Happy 8th Birthday Chloe! I wish we had some cell service so we could wish you Happy Birthday directly. I've checked multiple times hoping signal would magically appear but to no avail.
The winds have continues to climb and the seas are rough. Getting in and out of the dingy is downright dangerous as it bucks and twists in the chop. We have every bit of 25 knots constant wind from the NE.
We did manage to take the dingy around the south side of the island to do a bit of exploration. The protection wasn't any better over there. It may have even been a little worse as its open to the sound side. We didn't have calm enough waters to snorkel the sunken plane or even take a swim. This island was once owned by a drug lord(Carlos Lehder) decades ago and was quite infamous in that time period. The plane is a relic from that period and supposed to be quite a good snorkel sight. Perhaps if there is settled weather on our return up the island chain we will stop and try to see it.
There is also a restaurant McDuffs that we wanted to at least check out but it was too rough to land. Next time.
Izula pulled out today. We were sad to see them go. A few other boats have stopped for an overnight but no one we have met. If we can get the dingy up on deck we plan on leaving tomorrow and head to Shroud. The winds have just been too much to try to bring it up. Right now we have it double lined and tied on behind us. We don't feel comfortable towing it, if it flipped over that could be disastrous. And bringing it up in high winds is crazy hard, it acts as a sail and just swings wildly in the wind. This is when davits would be nice because they give you a mechanical advantage and a place behind the boat for the dingy to store. The disadvantage to them comes in a following sea where they can swamp the boat. There are many different opinions on traveling with your dingy in davits as there are about anything in boating.
The picture is Izula at anchor in front of the beach on Norman. The one our toes never touched.