After laundry in a bucket this morning (hey, this is not sissy work; Roger got a blister and lost the skin), Roger and I took a long dinghy ride this afternoon along the east side of the anchorage. At the north end, there were a couple of very protected little bays, one is labeled as a hurricane hole. It seemed like the only way in or out would be at high tide. So while we are out here roughing it in the wind and one foot chop, there are boats on mooring balls and some on posts sitting in the calm. A few were rather large monohulls and catamarans. Different reality. We didn’t see anyone onboard the boats, with the exception of one boat.

Volleyball beach is down at that end, where most of the social activities take place. We are at the very southern end of the anchorage. There were more open spots in this area to anchor, now we know why. Still, there is an empty beach nearby and we are a bit better protected. Using Roger’s glass bottom bucket and his expert dinghy driving, I was able to follow my anchor rode all the way to my anchor. I was worried that with this wind in 20 feet of water at high tide, the chain might be getting pulled off the bottom. I can stop wishing my 60 feet of chain was 80 feet. It seemed like almost all the chain was lying on the bottom, and the anchor was buried with only the shank visible. So the 60 feet of rope is trying to drag at least 50 feet of chain along the bottom, attached to a 45 pound anchor buried in the sand ... it’s not going to budge. I keep telling myself that every time the wind kicks up.

The catamaran in the blog photo is anchored near us. The last time it was near us was on a mooring ball in Annapolis. You will often meet boats in several different places as you cruise.

We think the wind might die down enough on Tuesday for us to leave. The wind is from the north and we want to go north, so heading directly into 20+ knots of wind - we are passing on that wonderful opportunity.