BERMEO AND THE “GALERNA”, THE GULF OF BISCAY’S CAT. 1 HURRICANE

On the Gulf of Biscay, ranging from Asturias to the Basque country, the “Galernas” are feared by fishermen and sailors for centuries. These sudden and violent storms break out normally in muggy days with a peaceful atmosphere, when suddenly, with no apparent warning signs, there is an abrupt turn of the wind – from west to northwest – with strong gusts that can exceed 80, and even 120 kilometers per hour. The sky darkens due to the arrival of mists and low clouds, temperatures plummet at dizzying speeds -to more than 15 degrees in just 20 minutes- the relative humidity increases up to 100%, the atmospheric pressure also shoots up and can appear showers.

The Galernas start on the Asturian coast, at the height of Avilés, from where it spreads from west to east at high speed, until it ends on the coasts of the French-Basque Country.  The Basque coast is the most affected as it reaches its maximum intensity and speed. From the time it enters the Basque Country until it is extinguished on the French coast, an average of two hours lapse.

DIFFICULT TO PREDICT

Despite the progress made in the last century in forecasting techniques, The “Galernas” represent a challenge for experts since sometimes meteorological models are not capable of predicting them.  In these cases, meteorologists must make a very close surveillance, not only of the Basque coast, but especially of the Cantabrian and Asturian coast. One sign is a notable difference in temperature – up to 20 degrees – between both stretches of the coastline. But above all, the most significant sign is the change that is registered in the atmospheric pressure, when  it rises in Asturias and Cantabria and falls in Euskadi.

The handicap is that these variations are detected only half or an hour in advance, which forces the use of “nowcasting” systems for very short-term prediction. In this sense, the internet and social networks such as Twitter -where “Euskalmet” has more than 47,200 followers- are emerging as “very useful tools” to ensure that both weather warnings and alerts and the last hour in the evolution of the phenomenon reach the public.

1878 and 1912’s TRAGEDIES IN BERMEO

Bermeo is a Town located on the provice of Biscay. Populated by fishermen with strong link to the sea for centuries. Their people know well the devastating consequences of the “Galernas”. On the 20th of April of 1878 a “Galerna” caused 322 deaths and 34 years later another loss of 134 Fishermen during the 12th to the 13th of August of 1912.

Brief explanationof the 1912’s Galerna

In 1912, the long finned tuna (Bonito del norte) season was not as generous as precedent years. The low captures caused despair among the fishermen in Town, until the first days of August, when several banks of Tunas showed up on Bermeo’s coastline . Due to the religious festivity of “San Roque” on the 16th of August, fishermen were obliged to stay in Town. Due to this, manyd fishermen used to take the opportunity to get married. In this year, 30 weddings were programmed on this single day of 16th of August.

On the 10th of August, 40 ships left the harbor, most of them continued to navigate with oars and sail, aided by a compass. On August 12 as they were fishing, some French boats, who had barometers, approached them to let them know bad weather was coming. The person in charge of deciding whether to return to port (the signalman) warned them to return, but some ignored the warning messages, to take advantage of those 4 days before San Roque festivity. This kind of practice of staying on bad weather was common as the fishermen used to remove masts and went into the hold to pass the storm. Unfortunately for the 134 fishermen who ignored the signs  this Galerna became into an explosive cyclogenesis.

ELLEBOGEN MARINE ENGINE MOUNTS, MADE BY SAILORS AND FOR SAILORS. A PRODUCT OF THE GULF OF BISCAY

In our DNA there is a spirit that makes us different. We are children and grandchildren of sailors who inherited a passion for the maintenance of our ships. Ellebogen products are manufactured by persons who know well the sea and the rough conditions of the Gulf of Biscay.

Ellebogen marine mounts are optimized to last in rough sea conditions. For this purpose Ellebogen has re-studied the marine mounts, improved its components and tested them in Servohydraulic test benches to ascertain improved results.

Marine engine mounts have a great responsibility. They support forces from the weight of the engine but also the forces that come from propulsion, waves, or course change maneuvers. At Ellebogen, Reliability of the products is taken very seriously. Measuring the durability and the evolution of the stiffness of the marine engine mounts is key to being able to enjoy the sea in silence and safety.

Using a multi-axis hydraulic test bench, we measure the evolution of the stiffness of the supports as a function of the duty cycles of the engine support.

Ellebogen has redesigned the marine engine mount to increase its bonding surface

Thanks to a thoughtful examination of the rubber to metal bonding area rubber to metal contact surface could be increased. Thanks to this study, Ellebogen increased the bonding area reaching 90% of contact surface. Using finite element modeling Ellebogen has optimized the architecture of the marine mount to reduce stress points avoiding the appearance hot spots.

The result of this optimization of the marine mounts is demonstrated when at traction dynamometric test the mount remains unbonded at 2100Kg.

The rubber to metal bonding is stronger than the metal parts themselves!

2100Kg are not capable of unbonding an Ellebogen marine mount. If your engine has 4 supports, multiply 2100×4 this would be 8,400Kg. It could lift a 33ft sailboat with 4 Ellebogen marine supports.

Ellebogen manufactures marine engine mounts measuring intermediate control parameters during the complete production process. Ellebogen mounts achieve 100% repetitive results.

Ellebogen Marine mounts are “premium” products made by persons who have a passion for the sea. We use better fasteningcomponents such as the “Nord lock” washers that allow a more durable fastening and torque as you can see in this video.

In addition to this, we take care of the price by adjusting the costs and offering the product at a minimum cost.

Customers can purchase Ellebogen products securely for secure payment methods such as PayPal in our online store.