Daily Report #30

Dear Saltwater Waves,

When it waves, it waves well… Yesterday morning we sailed over a wonderful heavy sea. Tonight we sailed with great effort through the high mountains with dangerous depths and waves like alpine peaks. Today we sail through a restless alpine landscape of waves. The ocean has many different faces. And how do those faces feel and what do they look like? There are two movements that make everything we do take energy or not.

The “swell” and the “sea”. Loosely translated the swell and the waves. These are indicated in the weather reports as low, moderate and heavy for the swell and moderate to rough and very rough seas. The swell has an almost fixed direction and the waves can go in all directions and also suddenly jump on your lap. Now we have only just started practicing but already know that a moderate swell does not hurt and neither does a moderate sea. Of course you sometimes make a mistake and end up somewhere else than you wanted, but with a little muscle tension you can absorb that. By the way, we calculate the wind in "knots", an easy conversion trick is adding 5 and then dividing by 5 then you get Beaufort.
Everything is fine up to 12 knots of wind. The ship climbs and descends on a calm long swell. There are hardly any waves, it's fun. Full sails, nice sailing. The swell forms a beautiful blue or gray dune landscape with valleys and dune tops. Sometimes you walk over a dune crest then you slowly descend into a valley. There is a lot to see if you use your imagination. When the wind increases, more waves first appear on the swell. They play around the boat that still runs at a nice speed and occasionally some water splashes over it. Sometimes they "snap at the boss" when they jump up but don't really get in or they shoot up and then past the boat like someone smashing the volleyball net. Unfortunately, the e-reader stays inside because salt and electronics are a nasty combination.

The swell increases if there has been a strong wind somewhere further on or if the wind increases for a longer period of time. We have the wind diagonally behind us and then higher and higher mountains arise behind us that sneak up on the boat. The waves also increase and throw the boat off course or slosh hard against the side and you know "boom and then quiet" means diving quickly because then a splash of water comes over. The harder the wind blows, the more impressive the landscapes. Deep valleys and snowy peaks where the waves break. The Kalosini handles these conditions very calmly. Rocks through the water, throws her bottom up when a steep wave hits from behind and takes so many blows. That doesn't mean it's getting any more comfortable. Inside, an orchestra of sliding, ringing, thumping sounds is created. No matter how tight you put everything. Outside, the wind and waves are getting louder and louder. Especially at night, for example, a drifting wave can sound quite scary. Waves unexpectedly change the movement of the Kalosini so that you …… miss more often, roll more off the counter, land harder with your tailbone on the tip of the table or end up lying on your stomach on the table but still with the coffee in your cup . In short, the harder the wind blows, the wilder the waves and the longer the wind blows, the higher the swell. And this night that came together. This morning at dawn I sat in awe as the ocean whipped wildly, producing series of high waves and swells that the Kalosini had to pass through to keep her on course. The wind last night was between 30 and 40 knots. And what we didn't know and now we do is that sleeping won't happen in your bed and won't wait.
Tomorrow afternoon the wind will drop and we will probably continue “smooth” again..

Windy greetings,
Ton and Mark