From the Collins Compact English Dictionary - Becalmed adj (of a sailing ship) motionless through lack of wind.

Sailing at its heart is dependant. In order to make any kind of progress, or to make the kind of progress desired, there needs to be something happening – the wind needs to be in your favour. If it isn’t, there is nothing you can do, nothing at your disposal to correct it – it is an activity which at its very core identifies that there are forces out of our control. And it is an activity which is a respecter of that which is out of our control – to a Sailor, weather is everything and I don’t just mean in terms of trying to avoid or counter bad weather - I mean that for sailors there is a dance of connection with the weather that others simply don’t get. The ups and downs, the very highs and lows – for are sailor become as important as the air we breathe.

When your life is lived out in a house with walls on a road that doesn’t move the weather is there as a kind of backdrop if you like for your days – touching you in small ways – can the washing be hung on the line? Can the grass be mowed? Can I walk to the shops? But in big ways only occasionally – like when a storm or flood or worse is present – then suddenly the weather intrudes and makes its presence more felt. Reminds people, often with a juddering shock that there are forces over which they or anyone has no control. But for the sailor this is a daily, moment-by-moment appreciation. Whether the winds be high and dangerous or low and unstable, their presence is felt intimately. Day and night, 24 hours a day the weather gently or strongly reminds us of the order in the universe!
We don’t go out afraid though – we go out informed.

Still sometimes that is easier said than done!

As the boys have been travelling where internet is an idea not a reality and where even access to radio support is scant it has been great to be able to provide them with updates from the more connected world! If only there could be something truly accurate to rely on! I check on the official government meteorology site – BOM and find there is a strong wind warning. When I receive the regular phone call I pass along this information only to hear that today there has been no wind – in fact they have been becalmed for much of the day and had to deal with the frustration of too little wind! Well it may be something that’s headed your way, I say, hoping that they are not impacted by anything too robust but at the same time wondering how accurate any of the information I am feeding them is.

I check other sites and can find no other strong wind warnings but depending on where I look I can inform them that over the next 24 hours they can expect increasing wind from the North East, the South East and the East or, if another site is more accurate, wind from the South East, tending Easterly and then North Easterly swinging round by mid-week to the South. None of which is predicted to be above twenty five knots.

Confused? Yes, so are we! Often!

I am reminded that the best predictor of weather a sailor can rely on is the barometer. Sudden rises or falls in barometric pressure are a better warning system than any other thing, reliable and accurate on the spot every time. I’m so glad that we learned this from Mark early on and that on board an awareness of the barometer will guide any and all activity. Getting some weather information for them as they sail is never going to be a match for the simple accuracy of this tool, though of course I will continue to provide them with what information I have in the hopes that some of it will be reliable!

Despite their sense of being becalmed for much of yesterday the boys have made some good progress, albeit slower than they would like. Peter is finding that anxiety feeds sea-sickness so he’s working on maintaining a positive mental outlook, not focussing on things that are sources of frustration – speed for example. Good on him I say! And overall things seem to be going well and comfortably for them both.

Even here at home awareness of the weather is my constant companion. Everything is affected by weather even in port! Last night’s heavy swells that left strong surges pushing their way around the marina tossing boats about as if they were little more than corks bobbing in their pens, kept me up for half the night, checking on lines, making adjustments, ensuring that we sat comfortably amidst the bumping and thudding of other boats not cared for so thoroughly. Today I’ll add some extra lines to help stabilize us before the next high tide and accompanying swell and perhaps get more sleep tonight! One of the sources of weather information we use a lot predicts a period of strong wind will affect us tomorrow so the children and I will pull down our awning this afternoon to ensure we suffer no damage – it will be the first time we have done this on our own so it’s sure to be fun!

I think back sometimes to the life we used to live where weather rarely touched us and where we felt more in control and I feel glad that we have formed this greater awareness. Checking aspects of the weather daily leaves us with a more firm awareness I think of what is going on all around us all the time and we are rarely surprised by a seemingly sudden downpour or searingly hot day as we once might have been. And the knowledge that it is out of our control is not a bad one thing – but reminds us that we are part of something much bigger than ourselves.