The Ship Report, Thursday, December 19, 2024

A look at weather data from Tuesday and Wednesday, and the "Sailors Empathy ToolKit" Today we'll look at data from Tuesday night's storm, which left much of our coastal area without power on Wednesday. We'll also take a look at a new set of small experiments I am compiling to help land dwellers understand what it's like to be a mariner on a vessel at sea. I call it the Sailors Empathy Toolkit. So far in my metaphorical kit there are two things you can do to get an idea of what it's like to work on the deck of a boat or ship. 1. To get a feel for wind velocity, stick your head out the window of a moving car at different speeds between 30 and 60 mph. 2. To get a feel for water temperature, run the cold water in your sink at home and stick your bare arm under the water. Better yet, your head. Now you know what it might be like to fall overboard in our cold Pacific Ocean water or be hit by a wave. You'll have new found empathy for mariners and the dangerous and challenging work they do, often at night, and in the winter, in difficult weather.