Blow, big man

Once again we find ourselves in the middle of a band of thunderstorms that came out of nowhere. We had a sweltering hot day trying to get some chores done and by five o’clock it looked like we might have a delicious cooling rain. Instead we got a scary black storm with sustained winds of 20-25 knots and gusts in the forties. We’re on a cozy little anchorage, which is good and bad. It’s good because we’re protected from the worst of the winds except from the south. It’s bad because if our anchor should drag we’re surround by private docks, each one with a boat or two in lifts, and attached to pilings. Not anything you want to hit.

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As soon as the wind kicked up Jack started the engines and held EV into the wind. He told me to keep an eye behind him to be sure we didn’t drag backwards toward either the shallows or the docks.

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And just to add a little excitement to the evening, a sailboat that was anchored in the corner of the creek broke loose and is weaving back and forth adrift. Before it got dark we looked with our binoculars to try to figure out what’s going on with it and it appears that the anchor rode parted. First it headed away from us and beached itself on shore, but then the wind shifted and it broke loose again and looked like it was heading right for us. We tried to hail someone ashore to alert them and find the owner, but couldn’t raise anyone in the wind.

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Eventually the wind died down temporarily and a man came out to see what the shouting was all about. He said he’d been trying to get the absentee owner of the sailboat to move it for six months with no success and went off to call him.

It’s dark now, and Jack is still at the helm. I made us a quick meal so we’ll be fortified for whatever tonight brings us. The rain has stopped but the wind is still in the twenties with higher gusts. I pulled out our biggest fenders in case the sailboat blows over to us. If the winds would back to the east we’d feel a little more comfortable, but they’re currently from the southwest and predicted to stay that way all night. No sleep for us!

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3 Responses to Blow, big man

  1. Hope you guys eat well – anything else on the radio? I’d expect the emergency-responders would be chatting a bit.

  2. My, such travails. Does not make sailing/motoring sound like much fun what with constantly crappy weather, boat parts failing by the hour, marauding crew-less boats chasing you down then having to stay up all night. It should all make for a good re-telling around a cozy fire on a cold winters night.

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