Extreme Showering and other Exiting Pursuits
There are times when it can be very, very calm. The sea looks like a lake and the boat barely moves. After having got used to the motion of the sea it can be very disconcerting.
Most of the time the sea is active without being rough. But there are times when it can get very rough. Strangely this has relatively little to do with the strength of the wind. I’ve known it be Beaufort 8 and terrible and Beaufort 10 and not really that bad. It’s hard to describe what it’s like when the sea is rough but I’ll try. The main motion is from side to side, and this can be up to 25 degrees off the horizontal. When this happens everything that isn’t firmly fixed slides. Chairs move across the room as if pushed by some invisible hand, cups and glasses slide and even though the tables have ridges around the edges it can be so bad that they slide off and break. But that motion though extreme isn’t really too bad as it can be largely anticipated and measures can taken to reduce it’s impact (tying things up and using non-slip mats among others).
The worst part is the forwards motion. Normally this motion is barely detectable but when it is rough and we are at the wrong angle to the waves it can be very violent. The best description I can think of is it feels like a car crash. Luckily I’ve never been in one, but it’s what I imagine it would feel like. The boat goes up and then suddenly crashes down without warning and there is this enormous thumping noise, everything shakes and you’re frightened the boat has split in two. But everything continues as normal until we hit the next wave and we crash again. The worst part is the noise because while you can get used to the motion and relatively blasé about it, the sound and the unpredictability of it is impossible to get used to.
The difference between living on land and living on a boat is that on land you can largely observe the weather without being directly affected by it (yes, I do know large parts of the UK were under water for most of the summer but that was very uncommon). On a boat the weather affects everything you do. Walking up stairs suddenly becomes climbing a ladder, eating soup suddenly becomes an effort of concentration when you must simultaneously try to balance your bowl against the motion of the boat while trying to hold on to the table to prevent your chair from playing bumper chairs with the other people on your side of the table and with that third hand that is always so useful you might actually be able to bring the spoon to your mouth and eat!
Showering becomes an exercise in balance. Washing while trying to stand up straight with your eyes closed to prevent the shampoo getting in them and the horizontal changing every few seconds is exhausting. Showers on a boat are not relaxing, they are a necessity to be taken as rarely as possible.
Despite all this the bad weather is rarely a problem. So many design solutions are in place that you don’t notice them until their practicality becomes apparent. Showers are sleek, smooth affairs with no sharp corners, not something you notice until you’re thrown against one by a particularly powerful wave. No sharp corners suddenly become a fantastic idea! Glasses are made of safety glass which you don’t even realise until one gets broken by sliding off the table. Even the coat hooks are flat affairs with no points, which I’m sure those tall enough to find themselves thrown against them appreciate. Sometimes being short does have its advantages! The bad weather only becomes a problem when you’re trying to sleep and you get rolled from side to side every few seconds. In those situations you just wait until you’re too tired to notice.
In general, the weather doesn’t affect things that badly and with the measures already in place and human adaptability a few days of bad weather is nothing that you can’t live with but can be an interesting experience at the time!
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