April 3, 2021 After the Storm

By
The Big Nasty storm blew through last night as expected.  We rotated watches through most of the night, one of us always up to react if the anchor tore loose again.  But the anchor held and the winds settled a bit as was forecast, and we were both able to sleep enough to be rested.

The forecast called for the wind to settle just enough to try getting out of here.  A plan has formed to ride the rising waters of the tide across the shallow bank that would return us to the clear blue waters of Hoffman Cay and Devils Cay.  

Timing is everything here.  With the rising tide there is *just* enough water to float Second Star over the shallowest sections of the route.  In places this channel is also narrow.  Getting blown sideways, or going too fast to carve the turn could put us in very thin water, potentially hard aground in an angry sea.  

When departure time arrives the winds have still not stabilized.  Sometimes it is blowing a concerning 17 knots, while other times much more.  Reluctantly the decision is made to wait another day in this place, watching the anchor for any signs of trouble, while letting the storm wind down a little more.

As if to punctuate that painfull decision, the windspeed breaks above 30 knots just about the time we would have been in the most difficult part of the transit had we departed as planned.

So another day on the anchor.   The water is too rough to make a dinghy run to town if that were of interest.  A few boat chores will get done, and there is reading to do.  We make the best of it.

Lois's adds:
When lunch time came around, I had a sudden inspiration after finding a small package of bacon in the bottom of the freezer. BLTs on today's warm loaf of bread (except we had no lettuce, so maybe it's BTs?)  Let me tell you, after almost two months at sea, the smell of bacon is pretty doggone heavenly. 

Oh, and I've started hearing voices. As I lay in the bunk, there's a combination of the wind howling in the rigging and the waves incesantly slapping against the hull that combines to sound like people talking. Sometimes I think I can even understand what they're saying😳  I've decided it's the spirits of the old pirate crews that the Bahamas are famous for.  Not only that, but when our autopilot is running I hear something that sounds like a men's chorus singing opera. Sounds like the scene in Hunt for Red October when the crew starts singing. (LOL  I hope my room in the asylum has a good view!)

We spent the evening discussing plans for tomorrow and routes to get to our next destination. Whether or not we actually get to leave will depend on the wind dying down somewhat. We are so tired of listening to it howling and the waves swirling and slapping against the hull. It's not white noise, it's just plain loud.  And we are very ready to move on.

Comments

Lynn and Ed said…
Good luck for a favorable forecast (and then have the weather actually do what the forecast says.)
April 4, 2021 at 9:24 PM
Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

April 2-4, 2023 Myrtle Beach to Cape Lookout

By
Image
 We slipped away from our place on the dock after three nights at Myrtle Beach Yacht Club and turned into the ICW heading north. An hour later we turned into Little River Inlet to pass into the open Atlantic Ocean.   We sailed north about 30 miles before returning to the ICW via Cape Fear River.  The Cape Fear River was in flood tide, which was very helpful making 15 miles north to Carolina Beach.  We took a mooring provided by the city of Carolina Beach after talking on the phone with Larry the Dockmaster who is just about the friendliest guy you ever met. He was very welcoming.  Sam was anxious for some shore time, so we dinghy-ed to the town dock and walked 1 block to the ocean beach. She seemed happy to ve back near the surf. On our last visit Larry told us the best burger in town could be found at the gas station next to the dinghy dock. We enjoyed it last time & it seemed like a good way to shortcut dinner while also filling our fuel jugs. ...
Read more

Fri Sept 11 Patuxtent River to Little Choptank

By
Image
We woke up to a ruckus.  These two were being quite chatty and apparently we were anchored near their tree.  They would jabber to each other, fly off to do some fishing, then come back to the tree to brag about their catch and, undoubtedly, the one that got away. We had some nice sailing leaving the Patuxent River, light rain with the sun peaking through now & then.  The skies began to darken and the wind picked up about 3 hours into the sail.  We ended up skating though 4-6 foot seas with 17-20 kt windsfor the rest of the day.  Lots of waves over the bow, a few crashing up over the cockpit windows.  We received a text message from friends Ed & Lynn that they were anchored in the Little Choptank River.  We were not far (as the crow flies) from there, and decided to join them. A few more hours of navigating the rough water and we dropped our anchor 100 feet away from them just at dusk.  They kindly invited us over for snacks ...
Read more

Day 22 & 23 Glouster, Mass- A Brief Intermission....

By
Image
When we arrived in Gloucester, MA Sunday afternoon it was incredibly hot, part of a heat wave involving most of the nation.  We turned on air conditioning; it was lovely. Monday we had planned to relax and not move the boat, waiting for more favorable winds to allow us to move north.  That turned out to be a good call, because I was feeling under the weather and slept most of the day.  Brent made me some pizza for dinner and we played a couple rounds of cribbage. (He won as usual.)  Sometime in the evening it started to rain, and continued to pour down all night. We needed to pull out a quilt to sleep under. Tuesday morning the rain had washed the boat thoroughly, and instead of being unbearably hot we were digging into our cooler weather clothes for sweaters and wool socks. What a change! We grabbed a lull in the rain to take Shelby ashore and explore.  We walked for a couple hours in a mostly light rain.  We toured downtown Glouchester, enjoying th...
Read more