Mediterranean Weather Handbook for Sailors

Publisher: Imray Laurie Norie & Wilson Ltd, £12.95
Publication Date: May 2008

I am taken back to December 1958, when as a newly qualified air navigator, on my first operational tour with 12 (Bomber) Squadron, flying Canberras I was appointed the Mediterranean Meteorological Briefing Officer, before a detachment to Malta, where the better(?) weather factor enabled us to exercise our bombing techniques more regularly than we could from our Lincolnshire base, using targets in Libya. I was furnished with a manual on Mediterranean Climate produced for the North African campaign and found it very useful. However, like Eric Hiscock, as reported in Roving Commissions – Season 1962 ‘WANDERER III’-FROM ADEN TO THE SOLENT’ … We have little desire to return to the Mediterranean in a sailing vessel. Perhaps our experiences there were unusual, but we found the weather quite unsuitable for sailing. Often there was a calm with a short steep swell running; when it was not calm the wind usually exceeded Force 6 and quickly raised a surprisingly steep and hollow sea, very stopping to our small ship ... I am not a fan of Mediterranean sailing and am greatly puzzled by the enthusiasm shown by the members of the Mediterranean Section! Be that as it may, Roberto Ritossa has produced an excellent weather text book for those who choose to sail in the Mediterranean. Although it claims to be ‘written for sailors, not meteorologists’ there is more than enough essential theory to satisfy the keenest of amateur meteorologists. I would certainly buy a copy if I were to ever plan to return to the Mediterranean, as a sailor. However, I was disappointed to find that the average wind speed charts omitted to mention the units used – Knots, mph or metres per second? I presume that the unit used must be knots as that is the unit he uses in the text. And, of course, winds are, and have always been, very important in the Mediterranean, hence the fact that they have been given more names than anywhere else on Earth and Roberto not only names 28 of them but also mentions many of the other local names for them. Roberto clearly does not have English as his first language and there is no translator’s name so the slightly idiosyncratic language used must be his own and he must therefore be congratulated for the clarity and completeness of the text. I am unable to think of anything practical that he has not covered, including a useful piece on GRIB files. - Ian Galletti