Glad we moved.
09 May 2015 | Feydhoo Atoll
Blowing and partly cloudy
Yesterday, just as the Sun was coming up and being able to take advantage of it showing where the bommies were, we pulled up the anchor and headed back to Feydhoo. The biggest reason(at least at the time) was that fresh veggies come in on Sunday and we wanted to be there when they show up. Fresh anything in this atoll is rare. We got back to where we had left(00 40.401S:073 07.938E) about 0930 and it took us a few minutes to find the shallow spot we had found the first and second time we dropped here but we did and down went the anchor in 49 feet of water. She set nicely and we settled in learning that there was a big front due in over the next 48 hours with winds expected to be in the 20 to 25 knot range. No problem, we were set. All we needed to do was make sure Puff(our dinghy) was tied down to the deck and clean up anything that might blow away.
Shortly after arriving, another boat, Evita showed up and dropped their hook just to the west of us. A kids boat with three kids on board. Nice to have some company again. We've been traveling with Yolo for so long(almost two months) that it was strange to be by ourselves. By 1900, the winds started to kick up, much earlier than forecast. I'd set our anchor alarms so we were covered should something happen.
After watching some shows, Tracy took off for bed and I decided that I'd stay up and do an "anchor watch". Yes, I had the alarms set but we'd put up the side panels on the bimini so there was no chance of me getting wet as it had already rained a few time and the wind was still building. The tarp we had put over the stern of the boat kept flapping even though it was tied down and Tracy kept coming up on deck to retied it. I meanwhile sat in the cockpit reading and surfing the slow internet. Just after midnight, another boat, Code Zero showed up off our port side coming in from up north. They had sail their way down taking advantage of the west winds and now needed a place to anchor. I radioed them and let them know what we had found about where we were and they finally found a place to drop their hook. Eventually it bit in and they were fine.
All during the night, the winds came and went but still steadily built into the mid 30 knot range. I cat napped through the night watching the anchor alarm screen. We had already slipped once but that just pushed us out into a bit deeper water. At 0430, the anchor slipped again and we dropped back another 70 feet or so before it recaught and dug in. There we sat through the rest of the night but we will be moving back where we started sometime this morning. With more winds coming, we want to make sure we are well hooked for when it shows up. It's now just after 0700 and the Sun has come up and the winds have laid down. It's sort of rude to blow at night and calm down during the day. Normally it's the opposite.