Stormy Weather
05 October 2010 | Treasure Cay, Abacos, Bahamas
Captain Chris
A picture of the foredeck awning Linda completed while we ride out storms at anchor.
We are still at anchor in Treasure Cay. The last storm system, which was briefly named Nicole, came by with some rain and strong winds last Wednesday and Thursday. Anchored in the harbor behind houses and trees, the strongest winds we saw were less than 40 knots (46mph), even though they were predicted to be over 50.
By Friday, the winds were back down and the sun was out. We had a good look at the anchor in the calm water, and could tell that it hadn't dragged at all, despite the strain from the high winds. That makes us feel very good about the investment we made in the biggest anchor we could fit on the bow roller. I remember one website said to keep putting bigger anchors on your bow until people started laughing, then go up one more size! We're not that bad, but our eighty pound Manson is twice the size of the anchor that came with Troubadour and lets us sleep better.
The storm force winds were coming from the south, and we anchored in preparation for them, with the boat lying to the north of the anchor. As the winds backed to the north, we swung to the south into shallower water. With a new moon coming, which means the low tides will get lower and the high tides higher, we needed to re-anchor to prevent bottoming out on the low tide. So, we raised the anchor and re-anchored about one hundred feet to the north, putting Troubadour in about the same place we started, just facing in the other direction.
We got ashore for pizza night, and had lunch in the Coco Beach Bar on Saturday. We picked up some groceries and have taken care of chores, with the big project completed over the last week being the foredeck awning, another item that Linda sewed from scratch. We stretch this over our whisker pole like a tent, and it allows us to keep the cabin hatches open for some breeze even when there are showers, in addition to keeping the sun off the cabin top, which keeps the boat cooler.
I'm sure it's odd for the folks from the Midwest to hear about us keeping the boat cooler, but autumn hasn't quite hit the Bahamas yet. Temperatures are still in the mid-eighties, and until just recently rarely went below eighty degrees. The last few evenings when the temperatures have dropped into the seventies, we've been a bit "chilly", meaning we have to put on a t-shirt. Just the way we like it!
Another front is coming through this week, so we took the awnings back down and we're staying put here at anchor. We're not sure if the next storm (which would be Otto, obviously named after our boat mascot Otto Helm who does a lot of the driving) that appears to be forming over Puerto Rico will head our way, but we'll take them one at a time!