The stasis, a zone of calm or massive storms, occurs near the equator due to the convergence of trade winds and warm air rising. Sailors were in danger due to lack of wind for travel, cabin fever, and loss of supplies. The area also produces significant rainfall and high humidity, making conditions worse for sailors.
Dictionaries define stasis as stagnation or a moment when things collapse, or general listlessness, and this term was in use when European mariners began to fully explore the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. What they discovered, among other things, was a peculiar meteorological phenomenon that occurs up to five degrees north and south of the equator. This phenomenon was either extremely calm with little wind or massive storms, and both could leave ships at sea for weeks. This zone was dubbed the stasis in the 1700s, although it also has more scientifically correct names, such as the Intertropical Convergence Zone or the Equatorial Convergence Zone.
There are several factors that create stasis or this zone of calm. The trade winds from the north and south converge or meet in this area near the equator, and the air is significantly warmed by the sun. This causes the air to move upwards in an almost vertical direction, instead of staying close to the land or ocean surface. With the upward pattern of air movement, there can be little or no wind at the surface, a terrible thing for sailors who have to rely on wind for travel. Alternatively, massive hurricanes can strike and create dangerous travel conditions.
Sailors who encountered stasis were in danger because there was little way to move ships except by rowing when wind power was unavailable. Calm wind conditions could last for weeks and this could lead to desperation to see land and move the vessel. A ship in stasis could begin to steadily lose supplies as the days went by, and some sailors developed cabin fever, as they remained nearly anchored in place while no winds picked up to carry them. In the worst case, getting stranded in this area near the equator could result in the deaths of the entire crew as they waited for the wind to pick up.
The area known as the stasis is not simply dry and windless. More than half the days of a year produce significant rainfall due to the action of rising warm air. This may not yet produce adequate wind to move a ship, or the storms can be so severe with tremendous lightning and thunder that the voyage is a hazard. However, a rainy day didn’t necessarily mean big storms.
Many days of equatorial weather feature high relative humidity with occasional rainfall throughout the day. It’s not hard to imagine that this type of weather could have only made things worse on a ship. The relative humidity would have made it feel even hotter and more uncomfortable as sailors waited for enough wind to carry them to the next patch of land they wanted to reach.
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