Sunday, December 4, 2011

Work had to stop for a while …

… as we have been encountering bad sea conditions since yesterday. We had Force 9 on the Beaufort scale of wind force (see blog post 17 Nov) yesterday afternoon and the surface of the sea was covered with spindrifts.


The ship instrument at the top of the mast (34m above the waterline) registered gusts of wind up to 60.7 knots (110 km/h).

31.1 is the current wind speed in knots and 60.7 is
the maximum value recorded yesterday.
202.5 is the heading of the ship at this moment.

Moving around in the ship becomes difficult, we have to keep ‘one hand for the ship’ (which means do not walk with both hands carrying something, but keep one hand free to hold in case of strong wave). It gives you the feeling of being drunk - without a drop of alcohol! - while trying to walk in a straight line.
Climbing the stairs is a tricky exercise not to mention trying to sleep while rolling from one side of your bed to the other!

Every single object on board has to be properly stored and secured to prevent any dangerous falls.
Cupboard doors and drawers are equipped with a lock which prevents them from opening inadvertently.



Hopefully the weather is improving and the wind is dying down gently … we should be able to resume work in the next few hours.