Sea States in Spanish!

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Can anyone accurately define the Spanish Sea States - Marejadilla, Marejada, Fuerte Marejada and Mar Gruesa please. I have asked dozens of people and no-one seems to be able to accurately define. Many thanks
 
Flat, slight, strong, rough seas

But do yourself a favour never take to weather forcast in a Spanish paper as being good enough use windfinder www.windfinder.com or UGRIB

As you probably know there is no tide in the med so sea conditions can be determined by wind speed and for most motoryachts 15 Knots of wind is when it starts to get uncomfortable and the SWIMBO starts giving you that look.

So we usualy say no more than 15 knots for a crossing unless following sea and wind if its off shore then up to 20 Knots in protected areas.

We are Balearics based so tend to head for the wind off side of the island and so can get away with a good day out with 20 knots of wind. Onshore 20 knots forget it.

My forcast for tomorrow is 15-20 NE so running down each coastline of Menorca so waiting until Wednesday with a 5 knot wind speed
 
Thanks

Thanks for all your help. Appreciated. I am using AEMet marine forecast which have found mostly very accurate. This is all in Spanish but easy to translate. My problem is that most of my boating has been around UK waters. In UK sea states are easy to understand because they are defined by wave height. For example Moderate is 1.25-2.5 meters and is about as bad as I would choose to do a crossing in. Rough is 2.5-4m and I wouldn't take family out but would go with friends on following sea etc. What I would ideally like is to understand the wave heights associated with the Spanish terms so I can immediately visualise what I am getting us into! I have been told by one source Marejada is up to 4m which makes it equate to rough. Others have suggested moderate etc. It seems you guys feel Marejadilla is probably nearer to slight with Marejada closer to moderate (1.25-2.5m)? Does this sound right?
Many thanks. You could be saving me from a real ear bashing if I got it wrong:confused:
 
oceandrive said:
Flat, slight, strong, rough seas

But do yourself a favour never take to weather forcast in a Spanish paper as being good enough use windfinder www.windfinder.com or UGRIB

As you probably know there is no tide in the med so sea conditions can be determined by wind speed and for most motoryachts 15 Knots of wind is when it starts to get uncomfortable and the SWIMBO starts giving you that look.
Click to expand...

Well Oceandrive got a few things right and the sea conditions was one of them.

As for no tide in the Med I would say that there is both tide (albeit not big) and current to contend with.

On a recent delivery from Venice to Gibraltar I noted a number of different tides and many currents all of which can seriously affect the sea state. Try wind over tide/current in Messina Straits if you don't believe me.

Also do look at the Spanish forecast but consider in conjunction with others. A few weeks ago they were the only people calling big winds. I went out after checking passageweather and windfinder, both offering 10 knots max. We got steady 30 knots with gusts over 40 knots across the deck. Big difference.
 
Hi All

Thanks for help. I have finally got hold of this table that explains all conditions in relation to UK descripptions. Hope it helps.

Thanks again.


Spanish English Wave Height Approx Wind
(BFT)
0 Mar Llana Calm (Smooth) 0m 0
1 Mar Rizada Calm (rippled) <0.1m 1
2 Marejadilla Smooth 0.1m - 0.5m 2
3 Marejada Slight 0.5m – 1.25m 3+
4 Fuerte Marejada Moderate 1.25m – 2.5m 4-5
5 Mar Gruesa Rough 2.5m – 4m 5-6
6 Mar Muy Gruesa Very Rough 4m – 6m 7+
7 Mar Arbolada High 6m – 9m 8-9
8 Mar Montanosa Very High 9m – 14m 10-11
9 Mar Enorme Phenominal >14m 12
 
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