Sailing Into Fall via Tomorrow’s Equinox
As September comes to a close, we checked the calendar and saw that tomorrow is the fall equinox. This means summer will officially be over. While some may see that as a sad event, the reality for the USA’s West Coast sailors is that it does not mean a close to our sailing season. We get to enjoy being on the water almost all year round. We just need to adjust our sails, and our outfits. We’re also, indirectly, reminded of the time before Starlink, AI and the myriad other technologies that keep us metaphorically tethered, even as we sail off the docks and into what used be “the unknown.”
Yesterday, while we were taking an Uber ride in an all-electric vehicle, our driver mentioned he also owned a “gasoline vehicle.” He keeps it topped up and in good working order, in preparation for the (hopefully nonexistent) day when all the power grids go down and electric cars are useless. Today we’re reminded of that theory also being true for sailboats. We’ve become so accustomed to using electronics for our navigation and communications that some of us may become lost without them. And while the old SSB and VHS radios might also fall by the wayside in dark times, celestial navigation is one boat skill that requires no human-made power source — other than the human energy of handling the sextant and using our brains for calculations. So how does this relate to the fall equinox? Well, it doesn’t, really, other than the shorter days and longer nights making us think about how fall and then winter cause us to slow down a little, to spend more time in quieter pursuits. Sure, we still go sailing, but we might not race as much. And when we do race, we might not feel as compelled to go for the win. Many sailors are preparing to head south so they can continue to enjoy warmer weather. The Baja Ha-Ha fleet, for example, sets off for Mexico on November 2. That’s just six weeks away!
According to the Weather Channel, the “equinox happens at 8:05 p.m. EDT Tuesday, Sept. 22.” For us here in the West, that would be at 5:05 p.m. PDT, tomorrow!
We did a little scouting on the internet and found this very cool image and explanation shared by NASA.
“On the September and March equinox, when Earth is at a right angle to the sun, light is spread evenly across the globe and the terminator [the edge between the shadows of nightfall and the sunlight of dusk and dawn] runs from pole to pole. But on the December and June solstice, when Earth is tilted away from and toward the sun, respectively, light is cast disproportionately on each hemisphere, causing the terminator to appear slanted.”
With that, we say farewell to summer and embrace the fall season. We’ll still be sailing, and we hope to see many of our readers out and about on the water. And, to be honest, we will also be counting down the days to the next Summer Sailstice (June 19, 2027), at which time we will celebrate sailing (and the official start of summer) with the world and enjoy the extended hours of daylight.
While we’re on the topic of seasons, this Saturday, September 26, is a Harvest Moon. If the weather is good, untie your dock lines and go enjoy a night under the full moon.
In the meantime, perhaps fall is a good time to brush up on or learn celestial navigation — you never know when it might come in handy. Check out this story on celestial navigation by Max Ebb.