The worst conditions at sea I have ever had was off north-west Newfoundland (not far from the Flemish Cap), an area with a similar somewhat dubious reputation. There we had 18 meter waves and force 11, and I can assure you that it rocks!
Having said that I feel the waves and weather is better that the myth I have never been sailing in the Southern Ocean in the wintertime, and I don´t know if I´d want to try either... I always hope for fair weather anyway!
Here are two pictures that tells you somethind about the waveheight today and a weather system we dodged in November 2005 on our way beetween the Falkland Islands and South Georgia.
1 comment:
I haven't crossed the dreaded Drake quite as often as Jorn has, but my experience of the Southern Ocean over more than a quater of a century is pretty much the same as his. I hae experienced some pretty spectauclar hooleys, with winds well in excess of 60knots, but most of the time the weather has been beautiful. The long rollers in the Southern Ocean are spectacular but because the crests are so far apart the rolling is generally very comfortable.
Asfor my worst weather experience. The South East Coast of Africa, specifically off the Transkei coast in the Agulhas Current, is truly scary. This is where the Warath vanished, and when the wind is abainst the current, which can run at six knots, the seaqs that build up are unpredictable and truly frightening. Give me Cape Horn any day!
Pierre Malan
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