“A pocket of energy is in the Gulf of Mexico. The moisture and warm water temperature, along with the trough extending from Hispanola to the Bahamas will cause significant disturbance in the weather, possibly in the northeastern Caribbean.”
The Exclamation Marks suggest possible lightning strikes along the sailing route south……
I listened intently before I realized I had no idea what Chris Parker, our weather router, was telling us. 150 of us sailors were packed into a large room, called ‘the dawg house’ watching the large screen on Zoom as he flipped through the weather patterns. The Salty Dawg Sailing Association, a group of sailors, gathered at this time every year to head south on their sailboats to the Caribbean or the Bahamas. We all sat in complete silence, our gaze fixated on the screen, while Chris continued to speak. He spoke for an hour, ending with, “So it is too early to say whether this will turn into the next hurricane, Patty.”
“Will we know more in 2 days when the next meeting is scheduled?” asked the meeting organizer.
Chris flipped through a few remaining images of the weather patterns before answering, “No.”
I glanced around the room full of sailors. They were buzzing with conversations that ranged from, “He said we would be fine. I guess that means we should leave tomorrow,” to “He said Hurricane Patty could head to Bermuda along the trough. If that happens, we will be truly f****d.” to “ I’m waiting until hurricane season is over. Maybe I should go home.”
One thing I learned early on about sailors. They are not normal. The group interpreted the same weather information according to their pre-set ideas. Many had crew that had taken 2 weeks off work and needed to get back before time ran out. Many just wanted to get back out on the ocean. Many kept coming back year after year to go through this same routine, knowing that somehow things usually worked out.
I have tried to understand what drives sailors to go sailing in hurricane season. Sure, there is the allure of the tropics, and hanging out on champagne beaches drinking margaritas. Laying in a hammock between two palm trees with the warm trade winds tickling the skin without a worry ever crossing your mind. Who wouldn’t want that? You might think sailors would learn that you can get all that by flying there on a jet. It’s infinitely cheaper. It is safer. And, you can get there in a few hours rather than a few weeks on a sailboat getting beaten up by the rough seas.
Yet here we are, packed into the dawg house, unable to keep our enthusiasm of getting back on the ocean in check balanced with realistic expectations.
Meeting with some other salty dawgs at Bulls Brewery later the same night, it was startling to hear some stories after a few mason glasses of the local brew. One couple had lived and worked on their boat for the past 12 years. They paid no rent and would throw out the anchor wherever they ended up. The details of their work seemed somewhat dodgy, and they were light on the details, but they made enough to feed themselves and seemed genuinely happy with their lives. Another couple decided they would spend the next 6 months on their boat to see if this was a sensible retirement plan. They seemed a little more alarmed about the developing weather in the Caribbean. Even more alarming was the thought of giving up their winter of skiing……so they could have the daylights scared out of them….
For me, it is almost as if I cannot help myself. The huge expanse of the ocean is calling. I suppose anyone can understand the attraction of watching the sun go down with the skies exploding in a kaleidoscope of colours hundreds of miles from the closest shore. Or, the millions of stars shining in the darkness that carpet the heavens during a night shift on deck, alone, while the others sleep. I think about how lucky I am to be able to do this. The ocean seems to have a way of calming the soul and making everything worthwhile. It is returning to the basics of life and managing. Just like in life, things will go wrong, but I will make it through a better, more experienced person than when I left.
And there are always the wonders of the ocean that keep us coming back for more……
A pod of dolphins coming to play alonside my boat yesterday as I sailed to the Bluewater Marina in the Chesapeake Bay…..
We will find out later today more about the weather. I suspect the forecast will be given as ‘a work in progress.’
“Hey,” we will all say after listening to another hour of weather routing, “Since we don’t know for sure, why don’t we leave anyway and adjust our plans if the weather picture becomes clear. We can always hunker down in Bermuda……..”
