I find it interesting to note that a year ago today, I was crewing on a Bristol 45.5 approximately where the "s" is in the current position of decaying ex-hurricane Tomas. I can only imagine the sea state at that position is much more severe than the conditions we experienced, and they were no daysail on a pond.
A year ago, we were being squeezed between a vast low-pressure trough and a decaying Hurricane Ida. Worse weather, according to nearby boats racing in the Caribbean 1500, was all around us (except in front of us!). Nonetheless, we were getting plenty of wind in the 20-35 knot ranges, with squalls better than 40 knots at times, and large, rolling seas in the 12-18 foot range (I'm guessing, because I sure haven't seen more than 10 feet on Lake Ontario). We made excellent speed in an inverted "L" shaped course from Virginia to USVIs skirting Bermuda, and while it was a fast passage, it was also rough enough to be "instructional". Cheers to skippers Bruce and June for giving me the opportunity...and I'm sort of glad we had weather, but not this much weather.
