Yesterday the Captain informed us that today, the last full day on the sea, we would experience gale force winds. Conceptually I knew what that meant, but I’ve never been on the ocean with a big wind. My longest journey on the water before this trip was from the mainland to Vancouver Island, and the weather had never been all that rough. He gave a little more information. On the way through Hecate Straight, the waves would be 5 or 6 metres.
5 or 6 metres doesn’t sound that bad. Single digit anything doesn’t sound all that bad generally, but then I looked out at the waves that were already making the ship bounce a bit. They were maybe 2 metres.
Morning has arrived and things are picking up. I went up on deck with my coffee. Not smart. The wind whipped the coffee out of the mug in short order. After dispencing with the cup, I went back out. I never did get to the front of the ship. It took all my strength to just stand in place half way up the starboard side. That was cool. Definitely felt like Leonardo DiCaprio (20 years older, fifty pounds heavier, and we won’t talk about the looks, ok?)
I’ve retreated to the solarium where I can watch the waves in peace. They are still only up to 3 metres maxiumum, but the day is young.
A few hours have passed and the wind has picked up a bit. Steeling myself against the buffetting wind, I’ve advanced to the front of the ship. It’s actually windiest on the sides where it funnels through. The wind is whipping the drawstrings of my hoodie against my face. The first few times, it is novel, but soon it’s stinging and I head in. Some of the bigger waves I would guess are 4 metres.
The Captain has just informed us that the wind is 45 knots. I’ll have to figure out what that is in landlubber speeds when I get home.
Pictures are pretty useless, but I’ll add one in anyways.