4 Kidneys and a Wonky Leg

BATTEN DOWN THE HATCHES

Danger to life ! Red Weather Warning! Property damage! Flood!

OK, so storm Eunice comes crashing into Britain, and everyone’s in a panic. As a kid, severe weather was a bit of an adventure, we would hold our coats out like wings and try to take off. However in the predicted wind strengths today you could probably fly a small child like a kite.

These are seriously strong winds, so we’ve prepared best we can, putting our garden furniture somewhere safe. Taking the bins in or tie them down. Staying inside if we can. At the boatyard, being unmasted at the moment I think Watanga is fairly stable and safe, as long as other boats don’t topple.

So what do we do on the boat when these conditions come along. The English language is littered with phrases of nautical origin and a few come to mind.

“Batten down the hatches“ relates to making sure the hatches or deck ventilation openings were securely covered, to stop the ingress of water, but more generally to make sure that everything loose on the boat was secured, stowed away, tied down or prepared for rough conditions.

If you know these conditions are coming best to “Run for cover” ie find a port or river or piece of high land you can hide behind to protect you from the wind and waves. If the conditions come on suddenly then “any port in a storm” means find the nearest and quickest means of protecting the boat even if it is not ideal.

I experienced these conditions whilst being taught on my yacht master course and had an invaluable lesson on how to deploy a double anchor, and the best places to find for protection. Trees, are great at absorbing the power of the wind and form a nice calm shadow. High cliffs of course give great protection.

Lastly, and most unpleasant, if you are caught out by the weather, and cannot make port, then you may have to “Ride out the storm”. That means you stay away from the land and just sit in an unpleasantly rocking boat for hours on end until conditions improve.

As I write there was a crash outside and the roof of a Dormer window has been lifted off the building a few doors down and has landed in the road. Oooer!