Whar da trade winds man!

Oriole
Sat 5 Feb 2005 21:14
As any schoolboy (or should I say person) knows, the north easterly trade winds which dominate the weather in the Caribbean are driven by the pressure difference between the North Atlantic High and low pressure further south. Unfortunately someone forgot to remind the Almighty that putting a deep depression up by Bermuda rather upsets things and this week the wind which has been very light swung round to the west and has been anywhere between NW and SW.
 
                                 
                                Look! No wind - unheard of.
 
Not only is this depression blocking the High from exerting its influence
the High has wrapped itself round it and won't let it move east out of the way. The Eastern Caribbean is not designed for this as there are not that many anchorages sheltered from the west, but it does give one the opportunity to explore places that would normally be off limits. This depression has been sending down big swells which also make the anchorages a bit rocky-rolly. Further north the weather has not been good but in Martinique it has been really lovely but without much wind to sail with.
 
 
                                   From Rodney Bay, St Lucia
 
We did have a lovely sail up here from St Lucia but we are due back there tomorrow evening to meet Andrew who arrives for 10 days with his new attachment. Small boats are not the best place to have one's first meeting with a son's girl friend but it worked fine with Robert and Dani last year so here we go again!  Await next weeks exciting installment.