Nico
Well-Known Member
I think this also explains the short wavelength. I read somewhere of warships needing reinforcement to the bows for Mediterranean service. I'm not sure this isn't apocryphal - a maritime myth perhaps.
Waves steeper in the Med, because water denser..
- Thread starter jerrytug
- Start date
I think this also explains the short wavelength. I read somewhere of warships needing reinforcement to the bows for Mediterranean service. I'm not sure this isn't apocryphal - a maritime myth perhaps.
NPMR
Well-Known Member
Having once sailed from Corsica to Antibes in a 48 foot boat and winds that reached 60+kts on the anemometer for significant lengths of time I can vouch for the steepness of the waves. As they rose many feet above my head, the just looked like walls of water. And they were not far apart.
I'm just grateful the boat held together and that we were not trying to beat into the wind.
We had no idea we were getting into big winds, the forecast did not mention anything, otherwise I can assure you we would not have been anywhere near the sea! Very grateful, too, to eventually see the lighthouse pop up over the horizon at Antibes!
I'm just grateful the boat held together and that we were not trying to beat into the wind.
We had no idea we were getting into big winds, the forecast did not mention anything, otherwise I can assure you we would not have been anywhere near the sea! Very grateful, too, to eventually see the lighthouse pop up over the horizon at Antibes!
charles_reed
Well-Known Member
A US carrier lost a Tomcat (just landed) off the flight-deck during a mistral in the Gulf of Lions - being restricted info it's difficult to point one in the direction of supporting reports
JumbleDuck
Well-Known Member
Everybody knows that there is no water on Mercury. It's too close to the Sun!
Actually large quantities of water ice have been detected in deep craters at the poles of Mercury.
charles_reed
Well-Known Member
Having seen the same report, I think you'll find volume was undetermined, though the area of permafrost was large - I also think it was about Mars - not Mercury.
JumbleDuck
Well-Known Member
Hmm. I suspect that the reason you disagree with me on amount, type (permafrost vs ice) and indeed planet could possibly be because you didn't read "the same" report, but a completely different one.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-29644406
Sans Bateau
Well-Known Member
I remember a sail (wife will remember it even better!) From Sicily to Malta in 1995 , it was only a F6 but sea was massive. We were in a 46ft steel ketch, it made a very exciting sail.
PuffTheMagicDragon
Well-Known Member
I remember a sail (wife will remember it even better!) From Sicily to Malta in 1995 , it was only a F6 but sea was massive. We were in a 46ft steel ketch, it made a very exciting sail.
I know the feeling very well! People who have not sailed across that 'innocuous' channel fail to appreciate how wild the sea state can be as a result of the long fetches towards the NW and the NE. I have had 5-6 metre waves from the NW with a F6 wind while approaching Capo Passero...only to find a virtual mill pond when I get to the shelter of Marzamemi, just a couple of miles further North.
charles_reed
Well-Known Member
Thanks for the link - no I hadn't.
jerrytug
N/A
From the same organisation's cruising guide to the Baltic: "..the lower density of the Baltic, compared with ordinary sea water, leads to more rapid growth in wave height and steeper seas.."
OceanSprint
Well-Known Member
There is a lot of good stuff about waves here
http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wind_wave
There are 5 principal factors in wave formation
Wind speed
Water depth
Fetch
Width of fetch
Duration of wind
The small variation in water density caused by salinity changes has negligible effect on wave properties.
The difference between waves in different regions, including lakes, is due to differences in the five factors above, and how they vary with time and with location in any one area.
And the med is deep (average depth 1500m) compared to n sea ( average depth 95m).
http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wind_wave
There are 5 principal factors in wave formation
Wind speed
Water depth
Fetch
Width of fetch
Duration of wind
The small variation in water density caused by salinity changes has negligible effect on wave properties.
The difference between waves in different regions, including lakes, is due to differences in the five factors above, and how they vary with time and with location in any one area.
And the med is deep (average depth 1500m) compared to n sea ( average depth 95m).
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macd
Well-Known Member
...and it's not simply that the Med is deep on average (after all, the difference in wave dynamics between, say 1km depth and 2km depth is negligible), but that so little of it is shallow compared to the continental shelf waters of NW Europe.
mjcoon
Well-Known Member
From the same organisation's cruising guide to the Baltic: "..the lower density of the Baltic, compared with ordinary sea water, leads to more rapid growth in wave height and steeper seas.."
That must prove it is the density of the writer that is responsible!
Mike.
JumbleDuck
Well-Known Member
From the same organisation's cruising guide to the Baltic: "..the lower density of the Baltic, compared with ordinary sea water, leads to more rapid growth in wave height and steeper seas.."
Hmm. If this supposed density change existed / was significant, wouldn't plimsoll lines have a mark for it?
capnsensible
Well-Known Member
The biggest and stroppiest seas I ever sailed in were in the channel south of Sicily. Was on a 32 foot Gibsea, waves astern.
Tiller steering, wide eyed crew.......
Went to Malta to dry boat out. Beer was taken!
Tiller steering, wide eyed crew.......
Went to Malta to dry boat out. Beer was taken!
macd
Well-Known Member
Now that's something we care about the density of :ambivalence:
G12
Well-Known Member
There are different Plimsoll lines for different conditons/seasons.... Someone with more knowledge will be along to explain shortly no doubt....
EDIT: See Here....
http://www.pinterest.com/pin/81275968245937268/
capnsensible
Well-Known Member
Shines a new light on 'hiding under a layer' as submariners do!
jerrytug
N/A
Exactly the conditions when the advantages of tiller steering come to the fore!
capnsensible
Well-Known Member
'Don't look behind you' helps as well......