside the boat without bringing spray in with it. Ocean Watch is doing a pretty good job motor-sailing into a four to five foot swell but she moves lots of water as the bow plunges through one wave and takes a hit from another. The deck, doghouse and dodger are wet most of the time so all hatches and portlights are closed. The engine is running which adds a significant amount of heat to the interior. Our two large forward dorade vents allow some air to circulate but it isn’t enough; we’re living in a pitching and rolling sauna, a condition that isn’t likely to change for the better in the near future.
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| Although the temperature is cooler outside, the hatches need be closed to keep out the spray. Hot, muggy, stale air mixed with overheated bodies isn’t much fun for anyone. |
“Great Abaco Island is 12 nautical miles due north; Eleuthera Island is 15 nautical miles southeast of our track and the open Atlantic Ocean is just beyond. Once Eleuthera is abeam we’ll be able to change course and head directly for San Juan, Puerto Rico, and 740 nm to the southeast. If our easterly wind holds steady we may actually be able to shut down the engine, hoist some headsails and open some hatches. I admit to some wishful thinking here. Hot, muggy, stale air mixed with overheated bodies isn’t much fun for anyone. In a few minutes I’m heading for some shade on the aft deck with a wet towel on my head – where I’ll do my best to visualize icebergs and snowfall. Wait a minute – McCormick must have been looking over my shoulder – he just exited the cabin with what looks like a wet towel and is heading for my favorite spot.
“One last bit of trivia. The ocean at this position is 13,560 feet deep! In less than 12nm it will be 39 feet deep. That’s a big mountain. I’m happy to report all are well aboard OW.”
Thus on we go, out of the relatively protected Bahamian waters, and later tonight, into the open Atlantic. One way or another, in less than a week we’ll be out of the current weather and tied up in Puerto Rico.
There’s only one problem, really, but it’s a knotty one. Those southeast trades on the next leg of the voyage, to Rio de Janeiro? Now they’re supposed to be downright nasty.
- Herb McCormick and Mark Schrader with photographs by David Thoreson
This crew log submitted by Iridium OpenPort and Stratos
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