10 On the Beaufort Scale

As I write (2:45 p.m. Atlantic Daylight Time) the MV Fram is nearing the end its 30-hour crossing of the Labrador Sea. It has not be a pleasure cruise: the seas were as high as 30 feet for much of the crossing, the wind just below hurricane strength at gusts of more than 60 mph. Mario, our expedition leader, said the gusts measured 10 on the Beaufort scale, with sustained wind at 9. That's no gentle breeze.

The image above, from windy.com, represents the 1 a.m. today wind speeds and directions in the Labrador Sea between Greenland (on the right) and the Labrador coast. Red and green mean what you think they mean.

The rough crossing of this arm of the North Atlantic began soon after we left the protection of Greenland's fjords Wednesday evening, and didn't let up until daybreak Friday when we reached Labrador's continental shelf.

I had experienced a bit of rough seas on my first Hurtigruten trip in 2010 soon after we left Kirkenes and headed into the Barents Sea. But that was calm compared to the last two days. I managed breakfast and lunch yesterday, but the sight of cream of mussel soup at dinner sent me back to the cabin and the comfort of my berth. (I doubt if more than a third of the passengers made it for dinner at all.) In there my body sensed the movement as a rocking cradle. I slept well.

Our captain reported he had to use all four of his diesel engines to power the vessel through the heavy seas; normally he would only use three to turn the generators on a sea crossing. At times, going up the waves, we were stationery, making progress only on the way down: maybe two or three knots, at best. So the crossing from Greenland to Labrador is taking five or six hours longer than planned, which means no time ashore when we reach Hopewell, Labrador, to clear Canadian customs early this evening.

This experience does give me pause about a future trip to Antarctica through the notorious Drake Passage, even though one of the expedition team members observed he had made 80 passages over the Drake between Tierra del Fuego and the Antarctic cape, and none were as difficult as our Labrador Sea crossing. Small comfort.

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