Have you noticed that a snow storm in Denver, Buffalo,
Indianapolis or just about anywhere else in the country is just a snowstorm,
but when it occurs on the East Coast near some of the self-important media
personalities and politicians, it becomes SNOWMAGEDDON. Well, to be honest, Ann
and I agree with the general principle, though not as it is currently applied.
We believe that BLANK-MAGGEDON title should be given to weather events where WE
are. Thus, while our son and many of our friends may think they have just been
through a weather event, they have not. For they were not in the Bahamas during
(this must be said with a deep resonate voice) BLOWMAGEDDON.
The story of BLOWMAGEDDON
I
If you will recall, we had just replaced the membrane for
our watermaker and been told that we would not be able to stay at the marina
another day. (Actually, we already had a pretty good idea that, because of the
coming winds, they were not going to let us stay.) About 1710, we heard the
sailing vessel Strava calling the
marina. Well, at 1700 everything marina-connected closes at Staniel Cay. When
we called and told Strava that we
believed the marina was closed for the evening, the captain told us that he had
made reservations for two nights to hide from the coming weather. I really
don’t like to be the bearer pf bad news, so I just pointed out that we had been
cast off the dock starting tomorrow and that he might have to re-think his plan.
However, since we don’t work for the marina, Ann and I helped ho with his lines
and helped him tie up to the dock.
Because both Ann and I were pooped, we had decided to go to the
Staniel Cay Yacht Club for a celebratory hamburger and beer. While there, we met the folks from Strava, and a young lady, Heather, who writes
an adventure blog. Heather was quite a looker. In fact, if I were
Anyway, we left Staniel early in the morning. We intended to
visit each of the three anchorages we had reconnoitered the previous day to see
how full they were. If there were a lot of boats in all of them, we would proceed
another ten miles to an anchorage we knew would have enough room for us, Bell
Island. Before continuing, however, maybe we should let you know what, for us,
constitutes a good anchorage in potentially bad weather. In good weather, of
course, a good anchorage should be near a beach, a town, a snorkeling site,
etc. When hiding from the weather, however, everything takes a back seat to
protection.
·
Holding. Anchors generally hold well in
sand or mud and less well in weeds and rocks. Because no one can afford to have
their anchor detach from the seabed when things get dicey, we always look for a
bottom that can hold an anchor VERY securely. That is almost Rule Number 1.
·
Wind Protection. Generally, usually,
almost always, the reason folks move from one anchorage to another is to get
better protection from the wind. In the Bahamas the prevailing winds are from
the east and luckily, the islands are on the western side of the very deep,
very open Exuma Sound. One can usually hide behind the islands for protection from
the prevailing winds. When the winds shift, however, as they do in low pressure
systems and in cold fronts, there are not that many anchorages that provide
protection from westerly winds, so all of us try to find somewhere that will
place something – preferably an island – between the west wind and our boat.
·
Current protection. In some anchorages,
tidal currents, particular when sneaking around an island can lead to a great
deal of surge which can make boats roll.
When current and wind combine, they can make for a particularly uncomfortable
night. (See our discussion of Hawksbill Cay two years ago. That was probably
our worst night at anchor anytime, anywhere).
·
Other Boats.)One thing that makes us
different from many boaters is that Ann and I will sacrifice a lot to be away
from other boaters. It is bad when your anchor drags, but at least you have
some control over that. However, the results can be just as catastrophic when
your neighbor’s anchor drags anchor – but, over that, you have zero control.
Now don’t get me wrong, we love other boaters, but neither Ann nor I like to
anchor near other boaters when we are concerned over weather. We just don’t
trust their anchoring skills.
With that as background, let me go on.There we were. Traveling Soul had just left the marina and was innocently cruising north trying to get to the anchorage called Oz—just over a mile away – and thirteen sailboats stood in our way. With scowls on their bows and masts pointed toward the sky, it was almost as if they were daring us to try and get through. Spot, of course, likened them to flies and wanted to chase down each and every one of them. With our 1100 horse power engines (VROOM, VROOM) and Spot at the helm, we just might have been able to do it. But, for some reason, Ann didn’t think it was a particularly good idea. I then considered slaloming through the boats, jigging left, jigging right, fainting where I had to, and plowing ahead when necessary. I really thought I could do it. But wait, we all realized that there may be a better solution. I looked to my left and the Big Rock anchorage was open – there wasn’t a single boat there. I could do it. I could faint to starboard, get al the sails thinking we were heading that way, then turn hard to port and enter the anchorage and maybe, just maybe we could leave the sailboats behind.
