We normally anchor out from the marinas and docks to save money. Without a steady income to feed our cruising "habit" we are always looking for ways to conserve our funds, and not running up dock fees at marinas is usually the first place we look by anchoring out, which costs nothing (well no money anyway).

Protection from bad weather while at anchor can be achieved in various ways, whether it's from natural shelters along the shoreline or from the big heavy anchor and the scope of (i.e. how much) anchor chain we put out.

Last night we pulled into Oriental for some provisions and rest while finding safe harbor from some potentially very damaging wind gusts that would accompany the passage of a cold front. Our first choice was to anchor off from the marina, but the protection from the winds wasn't there and other vessels in the area wouldn't allow us to extend our scope. In short, not a good spot to anchor with the prevailing conditions.

As winds began gusting over 35 (maybe 40) mph in the afternoon we decided that we needed a better place to hole up for the upcoming weather, and fortunately found a slip available at the nearby marina. But even getting into the slip in the prevailing winds was not easy, but with some help from the marina Dockmaster we were able to maneuver the boat into the slip and are tucked in for the night.

The only question now: Will we be able to get back out of the slip and underway tomorrow to continue our journey north? While we certainly hope so, if we can't do it safely then what's the point?