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September 25th, 2009 – At Sea, 42 25N, 069 04W
by Herb McCormick and Mark Schrader
This will be brief.
Sailors love sayings. One of everyone’s favorites is, “Red sky at night, sailor’s delight,” which means that fair weather and favorable winds can be expected the next day. The corollary is, “Red sky in the morning, sailor’s take warning,” which speaks for itself.
Guess what color the sky was today at dawn?
Actually, it was a gorgeous sunrise, with a canopy of stars giving way to a fresh new morning. Dave Logan, teacher Zeta Strickland and I were on watch, and with the calm seas and light winds – combined with a clear, razor-sharp horizon – we were wondering if we might see a green flash…if, in fact, the Holy Grail of Sunsets could actually be witnessed at dawn. We can now testify: Yes, it can.
It wasn’t technically a red sky, not the kind that really sets things ablaze and foretells truly brutal weather. But there was no doubt about it, the clouds above suddenly turned crimson. Off to the west, dark clouds lurked. Before long, the ocean became darker, choppier.
And a few hours later, the barometer rose about ten millibars in roughly the time it took to type this sentence, and Ocean Watch was pasted by a fair-weather northerly gale. Here’s skipper Mark Schrader’s report on the day’s activities:
“It is apparent to all of us that the North Atlantic Ocean wants to give us our money’s worth before we find Boston and points south. For a very brief time last night and early this morning the sea was flat, the wind a gentle breeze and stars were everywhere. Then this morning happened. When I crawled into my bunk in the calm hours this morning I opened a port close to my head to let in fresh air and went to sleep. Sometimes conditions change rapidly. A few hours later a very cold, salty splash right on my sleeping face was the urgent warning to close the port and get ready for more.
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| The seas came up quickly, driven by a steady 28 to 34 knots of northerly wind. |
“More is what we’ve had for the past seven hours. The seas came up quickly, driven by a steady 28 to 34 knots of northerly wind. We’re heading west so the seas and wind are on the beam. Once again we’re enjoying steep, short-period, impolite waves. Ocean Watch does pretty well in these conditions but every few minutes or so the portlight above this nav station where I’m attempting to type provides a good underwater view straight down into the ocean as OW is rolled by the larger beam seas. The contents of most of the starboard side bookshelves, cabinets and lockers have emptied themselves at least once during one of the many recent violent hits and the cockpit and deck have been thoroughly and repeatedly washed clean.
“We’ve all had another look at the forecast for today and tonight, nothing suggested these conditions so I’m guessing (hoping) the wind will moderate by late afternoon and the seas will follow. Until then, we’re rolling along with a storm staysail, triple reefed main while occasionally trying to catch books, pieces of fruit, cups and cushions as they fly by. The good news, we’re just now exactly 100 nautical miles from Boston, averaging 8.2 knots with an ETA of 0445.
“Not far from Boston and ready to be finished with this leg, I’m happy to report all are okay aboard Ocean Watch.”
- Herb McCormick and Mark Schrader with photographs by David Thoreson
This crew log submitted by Iridium OpenPort and Stratos
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