Santa Maria did the trade wind crossing from the Canaries starting out December 25. We left Tenerife in wonderful weather and gained self-confidence with every hour. By sunset that all changed. The wind picked up and by 11 PM it was pitch black, wind at 15 – 20 m/s and huge waves were rolling in from aft. There were all kinds of horrifying sounds coming from every part of the boat. It continued for four days.

Well, what doesn’t kill us strengthens us, and Santa Maria finally convinced us that she could take it. There after we actually enjoyed the fast ride!

Squalls and how to deal with them

On any crossing (and in the Caribbean) you will encounter squalls. They are big gray or black clouds that often carry rain and heavy wind. Daytime you just look out for them and at night they will show up on a decent radar. It is possible to avoid them by changing the course, but we didn´t bother. They arrive fast and usually end quickly.

To prepare, you should take down some sail before the squall hits. Since we didn’t use the main much, we took to the habit of being prepared and lessen the genoa, thus never had any problems. However, if you go lazy and fail to adjust the sails before they hit, you could easily end up with a situation and potentially lose a sail.

Note that the wind will reach you before the actual cloud does, since the wind usually beam down from the cloud in 20º-40º.

Hurricanes and storms at sea

If you plan your route well, your chance to encounter a hurricane should be close to zero. If you do sail into extreme winds, there are a few things to consider.

In 1999, on Everest, we climbed to 8600 meter (28000 feet) in hurricane force wind. It was cold and very exhausting, but strangely enough not too hard to stand erect. Contrary to believe, it is not the wind that causes the problem but the waves and stuff flying around.

The first rule of high wind is to stay with your boat. Stay cool, minimize the sails and try to sail with the wind. A boat under sail will behave much better than without. If the wind is too high for any sails – go with bare rigging, but try to steer anyway.

A drift anchor is great for slowing down the speed and riding out the storm. In real bad situations, you might have to turn the boat toward the waves and battle the ocean. There are some great books written about the different techniques used (incl. "Heavy weather"). Again though, this kind of weather is almost unheard of on the Atlantic in the calm season.

Heavy weather when in harbor

Most sailors take their boats southwards during the hurricane season in the Caribbean. Below Sant Lucia, there should not be a many hurricanes around. However, we left our boat in Bequia once, this island usually  considered a safe "hurricane hole". 

Well, without a warning, a hurricane further north sent some huge waves - up to 18 feet - rolling into the harbor (no wind!). Fortunately we had a caretaker (thank´s Fixman!) who defied the waves and motored Santa Maria to the leeward side of the island
(this normally being the windward side).

Lightning is always scary. Luckily (for sailors at least) most fatal accidents seem to strike at golf courses, so don’t let thunder stop you from cruising. We’ve never been hit, but have taken some precautions with Santa Maria (read more under "dangers").