Devils/Hoffman
05 January 2016 | Devils/Hoffman
We went to Devil's/Hoffman Cay to anchor, we have anchored there a few times with fair results but you must be sure the anchor is in sand and well buried. The very first time we anchored in that area, we' dragged when the heavy wind switched direction, it was 3 in the morning, raining hard and the night black as coal, we had an anchor alarm set so it woke us up , lucky we were able to reset the anchor before going onto some rocks. We know of other folk who have dragged there also, one couple ended up onto a sandy beach, they were able to get off again with no damage being done.
This year was not completely without incident. The admiral had told me earlier that she thought that the snubber had fell off the anchor chain but I refused to believe her since it was dark , raining and I didn't want to go outside. Again, around 3 in the morning we heard lots of noise as the chain was rappidily being pulled out of the anchor locker, it's blowing like stink, pouring rain and very dark. I had visions of everything going into the water and we not being attached to anything but being blown onto who knows what. A rapid dash to the bow revealed that all the chain was let out and the nylon rode that was attached to it was rappidily disappearing, I managed to get the rode onto a cleat to stop any more from running out, with help from the engine and our electric windlass we pulled in the rode, reattach the chain, and everything is under control again.
Lots of other boats were damaged that night, some people clocked the wind at being over 60 knots, one person said he seen over 100 knots, all we know is that it was very windy, the anchor held and no damage was done to us. We heard of only one personal injury and that was a guy who damaged his hand while handling the anchor gear and had to be taken to the hospital in Nassau. Such is the joys of cruising, it isn't all fun and games.