We entered the anchorage, looked for a place where we had
sufficient protection, then dropped the anchor. We then backed down on it,
first using the starboard engine, then the port engine. Both looked good, so we
went ahead and tried both of them at the same time. Was that a waiver? Did I
see the speed indicator indicate that we might have moved? I wasn’t sure, but I
wasn’t going to take a chance with serious wind coming, so we brought up the
anchor, moved forward a hundred feet or so and tried again. This time the
anchor stuck unequivocally. I tried each engine separately than both together.
The anchor was in. I was reasonably certain we weren’t going anywhere.
Initially, the anchorage was very rolly, I mean VERY rolly.
Spot at one point went into her special “underway” place behind the sofa to
keep from falling over. It seems that the tide in conjunction with the normal
easterly winds make boats roll back and forth. We braved the roll, however, and
a couple of hours later, the winds began shifting and the tide turned. No more
roll.
The first night, the winds were more or less from the south,
so, although we had a little protection, we did not have a lot. But it didn’t
make that much difference as the winds weren’t that strong. During the second
day we started to get a little company. By the evening, we had about six boats
in the anchorage, but it was okay – the anchorage was big enough to handle a
number of boats and people were smart enough to spread themselves out so that
there was probably 500 feet between most of us. Certainly, we didn’t feel
concerned.
The second night was a different story. I started sleeping
down below with my anchor dragging app, “Drag Queen” on the table beside me.
However, the app wouldn’t stay on and the winds seemed to be picking up, so I
decided to move up into the salon so I could see more and know what was going
on. At about 0230 I heard this enormous whoosh! And looked at the wind speed
indicator long enough to realize that the wind speed had just hit 37 knots –
that is gale force on the Beaufort Scale (and remember, we were behind and
island that was absorbing at least some of the wind’s force). At the same time
the boat began pivoting around the anchor. Within what seemed like minutes, the
boat spun in almost a 90 degree arc and was facing the direction of the wind –
due west. A few minutes later, the winds decreased – if you can call it that –
to 20-25 knots, with gusts up to 30. It was definitely a windy night.
We did not drag, nor, as far as we can tell, did anyone else
in our anchorage. And, while it was windy, it was not at all rolly. So, while
we could hear the wind blowing up a storm outside, inside the boat we were very
comfortable – though starting to go a little batty from sitting on the boat for
two days.
Other boats were not so fortunate. Remember the thirteen
masts through which we were not sure we could slalom? Well, there appear to
have been a lot of movement among them. On the radio we heard of at least three
boats that dragged their anchor. One apparently kissed another boat, but there
was no actual damage to either boat as far as we know. In the second
occurrence, a boater was watching the first incident while his boat dragged
about 35 feet before the anchor re-caught and stopped his rearward movement.
And in the third, the boat was not anchored very well and just drifted about 65
feet backwards. How do we know about these things? Ok, we’ll tell you one of
the many dirty little not-so-secrets of boating.
In marine radio, Channel 16 is the international hailing and
distress frequency. You are supposed to call your interlocutor on Channel 16,
then shift to an agreed working channel to discuss business. Well, when we are
bored, as is often the case when on anchor watch, we listen on other peoples’
conversations. So, when they agree to shift to channel 17, many of us who are
listening to Channel 16 do the same. Now, it is not as bad as it sounds.
Everyone knows that you should not be spilling state, family or even personal
secrets on VHF radio because, well, everyone is listening. Moreover, it can be
useful and important. If someone in our anchorage had been dragging, we would
certainly want to have known about it! Ok, now you know that every boat is its own
little NSA listening to other peoples’ conversations. Shhhh!
And in the next issue?? YESSSSSSSS I caught a fish!!!!!!!!!
And in the next issue?? YESSSSSSSS I caught a fish!!!!!!!!!
Ann’s Notes: I really
do not have much to add to this blog, besides all the excitement that Michael
described so well. That being said, it
was an experience and just confirmed
that our thought pattern and communication skills are becoming very much alike.
This blog has been reviewed and approved by the First Mate…ME
No comments:
Post a Comment