Day 35: Tue 15 Apr 08

[Photo: the north anchorage near the park headquarters as seen from Boo Boo Hill.]

We plan to leave tomorrow and may mot have Internet for a few days or more.]

Clyde woke me up early again, which I really don't mind, so I made some coffee and sat up in the cockpit awaiting the sunrise. It was howling a bit, so Clyde wasn't to keen on staying up there after all. Like Diane, he prefers it fairly calm.

After Diane awoke, we decided to all get some exercise on the beach, but when I went to start the dinghy engine, it would not. The gas tank end of the hose had come undone, which explains why it would not start, but even after securing it and priming the engine, still no go. I resorted to a can of starting fluid and it started on the first pull and kept running. I shut it down to replace the air cleaner and engine cover, and it started on its own on the first pull. Hopefully, that will not occur again anytime soon.

Our walk took place after all and it was a good one. Afterwards, I went to shore with the laptop to post to the blog, check email, weather, and news.

[I think here is a good time for an interjection from Di for all you that think Duane might have offed me in the Tongue of the Ocean. I am doing well. I have learned to take a shower with a quart of water, but at least it is hot. I also need a color job and a massage might be nice. See, I was smart enough to hide strategic items from Duane so that I was indispensable to him.]

Today is another familiar day of being stuck on a rockin' and rollin' boat. The wind is so strong that the water in the anchorage is very choppy and any dinghy ride guarantees you will get soaked. Nevertheless, I went ashore in the mid-morning to do the Internet thing.

When I arrived bat at Diva Di, Diane greeted me at the transom and declared that she did something that she hoped was the right thing. Unsurprisingly, I was eagerly awaiting the details. She explained that she heard a frequent noise from the bow and it turned out to be the line from the bow cleat to the mooring ball snagging our primary anchor. She detected a bit of chafe on the line and decided it would be best if we had a second line from the mooring pendant to the other bow cleat. Not knowing when I would be back, she made a plan and executed it: ready the line at the bow, start the engine, motor forward enough to put slack in the mooring pendant, put the transmission back into neutral, then attach the second line to the pendant. When she described what she did, I was incredibly proud of her.

She asked me to check the whole affair, which I did, and it looked just fine. She admitted that her heart was fluttering the whole time she was taking such unilateral action. Her concern was that we are only 40 feet from smashing into the rocks at our stern due to the wind direction. If the line we have to the mooring would part (break), it would be seconds before being in trouble. In my estimation, we would not have had any significant problems with the line for quite a while, but her actions were very commendable.

I spent the next two hours looking at three different cruising guides, three lists of recommendations from other cruisers, all the navigational charts, and the weather forecasts to plan several contingencies for out continued progress south. Diane and I agreed on the two weather contingent plans, and then we had a bit of lunch.

I later dinghied over to Blue Goose (yes, getting wet) to discuss them. As I arrived downwind of their transom, I could small some goodies baking (turned out to be cookies; what lucky timing!). I presented our thoughts for the next week and they matched Blue Goose's independently arrived plan. We acknowledged we were not really "joined at the hip," but happy for the good companionship and mutual assistance available.

When I arrived back at Diva Di, We both read for a while, and then I attempted to polish some stainless steel tubing, The wind was so fierce that I had to hold onto everything I needed to do the job: polish, application rag and toothbrush, and wiping rag an toothbrush. It got too awkward, so I retreated to the cabin to read a bit more.

Dinner was a hodgepodge of leftover vegetables and cubed chicken from the extra I had cooked the other day. With a sprinkling of parmesan cheese on top, we both agreed it was a fabulous and healthy meal.

We elected to sleep in the main saloon instead of the V-berth up forward due to the quieter motion there. The wind howled through the night. Just before bedtime I measured over 24 kts with my anemometer. It wasn't the most restful night we've had, but we did feel secure enough.

Day 36: Wed 16 Apr 08

The temperature dropped enough that even I used a sheet over me last night. When the predawn came, Clyde made no move to go topside, nor was I interested in greeting the dawn up in the still howling and somewhat cool wind.

By 0900, the wind seemed to moderate a substantial amount, but the clouds kept the sun from warming anything up much. The latest weather forecast showed slightly higher winds for tomorrow through Sunday than yesterday's prediction, but still quite moderate and in a good direction for our travels.

The plan is to move tomorrow to Staniel Cay (anchoring off Big Majors), stay two days, then move to Black Point for delivery of our school supplies. By chance, Blue Goose has several boxes of school supplies for Black Point, too. We plan to make the delivery together; this way they only have to roll out the red carpet once .