Sunday, March 30, 2014

March 30, 2014.

When last I wrote we had just settled in to the small anchorage in White Sound, Turtle Cay.
We were beset by a prolong series of squalls during the night. We had a few hours of spectacular lighting followed by the wind piping up and then a prolonged downpour. I sat up in the cockpit with Tucker until 0130 watching the boats around us dance furiously at their rodes as the squalls swept through.

The wind and rain left together so I went below and tucked myself in. Even with a 120 degree wind shift nobody dragged or got too close to each other. Lovely.

Today dawned gray but soon the sky cleared and the wind returned. And things got a little weird. First a local boat came in with a diver onboard and they replaced 2 moorings. The moorings were missing but when they found the anchors on the bottom they just attached a new ball to them.
This dude anchored, and THEN they put the mooring ball right under his bow.  Surprise!
It was a little disconcerting for the guys who had anchored there to all of a sudden have a mooring ball floats immediately off their bow.

So once these guys pull their hooks and leave no once else will be able to anchor there because of the moorings location. I understand why they did it, it just seemed an odd way to find out that you anchored in the middle of the mooring field.

Then these 2 tiny sailboats came into the harbor.

They probably draft less than 3 feet so they can squeeze themselves into some really protected spots. But holy mackerel, I think the larger of the two might only be 26 feet long, if that. Thats not a lot of boat for some of the conditions we face from time to time. Let alone the lack space can only allow for so many creature comforts. But even though they're small I'll bet it seems a lot more roomy than some office cubicle. I've always felt I could live a Spartan lifestyle yet these people make me feel like a spoiled little princess.
Thats the 4 adults from the 2 tiny sailboats crammed into 1 tiny rowing dink.  More power to em'

After last nights temporary clocking as the squalls came through I thought that everyones anchors must be pretty well set. Evidently I was wrong because once the sun came up and we all started to swing with the clocking breeze things changed. One boat was about 6 feet from a boat on a mooring so he pulled his hook and went into a marina. When he freed up his spot 2 other boats pulled the hook and moved just a bit to gain a little extra room between them and their neighbors.

The wind is still up near 20 knots but it is slowly clocking as advertised. We should be able to get out of White Sound tomorrow and anchor closer to town.. Thats the plan anyway. S/V Gem made it too the neighborhood coming through the Whale this morning. We'll probably spend some time with them tomorrow. As the plan stands now, its off to the states for us on Tuesday...

1 comment:

Steve said...

Safe sailing when you go!!!