Meet the Williwaws

We were feeling a bit weathered when we arrived at Melanie Cove but this was such a beautiful place, we wanted to share it with Eric and Cheri. The wind was still blowing but we had some protection from the islands. This is where we were introduced to the williwaws (pronounced willi-waw). In meteorology, a williwaw is a sudden blast of wind descending from a mountainous coast to the sea. It circles around the canyon and one gust can be one direction and 30 seconds later another from the opposite direction. While most people anchor and stern tie in Melanie Cove, everyone had to just anchor to keep from having their anchor ripped up and the williwaw slaming them into the rocks against their stern tie. It was interesting how close the boats anchored to each other and at first a little unnerving. Everyone was a 5:1 scope and the wind was steady enough to keep all the boats straight. When the williwaw blew, everyone turned together - it was amazing to watch, like synchronized swimming.

The water was still warm and we jumped in to enjoy a brisk swim and chat with the neighboring boat. I didn’t think there would be much sleep that night but the winds died down enough, the anchor alarm was on, and we slept peacefully.

There are legends about williwaws and we learned not to underestimate them - some of those gusts were intense!