Aleria's Adventures

As Ireland tonight goes to level 5 lockdown, we will once again face a strange new world, straying no more than 5 km from home, inviting no visitors to house or garden, and limiting social interactions outside of home. Once again, the numbers of coronavirus infections are climbing, instilling fear of infection, fear of isolation, and fear of dying. Mostly, it's the fear of the unknown.  But I believe that being sailors helps to overcome such challenges. As distance sailors having set off across oceans, the great unknown the first time around, we have faced isolation for long periods and known that eventually, we reach the other side. We have faced storms and learned that they all eventually pass. We have survived when others have not, but we didn't let it stop us from taking off.  Sailing can help us keep things in perspective, perhaps enduring more along the way. It can help us cope with extreme physical and mental challenges. Facing the approaching storm, with skies darkenin...

Hurricane Alex in January 2016 The season for tropical cyclones in the Atlantic begins June 1 and ends December 1. Here we are two weeks into June and we've already had three this year. El Nino has apparently been snuffed out and La Nina has not yet reared its head. A La Nina pattern may develop as early as late summer or early Fall. In this situation, sea surface temperatures in the equatorial Pacific usually run below normal as opposed to the above-normal temperatures of an El Nino pattern that we've seen in the past couple of years. We are currently experiencing a neutral pattern that may continue over the next several months. This is often associated with a more active Atlantic hurricane season and a less active eastern Pacific cyclone season. After the devastation caused by cyclones in Vanuatu and Fiji, that will be welcome news in the Pacific.