There is a certain pleasure seasoned sailors find in remembering and recalling for their friends their experiences of heavy weather at sea. For the most part, experienced sailors will not brag about weathering a gale. They will not hold forth while leaning on a safe mantle piece before a homely fire and instruct the unknowing and unwary. But, among like minded people, among those who have been out there when the wind blows the waves white and black, when the roar of the wind is a freight train in the ears, among those who know, there is a sense of kinship. And kinship engenders stories. Some true. Some exaggerated. Some apocryphal.

The sharing of experiences is the desire to compare and the desire to say, yes, I've been there and it is more amazing than anything else.

A gale at sea has very little on land that bears comparison. If you have ever been caught close to a raging forest fire, you would understand the ferocity of a gale at sea. If you have ever been trapped on a mountain side by a sudden blizzard of snow, you would understand just how small you can feel. A gale at sea shows the force of nature, stripped naked of all its civilized apparel.

To weather a gale is no small feat. Yet, every sailor who sets out to sail far along a coast or to cross a wide patch of open water, will eventually meet high winds and heavy weather. Such conditions are not the reason for going to sea. They are the risk. And, in that risk lies some of the simple challenge of going sailing and the fundamental appeal of facing the sea one-on-one in a sturdy craft and with an able crew. In bad weather, you hold your fate in your own hands. The vast majority of the time you will be successful and the success is yours alone. Should you fail, you have the satisfaction of knowing no one else is to blame.

Sailing safely depends upon the self reliance of the owner, the skipper, the person in charge. At no time on the water does that simple premise demand more than when the winds pipes over 40 knots and the sea begins to break in black and white streaks of foam.

A Heavy Weather Attitude


When the weather report or the change in the sky alerts you to an impending patch of bad weather, it is important to begin your preparations. How the crew anticipates the high winds and possibly high seas ahead, how they keep their composure and react quickly to changing situations will be a determining factor in how you and you boat weather the storm.

The skipper's attitude and the attitude of the crew will mark the difference between a well run and safe ship and a poorly run and unsafe one.

The first order of business is to allocate clearly the specific areas of the boat for which each member of the crew will be responsible. If there are only a few on board even just a couple the various duties required before sailing into heavy weather should be divided among the crew and a schedule established.

The skipper will be responsible for the overall performance of the crew and will, more than likely, also have to take on several areas of preparation, depending on his experience and skills.

Once the duty roster has been established and a schedule set for completing pre-storm preparations, it is wise for the skipper and or the navigator to show everyone on board where the boat is on the chart, where the storm center or front is likely to pass and what the various course options will most likely be before, during and after the storm. If the crew is well informed and capable of carrying on should the navigator become disabled by seasickness or injury, they will be happier, more confident and better prepared to do their parts in running a tight ship.

The greatest danger during periods of high winds comes not from the forces of the sea and the wind alone, but from the gradual deterioration of the condition and morale of the crew. Should gear begin to break, should several vital members of the crew take to their bunks with sickness, should those in charge of the galley fail to provide nourishment, then exhaustion can overtake those still sailing. Poor decisions can be made. Reactions to changing wave and wind patterns can be slow and erratic. And, finally, a sense of despondence can overtake the mood of the boat. In such a state, the crew is no longer acting as the master of the situation but the victims.

It is important for the skipper to anticipate who will be strong, who will most likely become sick and who is prone to panic. By addressing these potential problem areas early in the preparations prior to a storm, you can go a long way to heading off a dangerous situation. No skipper can afford to be left alone on deck while a frightened and seasick crew hides below.

There may be no better way to help those who could be liabilities during poor weather than to involve them early in the preparations. Delegate authority and allow each crew member to remain active, busy and committed. Engender a sense of confidence in each person by listening to them and by explaining instructions calmly and clearly. The safety of the ship and the crew belongs solely to the skipper. But if he carries all the weight of that responsibility on his shoulders alone, he will tire and possibly break, while the crew frets and hides below.

A heavy weather attitude is one that is full of confidence in the boat, respectful of the forces of nature to be confronted and calmly decisive when the going gets tough.