It is now Sunday morning and we made it through the night. I feel totally awed that one 35 lb Bruce anchor (we are not using our CQR because it doesn't dig in as well here) and 100 feet of chain could hold this 23,000 lb boat in the winds that blew last night. It blew steadily 25 knots and higher for hours and hours and hours. I sat in the cockpit for the first 4 hours watching the windspeed readout and the track of the boat on the chartplotter. Then I came down to doze on the settee in the salon and Jim kept going up to check.

We had reasonable protection from Meeks all the way through the NW but once it got to N, we were more exposed. Russell Island was further away and there was more chance for fetch to build but it turned out to be OK. We didn't have much pitching in waves, just as we had hoped would happen, only the pull, pull, pull against the anchor.

It is always our practice to visually check the set of the anchor, and it is easy to do in this clear water. Sometimes Jim dives down to hold it upright while I back the boat off and that helps set it. Sometimes it happens all by itself. That was the case here. We dinghied over it and checked it with the looky bucket (a bucket with a glass bottom) and it was well buried.

So it is good to know that our Guardian Angels were watching and our reasonable precautions all worked! So much of this sailing business is about doing the best you can, and then trusting in a good outcome after that. There are no guarantees. We take reasonable precautions with wind and protection and current and equipment and our own abilities. There is always something that can go wrong and then it can be either catastrophic or minor. And often enough, there are times when nothing goes wrong at all!

Many boats left the area today and are travelling south on this N wind. Because we have time to linger before we meet friends in Governor's Harbor in early Feb, we will wait another day or so. The sea will calm and the swimming will be good. I cut my heel on a piece of glass on the beach yesterday and it starts to bleed again every time I put pressure on any part of that foot. We would love a good brisk sail, but we think perhaps a little more time with my foot elevated will bode well for future walking. So ... with time to linger and a reason to rest, we'll stay put.

Now, I'll try to get these last several postings up!!