There was very little wind last night and the boats in the Rodney Bay anchorage turned sideways to the swell. We were sitting under a cell of low pressure and it was pouring buckets. The rolling started at dusk and we foolishly decided that we did not want to move to the north end of the anchorage where we might get some relief from the sideways rolling. The intense rolling last for about four hours and it got so bad that Hunter suggested that we pick up the anchor and go to sea and sail around all night. We heaved side to side and we heard things banging around that we have never heard before. We stuffed lockers with rags and pillows to keep bottles from breaking and damp the noise. We were worried about the weight of the dingy with the motor and gas can on the davits so during a lull (ha!) we donned our rain jackets and dropped the dingy and hoisted the motor and gas can. Shortly after that we began a slow turn towards shore where bounced gently with the swell on our stern.
The events of last night inspired me to share the Arctic Tern scale of rolling at Anchor. This was published in the Caribbean Compass a few months ago. For the record we experienced a full 10 on the scale.

1. Rock a bye Baby: Gentle movement that is comfortable and might even rock you to sleep. Don’t leave your wine glass untended.
2. Pesky: Periodic rolls that cause unmanned objects to unexpectedly fall onto cabin sole. A pesky roll can wake you up at night, but usually not keep you awake.
3. Annoying: Bottles start clinking. Objects roll off of un-fiddled spaces. You to walk into walls and lurch. Annoying rolls will wake you and might require minor changes to sleeping arrangements.
4. REALLY BAD: It is really noisy with stuff rattling and clinking. Unsecured objects become missiles. Sleeping arrangements must be re-arranged to across the boat or bodies need to be chocked. Misery and whining is permitted.
5. Untenable: this is a gunnel to gunnel roll and if you can go somewhere else you should. Either move the boat or leave the boat. Forget about cooking or reading. If you cannot escape just take drugs and go to sleep.