Staged at Staniel

Our weather this year has been interesting, to say the least. We just finished taking the effects of the fourth low to form in the Gulf since the beginning of January. Last Friday and Saturday were different than our wind event a few weeks ago. Rather than abnormally high winds for about three hours out of the northwest, we had over 24 hours of strong winds out of the northwest. It got so rough at anchor in Georgetown about 2:15 am Saturday that I finally got up. We were taking turns keeping watch through the night. It is not so much that the anchor will let go, we had over 10 to 1 scope. The concern was more about other boats hitting us. We had anchored out by ourselves but by the time the winds were due, three boats came in and anchored in front of us. To entertain myself, I got creative with the nearby boat names. One was called "Let's Dance." It seemed fun for about the first hour. Poor Hold Fast worked back and forth on her anchor chain so hard and for so long, the chart plotter looked like it had a solid green banana inked on it from the boat tracks. I guess it was more furious pacing than dancing. Another boat name was "Last Rodeo." It was a smaller boat than us and was bucking like a bronco. I chose to take the name optimistically and hoped this was our last rodeo due to these lows. However, I figured if there was a wife on board Last Rodeo, it could be prophetic and she might soon be off that boat.

We have one more low forecast to form in the Gulf, possibly Thursday. Since the trough that just went over us Friday is regressing back to us, and a new trough is coming toward us, and the low is forming soon, it appears we only have two good days to get somewhere. We took advantage of it and moved north to Big Majors Spot (lovingly known as 'Pigs Beach') near Staniel Cay. If the weather holds, we should be able to continue sailing north to Rock Sound tomorrow. That is the plan. The execution of the plan depends on more than just us. Hopefully it is not too rough to get some fish involved, as in on the BBQ.

It mostly a nice sail north, we could have used a little more wind. But we were glad the winds were light when it was time to enter the cut. Our timing was not great and we hit Cave Cay Cut about mid-ebb flow. There was not enough wind to push us in, so we had to throttle up and drive her in. It took only a few minutes but it felt much longer. Once inside on the banks the wind filled in well and made for a great sail. We made about 101 gallons of much needed water. Time for dinner, show and sleep.

Love to all,
Dena

{GMST}24°10.93'N|076°27.67'W|1/25/2016|4:57 PM{GEND}