Weather & safety

Beaufort scale

Force	Knots	Description	Sea state
0	< 1	Calm	Sea like a mirror
1	1–3	Light air	Ripples
2	4–6	Light breeze	Small wavelets
3	7–10	Gentle breeze	Crests begin to break
4	11–16	Moderate breeze	Frequent white horses
5	17–21	Fresh breeze	Moderate, longer waves. Prepare to reef
6	22–27	Strong breeze	Large waves, spray
7	28–33	Near gale	Sea heaps up, foam streaks
8	34–40	Gale	Moderately high waves
9	41–47	Strong gale	High waves, dense foam
10	48–55	Storm	Very high waves
11	56–63	Violent storm	Exceptionally high waves
12	≥ 64	Hurricane force	Air filled with foam and spray

For less experienced crews it gets demanding from force 5. From force 6 we usually stay in harbour with charter yachts.

Check the marine forecast every morning and before each longer leg, for example via coast radio stations on VHF, NAVTEX or weather apps.
Compare several models and look at the gusts, not just the mean wind.
Watch the barometer: a quickly falling pressure usually means wind is coming.

Maestral: Thermal north-westerly in Croatia. It picks up in the late morning and dies in the evening. Ideal sailing weather.
Bora: Cold katabatic north-easterly on the Adriatic. Often starts suddenly, is very gusty and can reach gale force.
Jugo (Sirocco): Humid south-easterly on the Adriatic. Builds slowly, brings big waves and often rain.
Mistral: Strong north-westerly between the Rhône valley, Corsica and Sardinia, often for several days.

Safety briefing on day one: life jackets, harnesses, fire extinguishers, first aid, life raft, distress call.
Wear a life jacket at night, in a seaway, when working on deck and whenever the skipper says so.
At night and in heavy weather clip on to the jackstays with a harness.
One hand for yourself, one hand for the ship.

In distress, first press the red DSC distress button on the radio, then make the voice call on channel 16:

Close to the coast, the European emergency number 112 also works via the mobile network.