I couldn't have had a much better time in this "storm". My mooring is too exposed to leave the boat with the possible combination of swells and even normal easterly winds so I had to go out for the weekend.
I met up at Peaks Island with friends passing through in this 39 foot schooner I designed years ago.
Tim sailed by in Cordelia on the other side of the channel and we hailed him but he didn't answer. I think he was up on the foredeck.
Later, we moved around to the other side of the Diamond Islands for the night and had a great dinner swapping sea stories. It doesn't get much better than hanging out with good friends on a boat you designed or being at anchor next to one.
The next morning, I went out around Peaks Island and into Portland to look at the swells. Very impressive. I saw a wave break hard enough on Jordan Reef to have capsized Strider easily. That's 21 feet MLW and it was near high tide. Didn't see any sign of that spot looking threatening while heading down outside the island, just that one big wave...
I wouldn't have taken this little tour a second time. However, it didn't look nearly as bad from inside. I sailed out to see how Strider would do in big seas in a mini nor'easter a couple years ago. Those waves were being driven in by wind and seemed much more impressive from inside the harbor. They were big enough that it felt like we were looking UP at the ocean from inside the harbor mouth. I'm sure those waves were higher but they were also considerably shorter. Strider did very well and it didn't seem nearly as threatening as yesterday.
The swells from the hurricane were 5 - 6 times as long and thus a much greater mass of water moving much faster. This gave them enormous energy and made them much more dangerous than the higher but shorter waves I saw a couple years ago. Wave height it just one measure of potential danger.
I met up at Peaks Island with friends passing through in this 39 foot schooner I designed years ago.
Tim sailed by in Cordelia on the other side of the channel and we hailed him but he didn't answer. I think he was up on the foredeck.
Later, we moved around to the other side of the Diamond Islands for the night and had a great dinner swapping sea stories. It doesn't get much better than hanging out with good friends on a boat you designed or being at anchor next to one.
The next morning, I went out around Peaks Island and into Portland to look at the swells. Very impressive. I saw a wave break hard enough on Jordan Reef to have capsized Strider easily. That's 21 feet MLW and it was near high tide. Didn't see any sign of that spot looking threatening while heading down outside the island, just that one big wave...
I wouldn't have taken this little tour a second time. However, it didn't look nearly as bad from inside. I sailed out to see how Strider would do in big seas in a mini nor'easter a couple years ago. Those waves were being driven in by wind and seemed much more impressive from inside the harbor. They were big enough that it felt like we were looking UP at the ocean from inside the harbor mouth. I'm sure those waves were higher but they were also considerably shorter. Strider did very well and it didn't seem nearly as threatening as yesterday.
The swells from the hurricane were 5 - 6 times as long and thus a much greater mass of water moving much faster. This gave them enormous energy and made them much more dangerous than the higher but shorter waves I saw a couple years ago. Wave height it just one measure of potential danger.
