How well do you know your synoptic charts?
We all know that these nasty-looking fronts will bring wind and rain to the Channel, but what about actual wind strengths elsewhere? To read off a probable wind speed, the answer is the Geostrophic scale in the top left-hand corner of the chart.
Get out your dividers and note the width of the isobars. Then transfer that to the scale, taking into account the latitude, then read off the speed in knots. It’s rough and ready, but it works surprisingly well. In this example West Norway is in for a serious hammering with 50 knots on the cards, while the Hebrides are basking in 15 knots or less. This little lad is bending the halyard onto a pirate flag. He’ll be using a sheet bend in all probability and he’s obviously done the job before. Out of shot, his even smaller sister is setting up her dollies’ clothes line. She’ll be clove-hitching it around the backstay and backing it up with a half hitch.
When they enter harbour, the pair of them are in charge of fenders. They are proud of their responsibility and they will want to come again. Taking the chance to teach a knot when it’s obviously required is a lot better than sitting kids around the saloon table for a mandatory ‘session on knots’.