Wild West Rodeo Show

Roll Up...Roll Up....Take y'er chance on this bucking bronko. See if you
can hang on while she pitches, rolls and yaws all over the place.One minute
she's calm and galloping along, then next she'll stop short and try to throw
you off.

No, this is not some Wild West Show where the ride is over in munutes. But
another day mid-Atlantic on a J109, where the waves never end 24/7. It's at
times like this that I'm envious of those long keeled heavy boats that you
can set sail directly downwind and just keep on trucking. But no, this
lively bird, cavorts all over the ocean. I am struck by the way the wave
patterns change - at times long surfing swells with boat speeds up to 14kts,
at others a confused pattern of waves crossing each other, stopping the boat
short in her tracks before she can build up any momentum. For a weather
system that has been established for several days with constant wind
direction, it is surprising to have such a confused sea, more akin to a
rough Channel or North Sea crossing. My only theory is that the mixture of
ocean currents and the edge of the continental shelf nearby is churning
everything up.

We know that we have entered the gulf stream - there have been a couple of
clues. Not only has the sea temperature jumped from 14C to 18C but I watched
in amazement as a coconut floated by. Makes a change from Dolphins, I
suppose.

Richard