Tip Sea in Trini Dad

Dis Pain: 19 Apr 09

View of a hurricane from above

Not wishing to invoke foul weather conditions, I found this little local rhyme in one of our guide books (Les Weatheritt – and yes, that’s his real name!).   The % given is the long range hurricane frequency.  Officially, the season starts 1^st June and ends 30^th November each year.

 

June (5%) too soon;

July (9%) stand by;

August (29%) come she must;

September (36%) remember

October (19%) all over

This rhyme leaves out late season hurricanes; November (3%) and occasionally December. That said, these were the months we sailed down island last year. The biggest threat (a close call) came from Hurricane Omar, which came through our sailing area just after we had left Trinidad in October. On our trip down island, we usually had great weather, although generally the south-easterlies had kicked in, giving us “nose” conditions for a lot of our passages south. We have our fingers crossed for the same conditions this year, to have the wind behind us and trust we time our cruise up the ICW to be well north (35N is the limit) before needing to stand by.

As time ticks away in the boatyard here in Trinidad, so too is the time we have to make the Bahamas. We are not too concerned yet however, as May is given as the best time for making north as seasonal winds start to come around to the east/south east giving us a comfortable passage.

I just wonder who I am trying to convince...

Yes, it's truth on my T-shirt