Bluewater or coastal, weather controls all
Issue 35 : Mar/Apr 2004
Weather cells move through our cruising grounds in about three days in summer and closer to two days in fall and spring. If you sail a coastal cruiser on Lake Superior, that is probably the most important thing that you can know. It is certainly more important than any single piece of safety or navigation gear you could have.
The second most important thing that you can know is that if you want to travel safely and comfortably on the lake, you need to have a “weather window” planned at each end of the cruise . . . up to three days. Plan your crossings accordingly. Weather controls all.
Where you cruise, it may be different, but to take a line from The Music Man, “Ya gotta know the territory.”
We recently cruised for a few days with friends in Washington’s San Juan Islands . . . in December. We sailed from the John Wayne Marina in Sequim, crossed the Strait of Juan de Fuca, enjoyed a handful of destinations in the islands, hit Cattle Pass at slack water, crossed the strait again, and returned to the marina refreshed and impressed. Our friend, Durkee Richards, was our skipper. He planned the cruise based on the weather and tides. First we sat out 70-knot winds in the sound. We didn’t even go down to the boat until that blew through. Then we made the crossing and tucked in for the next blow.
You have to know when to move and when to sit tight.
Last summer another friend of ours passed on a quick cruise his boat partner was planning. Our friend had good instincts. When he described his partner’s intended cruise, it sounded like a plan for travel by automobile in good weather: leave at this time, go there, go somewhere else, leave for the crossing back at that time, and be back at this time because the boat is scheduled for a charter right after that. There were no weather windows in the plan. As it turned out, the charterers were disappointed. The boat did not even return to the intended port. One crewmember was hospitalized. There were insurance claims for busted gear. This was the cruise from hell . . . no weather windows. Just a tight schedule.
In theory, the difference between a coastal cruiser and a bluewater boat is that the coastal cruiser must travel in good weather between ports while the bluewater boat makes long offshore voyages and takes the weather at sea as it comes. I understand this theory, but I worry about it. I’ve seen weather in both the Atlantic and the Pacific bad enough to rough up a 22,000-ton heavy cruiser. Nothing that might be termed a yacht would have done well in those conditions. There is weather out there that will humble any craft, no matter the size. It makes me think that the people who travel safely and comfortably in bluewater boats must be concerned with the weather too.
I sincerely believe that coastal cruisers are a better choice for coastal cruising. They are generally less costly to own and operate and are often faster than bluewater boats of similar size. You get started sailing earlier in life, if you buy a boat that costs like a used car rather than like a new house. There is no question that bluewater boats will make better passages in heavy weather. This is critical for offshore work, but for coastal work I’d bet that experienced crews on bluewater boats don’t push the envelope much farther than the crews of coastal cruisers do.
In either case, “Ya gotta know the territory.”
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