The Motion of the Ocean, Everyone Appears Drunk and Bruised!

Most everyone understands that the Ocean is in constant motion.  However, unless one has experienced sailing accross an ocean, the reality of just how aggressive and relentless the seas can become cannot be appreciated. 

What are the constant motions one experiences while on a sailboat in the middle of the Blue Ocean?  I’m sure most everyone has been on a boat in a lake or coastal waterway and has experienced how waves make the bow of a boat go up and down.  Blue Ocean waves also make a sailboat’s bow move up and down in proportion to the size of the wave, and some can be quite large.

Now comes the real fun, imagine you are standing in the ship’s galley (kitchen) with one hand holding a safety railing looking over a counter out one of the side portholes (windows).  You feel the waves moving the front and rear of the boat up and down, no big deal, right?

Then the captain deploys the sails and you are thrown backward slamming into whatever is behind you (you could also go face first into the porthole) causing bruise #1.  This very prominent aggressive side to side tilt of the boat is due to the boat heeling.  Heel is caused when the wind fills the sails and tries to push the boat onto its side, and is constantly changing.  This is all natural and part of sailing.

Now you are sailing with the boat’s front and back raising and lowering and its side to side heeling under control for now.  Still standing in the galley looking over the counter out the porthole, the floor suddenly rises and the counter top sucker punches you in the chin as if it came off the floor, causing bruise #2.  

You are now experiencing an ocean swell.  But wait, the swell isn’t done with you yet… when a sailboat traverses swells it not only rises in the air but it also swivels.  This means that just when you have recovered from the counter’s sucker punch you are thrown spinning sideways, slamming your back into whatever was next to you causing bruise #3.

You now officially appear drunk and are bruised!  Did we mention that all these motions are relentless and never stop while sailing in a Blue Ocean?  Happy Sailing!

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All kidding aside, waves, swells and heeling create the four motions of the bow bouncing up and down, tilting from side to side, sudden rises and drops and and finally twists and spins, which all happen simultaneously and relentlessly.

Xavier shared that during the first 3 days of our sail from Rarotonga to Tonga we had experienced the heaviest seas and highest winds he had sailed since crossing the Aleutian Seas in the North Pacific on the way to Alaska last year.   

Now imagine attempting the following in those conditions without appearing drunk and bruised:

• Standing

• Moving Around the Boat 

• Eating

• Cooking

• Sleeping 

• Showering

• Going to the Bathroom

Impossible!