Wind!

Yup I know we complained a bit about the heavy wind the last days. According to locals it's very uncommon and should calm down soon....but how do you explain how much wind is really too much?

Since we arrived in Zar Par Marina (a wonderful marina by the way) I may share some examples: 

Today they moved a boat from the travel lift into the water. Obviously the boat had to turn to get into the designated slip. Normally you would use the engine and voila....not today. This time the boat was going full speed, but could not turn against the wind. So the marina master deployed a dinghy into the water to push the bow in the right direction. Not enough. They deployed a very long line from the bow of the boat towards the land and with the help of every possible guy in the marina we have been able to turn the boat. In summary you need a boat with a strong engine, a guy in a dinghy and 8 guys or so towing a line just to turn a 40 footer around. I call that pretty heavy wind!

We met Frank Virgintino (the cruising guide author) again in the marina. He arrived one day ahead of us but in slightly different shape. He ripped his staysail (a storm sail designed for heavy wind!!) right through the deck. The whole sail attachment broke out, which is pretty nasty. Additional some heavy waves ripped off some wood from the bow sprit. You may need to know that he has a pretty big ketch - 50 tons or so - that's five times Habibis weight...nothing easy to break. He said the wind picked up to almost 50 knots in gusts while doing the same way we did. I mean that's almost 100kmh! Getting the picture? If not, just stick your head out of the car while driving on a highway. Then deploy an umbrella or so to simulate a sail in that wind - if you're still in the car and not convinced: Keep the speed up and leave the highway towards a bumby offroad track to simulate waves. If you survive this experiment you may have an understanding how it feels to be out there in this weather. And just for the love of god: THIS IS SARCASM - DON'T ACTUALLY DO THIS!

So yes, the last days have been pretty windy and we had again real bad waves the last 100nm. But we're safely here and we will stay until the weather is just perfect. And even if it will take a month or so - we both are getting tired about the bashings we take all the time.