As I sit here at the computer I hear the rigging of the boat starting to sing. I know from experience that happens with about 25kts of wind. We do not have an annometer so I only can make an educated guess about the wind speed. I can see outside of the mouth of the harbor so I can see the waves but I cannot tell how high they are. There was supposed to be a Norther starting tomorrow but I think it got here a day early which is a bummer as I needed to hang out laundry on the life lines. I've had to jump overboard in the past to save a pair of my favorite underwear that had blown away but I do not want to do that here. The wind is supposed to be stronger tomorrow. That is not too much to my liking as the iceberg is directly behind us. The picture that Rich took made it look microscopic to what it really looks like, especially at 2am in the morning. Oh well, I will be watchful. I already have a good GPS trace of us with the chain strecthed out.

I looked up the Beaufont Scale to refresh my memory and I think today we are at a Force 5 wind with gusts into the Force range.

© Russ Rowlett and the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
Beaufort Scales (Wind Speed)

Force 0, 0 Kts Calm Sea like a mirror. Smoke rises vertically.
Light air Ripples only. Smoke drifts and leaves rustle.
Force 1, 1-3 kts Light air Small wavelets (0.2 m). Crests have a glassy appearance. Wind felt on face.
Force 2, 4-6 kts Light breeze Large wavelets (0.6 m), crests begin to break. Flags extended, leaves move.
Force 3, 7-10 kts Gentle breeze Small waves (1 m), some whitecaps. Dust and small branches move.
Force 4, 11-16 kts Moderate breeze Moderate waves (1.8 m), many whitecaps. Small trees begin to sway.
Force 5, 17-21 kts Fresh breeze Large waves (3 m), probably some spray. Large branches move, wires whistle, umbrellas are difficult to control.
Force 6, 22-27 kts Stron breeze Mounting sea (4 m) with foam blown in streaks downwind. Whole trees in motion, inconvenience in walking. 7 28-Force 7, 28-33 Near gale Mounting sea (4 m) with foam blown in streaks downwind. Whole trees in motion, inconvenience in walking.
Force 8, 34-40 kts Gale Moderately high waves (5.5 m), crests break into spindrift. Difficult to walk against wind. Twigs and small branches blown off trees.
Force 9, 41-47 kts Strong gale High waves (7 m), dense foam, visibility affected. Minor structural damage may occur (shingles blown off roofs).
Force 10, 48-55kts Storm Very high waves (9 m), heavy sea roll, visibility impaired. Surface generally white. Trees uprooted, structural damage likely.
Force 11, 55-63 kts Violent storm Exceptionally high waves (11 m), visibility poor. Widespread damage to structures.
Force 12, 64+ kts Hurricane 14 m waves, air filled with foam and spray, visibility bad. Severe structural damage to buildings, wide spread devastation.



Note: wave heights apply to the open sea; waves in sheltered waters will be lower and steeper. As sailors know, other factors such as swell and depth can also modify wave heights.