[QUOTE=Kennebec Captain;186304]
True speed and direction is often not really needed to help understand and communicate the situation. Is it backing or veering? Increasing or moderating? Just observing the behavior of the gauges can often be very useful.[/QUOTE]
[QUOTE=DamnYankee;186325]
Explaining to a new third mate the importance of whether the wind is backing or veering, or whether the seas are clocking around towards the bow causing the ship to start digging in is a sometimes daunting task. When you find one that really gets it, you sleep a lot better at night.[/QUOTE]
No arguments here. A case of certain mariners relying 60% on instruments and 40% on eye, and others doing the reverse. Either works just as well.
I must say, however, I’m a champion of turning the deck lights on for a moment or two to study the sea-state: size of waves and swells, wind direction/ speed, amount of spray. I’m talking about on the open sea, with usually no traffic on the radar, so the deck lights don’t obscure the running lights. And yes, I check which way the wind direction is moving, too. That’s all important, if you’re hove-to in 20’-30’ foot seas, wondering whether to stick things out, or to turn tail and run.
In bad weather I believe in turning the deck lights on a few moments every hour. Even more often, in some cases (see the discussion of deck cargo, below). I suspect there are some captains out there who are against turning on deck lights at night for anything except an emergency. If there are, I’d like to hear their side of things.
My trade is Aleutian freighters. Part of the insistence on visually checking sea-state is a by-product of the deck cargo an Aleutian freighter carries. In heavy weather, turning on the deck lights once an hour during the watch so the OOW can visually check the deck cargo is the rule, not the exception. Why? In case the deck cargo shifts, or in case lashings come loose. At which point the captain is awakened, and makes the call as to dealing with the problem then, or waiting until daylight. Coincidentally, that’s when properly logged wind observations are vital. Recent changes in wind direction/velocity may affect the captain’s decision whether to hove-to at that moment, or to spin the ship about to put the weather on the stern and slow down, in order to safely send the deck crew out on deck to lash things down. It all starts with turning on the deck lights to see what is happening. A stitch in time saves nine.
Moving away from wind observation to weather observation in general, particularly at night: In the GoA, December to March, icing is always a hazard. As in “building-up-enough-ice-to-capsize the-ship” hazard. As the thermometer drops, the captain tells the mate to watch out for ice build-up, the rate of which can be deceptive for the uninitiated. The only way you’re going to check that at night is by turning on the deck lights. You’re visually gauging the ice build-up, of course, but you’re also looking for the flying spray, which leads to the icing.
That’s when you explain to the mate that the wind speed/direction isn’t just a number going in to a log. It’s the difference between a normal voyage, or suddenly wasting hours or days because you are forced to head due South to forestall capsizing due to icing, or at the least, days of backbreaking work chipping through 6 inches of ice on deck just to open a cargo hatch. And you don’t need to be in heavy seas to ice-up. Simply bucking through 12’ seas can raise enough spray to seriously ice up a small ship, as you experienced captains know.
So you tell the mate to turn the deck lights on a few moments every hour at night and observe. Flying spray, with the air temperature 20 degree? You are icing. No doubt. A change to a weather-course might reduce the problem, but you have to realize you have the problem to begin with. Which goes back to my original post, a major tenent of which, I think, we are all agreed with: you want to get your mates trained as to real-world importance of wind as soon as possible.