EP#387 The Gale
18 November 2025 · 44 min · 246 views
What this video covers
Jerome Rand, sailing solo aboard the Westsail 32 Mighty Sparrow, describes riding out a Force 9 severe gale after abandoning a hove-to position roughly 260 miles northwest of his position at recording time.▶ 15:49 He chose to run rather than wait, reasoning he could outrun the system and cross the Gulf Stream at a favorable, low-current point — a decision he made as the barometer had already dropped 25 millibars in roughly 24 hours, from 1003 to 982 millibars.▶ 11:10 Running dead downwind under triple-reefed main and storm jib, winds built to a steady 30–35 knots with gusts into the 40s; seas reached an estimated 30 feet.▶ 23:27 Breaking waves repeatedly filled the cockpit footwell and at one point flooded the cockpit to bulwark level.▶ 33:13 Rand hand-steered when the autopilot (Mongo) struggled to hold course, tightened a loose fitting with a crescent wrench mid-gale, and used an Iridium Go for weather updates after Starlink lost connection in the boat's motion.▶ 28:33 He went roughly 24 hours with minimal sleep. Conditions eased by around 1700 on day two.▶ 35:41 A 25-millibar pressure drop in 24 hours reliably signals worse conditions than the forecast alone will show.
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