Learn All About Weather in 15 Minutes

By Ian Savidge 

How long does it take to learn all you need to know about weather? 

Well, in my case it took about ten minutes. Maybe it was fifteen. I am 

not sure exactly how long it took, because at the time we were too busy 

to look at a watch – we were in the middle of a line squall. 

As you may know, a line squall is part of a series of thunderstorms that precede a cold front, and which are 

distinguishable by a low menacing black squall line along the horizon. Chapman’s Piloting describes it as 

follows: Ahead of the squall line, the wind may be steady or variable. One of the features of a thunderstorm is the 

roll cloud, formed by violent air currents along the leading edge of the base of the thundercloud. As the roll cloud 

passes overhead, violent shifting winds accompanied by strong downdrafts may be experienced. The wind 

velocity may reach 60 knots or more. Heavy rain, and sometimes hail, begins to fall just behind the roll cloud. 

After the storm, the weather quickly clears, bringing cooler temperatures and lower humidity. 

That evening several years ago, we were out in a Shark, just two of us, together with lots of boats from other 

clubs. The black squall line on the horizon was there when we went out, but was a long way away – we watched 

it carefully, but noted that our wind was blowing towards it. Also, the other boats seemed quite unconcerned by 

it, but we did notice from the clouds that the wind at higher altitudes was blowing in the opposite direction. 

As we sailed around, the black line seemed to be approaching us, but since our wind was still blowing toward it, 

we did not feel particularly concerned (we hadn’t read Chapmans). All of a sudden, it became clear that the 

squall line was indeed coming our way, and it seemed that all the boats decided to head back home at the same 

time. We too turned to head back in, but saw that now the black line was approaching us at ever-increasing 

speed, even though our own wind was still against it – but not for long. From one moment to another, the wind 

did a complete turnabout, and started blowing violently towards us – it was then that we knew we were in 

trouble. 

Within seconds we were engulfed in blinding rain and howling wind – we tried to head up into the wind, but we 

found ourselves heeled over so far that we could get no response on the helm – we let out the mainsheet as far as 

it would go, and hoped that the mainsail would spill the wind – instead, the sail was lashing so badly that within 

seconds the top of the sail had ripped right across to the mast, and we had to scramble up to the mast and haul the

mainsail down, the boom trailing in the water until we managed to get it back on board. There was no time to get 

the outboard in the water, and even if we had been able to, it would not have helped us, as the boat was bucking 

so badly that the engine would have been as much out of the water as in it. 

So we did the only thing that the boat would allow us to do – we turned away from the wind and ran on the jib. 

Luckily we were heading for Toronto Islands, so we had lots of open water ahead of us - although the visibility 

was so low that we could not see where we were really going. And it was then that we learned that a Shark can 

plane – I had always thought that keel-boats could not plane – in fact, I would almost swear that the boat lifted 

clean out of the water and planed like a hydrofoil on the bottom of the keel – but I may have been wrong… 

Whatever the truth, we were going like we had never gone before, caught up in a wild exhilarating boat ride, as 

the boat careered through the water and the wake flattened out behind us, until suddenly…, the rain stopped, the 

wind disappeared, and we found ourselves lurching around in a messy chop of waves somewhere off Hanlan 

Point. 

So we lowered the engine and joined the water-soaked and bedraggled flotilla heading back home. We were not 

the only boat caught out that day, and we found it an invaluable experience - even though we had a ripped sail, 

we felt that the money that we paid out to get the sail fixed was worth it, because in those ten or fifteen minutes, 

we learned the ONLY thing that you need to know about the weather – RESPECT IT, man, RESPECT IT. And 

get your sails down in time! 

 Last reviewed on February 19, 2008.dc 

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