Riding the Storm with a Parachute Sea Anchor. Tracking our movement on the GPS we were approaching the point where we had been three days earlier, having drifted in a complete circle. Under the parachute we had moved at less than half a knot in the direction of the current It may be stated here that it is better to move with a current than with the wind.
Winds can and do blow ashore, currents keep moving and invariably pass along the coast.
The parachute sea anchor did the job, was deployed in time and we rode through a severe gale with minimal damage. The VHF warning to all ships may have prevented us from being run down. We had plenty of sea room and we drifted in a southerly direction on a west wind at 1 knot. The parachute sea anchor held us steady, as the cyclonic wind whirled overhead at 70 knots. A cargo ship had just lost 30 containers off Cape Leeuwin.