Wind, Wind and More Wind
27 December 2018
Despite the inclement weather on Christmas Day we all headed into Lorraine's Cafe for a delicious Christmas buffet dinner with about 45 other cruisers. There were whitecaps all over the harbour so we wisely wore our squall suits, the ride was rough but we arrived nice and dry. There were a few people who cancelled their dinner reservations, as getting on and off a boat in 30 knot winds can be a little difficult. Cocktails were served at 2:30 and we all had a chance to socialize prior to sitting down to eat at 3:30. All the food was great but the highlight was the turkey stuffing with lobster. The staff had organized a few after dinner games complete with door prizes and it wasn't long before all the crowd was up dancing. We had a great afternoon and everyone was on their way by 6 pm. to give the staff a chance to enjoy the evening at home with their families.
When we got back to the dinghy we took a chance and only wore our jackets for the return trip to Dagny. Big mistake, halfway across the harbour we got hit by a rain squall and we were completely drenched from the waist down in a matter of minutes. We had numerous rain squalls over night and the winds never abated.
Boxing Day dawned bright and sunny as the last of the rain squalls cleared out; however, there was no relief from the wind. We decided we needed a long walk to burn off our dinner so after a light lunch we headed into the beach for a hike along the ocean side of the island. It was quite a sight as the eastern trade winds have really kicked up the ocean and the breaking waves were spectacular. Certainly not a good day to be sailing. The forecast calls for the winds to continue blowing 25-30 with gusts to 35 until Saturday morning. I made a longer anchor snubber when we were in Florida and added a heavy duty rubber shock snubber in the line. So far it is working great and my splices are holding fine.
There isn't a lot of activity in the anchorage as most people are sticking on their boats. We're considering moving a couple of miles south to a slightly better protected anchorage later today or tomorrow if there's a lull in the wind. However, so far everyone seems to be holding ok, we have 95 feet of chain out in 9 feet of water and wave action is minimal. It's a good day to catch up on reading.
Today's picture is of Paul after checking out the ocean view.