Force 10

For my 39th birthday I got a storm as birthdaypresent. It started out as force 9, but over night increased to force 11 with gusts of 12. We measured 70 knots, the end of the scale of our anemometer. In the evening the tops'l sheet snapped. Later at night we saw a tear in the tops'l. We managed to take the sail away and furl it. On just the stormjib we were still doing 10,5 knots! I didn't get footage at the height of the storm. You don't see us being swept away by waves breaking over the ship. You don't see me biting a piece of my molar off while clenching my teeth and furling the sail with force 12 gusts. So I called it force 10.

Category:

Travel & Events

Tags:

• Oosterschelde
• Woody
• Ewout
• van
• Grondelle
• Storm
• Tall
• Ship

[serbavici]

Great pictures! excellent quality of the report! Congratulations!

[ewix72]

@serbavici Thanks!

[vincent7520]

greart video…

but I find it difficult to think a crew went on the bowsprit for a small video footage.

Surely the wind must have decreased below force 10 at that point.

Beautiful boat too.

[peerdereet]

70 knots is even force 13! You lucky bast•••rd! ;-)