Practice, Practice, Practice

Javakeda is sailing in the Vendée Globe because this race is one of the best opportunities for amateur weather-routers [of which I am one] to practice their skills.

Where else can you

• read a GRIB file
• make course decisions
• have those decisions confirmed or debunked by the elite skippers of a fleet almost 400,000 strong.

Only in the Vendée Globe.

But, in addition to weather-routing strategy, the race lets me practice the mechanics of routing.
This is the watch-to-watch:

• OK, here are the winds
• Looks like we should go this way for the next watch.
• Looks like we have a handle on the long-term route
  ... or NOT!

Last October, I was the weather-router to the Sea Witch as she made her seasonal passage from New Bedford, CN to the British Virgin Islands [BVI].
I was 'shore crew' -- not on-board, but in regular contact with Captain John and First Mate Dennis.

The first leg of the passage [New Bedford to Bermuda] went well.
Sea Witch set a personal best for that passage.
On the leg from Bermuda to the BVIs, however, the 'routing' became very serious.

We had TS-Patty passing to our west.
We had TS-Rafael, coming at us from the south-east.
Sea Witch was able to pass safely to the west of Rafael within 100nm of the center.
This was less than 24-hours before Rafael became a hurricane.
This was less than 12-hours after Rafael passed over the BVIs, our destination.

Definition:

Experience is what you get, just after you needed it.

Days before, we had made the right decisions regarding our route.
But during the critical time, I wished I had better routing tools and more experience.
In the days after the passage, I resolved to practice
 -- and here I am.