Is the Ocean a dangerous place?
Does sailing across the ocean have to be a scary experience? It certainly sounds like it from all the stories we get told.
I do agree that nothing appeals to sailors more than the delight of telling stories and more specifically the delight in telling horror stories of near miss, life and death situations.
I know it doesn’t have the same story telling appeal, but my experience has been one of always crossing the ocean safely and without incidents. In fact the ocean is a peaceful place on the whole, with gales happening statistically a tiny percentage of the time. For example the Admiralty Pilot charts indicate in the South Pacific above 30 degrees of latitude, the days recorded with winds over 39 miles per hour is between zero and two days in any 100 day period and mostly the figure is zero.
My most scary time in the ocean was my first time, leaving New Zealand in early winter and experiencing a series of fronts passing through. Neither the wind not the seas were that high, but the newness of the experience did give me a fright. The ocean as a dangerous place is very subjective, based on our emotional state not the sea conditions at the time. I reassert that the ocean is not dangerous, only seems so based on our imagination and lack of familiarity.
For example, a year later I was experiencing much stronger winds, larger seas in the North Pacific and was loving it. Needless to say, through out all of this, my boat while only 26 feet long never failed to bounce along safely no matter what the conditions.
Sit back and enjoy your sailing
Thanks John!
I’m looking into buying my first boat with my lovely lady, and this is one of her biggest concerns. We’ve talked with another sailor we’ve just met, and he explained that with a bit of planning and weather watching, nearly all bad weather can be missed. It makes me glad to know that those “bad days” are rare, even on the open seas.
Thanks again!
Hi Chris,
I agree with modern weather forecasting, avoiding bad weather is very achievable. However I’d also add that you should seek out some bad weather opportunities, maybe on someone elses yacht who you have confidence in, as the best thing for getting relaxed about bad weather is to experience some in a situation where you are not emotionally stretched.
The most important attribute to develop as an ocean sailor is to be relaxed no matter what happens.
Best wishes with buying your first boat.
Regards John
PS the problems that are caused by bad weather are hugely magnified by close proximity to land. Shallow waters, strong tidal currents do wicked things to seas close to land that don’t occur on the ocean. So going sailing on a stormy day close to land can give you more real bad weather challenges than the open ocean.
Even if it was dangerous to sail across an ocean. I guess that far more people damage their health by doing their boring unfulfilling jobs. Without danger, there was no adventure - and that is one of the things I look for when I go sailing.