April 14th: Not “Calm” except at the Jetty!

On Sunday  (14th April) I went on watch to find that, despite a force 4 to 5 ESE wind, the sea state had been entered in the log as “Calm”. Admittedly, t is difficult to estimate the wave height from the Tower, particularly for watchkeepers who don’t sail, and the problem has not been helped by a suggestion provided to watchkeepers to look at the waves going up and down the jetty steps. After all, jetties tend to be placed somewhere sheltered to make it easier to land on them!

I was so annoyed I made a short video comparing wave height in the open water to wave height at the jetty and also using some of the photos from the 3rd February to illustrate what “Calm” looks like… here’s the video! As a result of all this I have later developed a “Sea State Guide“.