Doldrums

5 June 2025

Doldrums

The doldrums are the area between the trade winds of the northern and southern hemispheres. And notorious for often having hardly any wind at all. Stories from sailors and explorers of bygone eras describe the calm that holds up ships for days, sometimes even weeks, in the scorching sun and clammy heat.  Imagine being stuck on such a ship, with the endless flapping of sails hanging limply down as the only sound you hear day in and day out. 

But in terms of global weather systems, this area is very interesting. The wind chill in this hundreds of miles wide band is regularly interrupted by squalls and thunderstorms. The extremely warm ocean water contains an awful lot of energy and this area is the birthplace of many of the hurricanes that plague the Caribbean, for example.

We have been there for two days now and are experiencing first-hand what so many sailors before us have felt. No wind and sweaty heat! The only cooling comes from the rain showers, of which we see at least one during every watch. These can range from light drizzle to intense downpours. Watching the showers on the horizon and on the radar screen has become one of our sources of entertainment. The ever-changing spectacle of clouds forming and dissolving again is beautiful. Some clouds are friendly, backlit by the sun, while others look dark and threatening.One big advantage we have over old sailing ships is our powerful engine, which keeps pushing us forward and closer to the promising NE trade winds. Our time in the doldrums will be much shorter than that of the sailors of old, but we too are already longing for the day when the sails are once again bulging.