How to plan around and prepare for the wind to ensure safety and a positive guest experience.
Wind is one of those invisible forces constantly affecting safety and guest experience in all operations on board. We must constantly plan around it and prepare for it as best we can.
Let’s consider our biggest safety concerns with strong winds, as well as the finer touches of guest experiences.
Alongside operational and safety considerations, high winds will spoil tender pick-ups/drop-offs, beach set-ups, MDA outdoor meals, sunset booze cruises — really anything you’d expect to treat the guests to on the water.
Frustrating, sure — but you can’t control it. Don’t stress, just pivot. Bring weather jackets on the tenders, be ready to move meal services inside and keep a sharp lookout on the horizon when beach set-ups are getting under way.
The key is to not apologize for the conditions but to offer alternatives. If a guest plan falls through because of the weather, have an alternative waiting in the wings. Guests don’t like hearing no, so have Plan Bs ready to keep the show moving.
We forget this, but maritime living is an ancient practice. Sailors learned long ago — you can’t predict the wind, you just prepare for it. That’s seamanship.
At anchor, we can expect the highest likelihood of dragging with strong winds, and drastic changes to our swing circle. If expecting an overnight squall or sustained wind, it’s often best to have the night watch stay in the bridge.
- Set stationary radar rings to establish swing tolerance limits.
Stowage on deck is especially vulnerable if caught unprepared. Unsecured furniture, open doors, open hatches and particularly awnings and sunshades have big potential to catch wind and cause damage on deck or even injure guests.
- If unsure, just secure. Take down awnings and sunshades as soon as they’re not required. Don’t leave them up overnight. Even if the next passage isn’t confirmed, stow whatever you can at day’s end. Otherwise, by Murphy’s law there will be a squall come through at anchor or under way that catches you unprepared.
Tenders are always one of the operations most affected by strong winds.
- Launching and retrieving tenders via a shell door or crane becomes exponentially more hazardous when operating in high winds. The sea state rises too, compounding the risk. Tenders swing on the crane, and communication and visibility are also affected. Often it’s good seamanship to simply cancel tender launches or retrievals until the wind lessens, even if it means leaving a driver in the tender. The risk simply isn’t worth it.
- Docking or coming alongside becomes significantly harder in strong wind. If guest transfers are involved, caution is essential. Guests don’t have our familiarity with navigating rocking boats. Once again, the right call can be to just wait. If coming alongside, keep a close eye on anchor swing, fender positioning (there will be height fluctuations with waves), line handling and snap-back zones. Remember that lines may come under tension suddenly.
Tied alongside the dock, the risk from wind is still significant. In my experience, the mooring lines we work with on yachts are oversized and rarely break through tension only. What I’ve seen that often does break first is the bollards and shoreside infrastructure, such as pylons or smaller recreational-style cleats. This is especially the case in more off-the-beaten-track cruising areas.
- The watchkeeper must be doing the rounds on the lines, being aware of the state of not just the lines but what they are attached to on the dock. Strong winds can and will rip seemingly solid bollards right out of concrete.
- Instead, chafing is your main concern for line breakage, as constant chafe at the wrong angle will destroy a line in as little as a few hours.