Riding it out

Does anyone know the toughest thing to keep on a boat?  Fresh fruit? Fine China? Dry goods? A full bottle of rum?

Nope, our friend Glen explained to me the toughest thing to keep on a boat:  A Schedule.

When we brought JV south we were largely running on our hectic crazy intended schedule, we had great luck with weather, diesel, crew schedules, etc. Our plan for the last week was to go to Junkanoo and then wait till the shops opened today, buy a couple things we need at the hardware store and move up to Manjack Cay to go scuba diving for a couple days. I mentioned our plan to our neighbors here at the dock last night and our neighbor Rick suggested we check the weather….

Barometer Bob was predicting a gale for today, 20-25 knots from the WNW with higher gusts! A report came over the VHF from a guy on the other side of the island this morning that said he saw a 54 knot gust (that sounded a little high, I would put them at 35, he was French, maybe it was in kilometers/hr?) and the VHF keeps chirping with boats calling each other saying “You’re dragging down on me!” Needless to say we’re still hanging out here at the Green Turtle Club Marina.  I would say we’re “safely” in a slip, but there’s not too much safe about it.  We have two slender pilings holding us stern-to the wind and I’m hoping they’re solid.  The finger pier doesn’t even extend to midship, so I got creative with the spring lines to ease the pressure on these pilings.  White Sound here on GTC seems like a great place to ride out the wind, but even here there are white caps in the anchorage, I can’t imagine what the Sea of Abaco is like.

Yesterday we made a lucky decision to head out in the morning to do some snorkeling.  There was only a light breeze and we were able to run the dinghy to the “Inner-Outer Reef” on No Name Cay.  The sea fans there were exquisite, and I snapped some quick photos, unfortunately, the camera’s batteries died on me shortly after we got there.  We also walked along the beach in Gillam Bay on the south side of Green Turtle Cay. Getting back the wind had increased to about 10 knots out of the west, a little wet in the dinghy, but nothing compared to today.  We came back in time for the Buckeyes game, but alas, GTC doesn’t get ESPN2 and I called around to the other bars in White Sound on the VHF to see if anyone had the game, with no luck.

Instead of watching the game, we performed a little maintenance on the engine yesterday and then had drinks with some other cruisers in the marina last night and talked about places to dive and places to visit.  Another couple was from Annapolis, but their boat never makes it back there anymore. We’re settling into the rhythm of the islands, trying to sense the weather, and how fast or slow things will happen. Most people advise to explore the open areas and dive while it’s nice, and work on your boat or go into town when it’s not, we’re trying to adapt to this plan.

Stores are open here after the holidays and we need to go buy a couple small things.  I need some PVC to make a tiller extension for the dinghy, my arm is killing me on our long dinghy runs.

As I finish typing this I had to run into the clubhouse, the sun disappeared and it started to rain.  Luckily the club has a fire burning on this cold Bahamas day…