Scheveningen / Holland have we learned something new?
Salsa af Stavsnas
Ellinor Ristoff Staffan Ehde
Mon 16 Jul 2012 07:42
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Yesterday we sailed from the island of Vlieland to
Scheveningen by den Haag, we are very close to Rotterdam, can even see the
cranes when at sea. The ride yesterday was great! We started 0600 in the
morning, set sail after one hour of motoring out through the shallow waters of
Vlieland, then sailed 106nM closed hauled and made it in 16 hours! Waves are
tough in the Nord sea and it is interesting to learn how we read the
forecast.
We have had some rough times going to Borkum and
Vlieland, not to start with, but at the end of the journey. Why? Was there any
wrong with the weather forecast? Actually not. We have a great weather routing
program (Meteo Com) and when you look at what it said afterwards and
compared to what we read before you realize it was all there. What we learned is
that when we think 9-10 meter/sec from the Baltic- or even the archipellago of
Stockholm, that is no big deal.Even if it is the wrong direction, we tack, no
problem. Well the same figure on an open sea that is only 20 meters deep (that
is probably what makes the North sea so tough, shallow waters in combination
with big fetch (long streches of water where waves can build up)) is something
else. We read that the wind is going to come from the side, veering against us
at the end, no problem. WRONG, at the end, when the wind is working against us
we will soon have 2 meter waves smashing on the bow, to makes things worse the
tide is probably also going the wrong direction, all this means that as we tack
we might make a progress of 1 nM per hour! 1knot! Suddenly the last
5 procent of the entire journey takes 40% of the time to complete! With so
much hassle! So you might think, well stupid, is that a surprise? Well don t we
say that there are two way of understanding, intellectual and emotional? We have
to get it in to our bodies.
And the kids hów are they doing as we learn the
lessons?
To our surprise, they don´t care. As long as we are
in good mood, they are. We are in good mood thanks to Ellinors way of dealing
with things. She is always calm, she is always working on keeping things clean
and in order. I´m always making sure everybody is getting food, even when the
galley it tilted 20 degrees and the children take waves as something fun. Could
we learn more? You bet, we learn all the time! The sea makes sure we
learn....
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