Middle of Drake’s Passage

Still in middle of Drake’s Passage while writing this at 3pm. Well, I was hoping to experience a little more of the harsh side of Drake’s reputation during our return voyage to Ushuaia. I’m sure you’ll get the color of our “Storm” event from many other Bloggers……..here’s just the facts. First Google the Beaufort Wind Scale (with corresponding sea state codes)……so you can follow along. This is the scale where you’ll overhear a person talking about going through a horrid sea storm that was a Force 8,10, etc. rating. Lowest barometric pressure during most intense part of storm was 975 mbar. At one point sustained winds were just over 105 mph. Beaufort scale is actually a 0 to 12 scale…….we went thru a Force 12 storm. At Force 12 here are the characteristics of the worst possible storm one can experience at sea: *Effects observed far from land: air filled with foam and sea spray, sea completely white, visibility greatly reduced. *World Meteorological Organization classifies a Beaufort Force 12 storm as a Hurricane. *Sea State Code under the Beaufort scale during a Force 12 storm is the highest level (9)!! Under the nine code…rather than Beaufort going into detail to describe what the sea is like at this level (swell size, wave size, etc.) rather it simply says Code 9 seas are “Phenomenal”. Cheers….Peter