February 19, 2015 gale force winds and everything happened so fast

red sky at night .. a sailors delight

water intake screen

they where all alive … we returned them to the sea

Thursday, February 19, 2015

Gale force winds and everything happened so fast

Over night the wind picked up and the sun shone by morning, we had planned on staying on board all day, doing odd chores.

Somewhere around 11am, Modaki dragged in a matter of minutes.

A large gust hit the anchorage and Modaki shook and travelled sideways, (as with all the other gusts), but this time, it was not like the others.

We jumped into the cockpit and we where dragging, so quickly it was like we had no anchor at all.  Now we where 10 feet beside the boat that was before 100 ft behind us. I started Modaki and motored ahead as Joe worked his way to the bow, releasing the snubber line.  Another gust hit and we passed in front of the same boat to stay out of its way as it swung on the hook. I thought we had snagged their anchor chain, as I saw it tightening (stretching out).

Joe is still struggling to raise the 75 ft of chain and anchor.

Now we are clear of most boats and the shallows.  It took us close to 5 minutes to get the anchor to the surface. The Rocna was completely covered in clay, even 10 inches up the arm.  The clay was about 1 1/2 feet square.  The ground gave way, not the anchor.

It took a while to get the clay dislodged and find another place to anchor. We are in a full moon and have extreme high and extreme low tides, so the space here is not as big as it was a few weeks ago.

This is the first time we have dragged at record speed, another 30 seconds and we would of …………… I don't want to finish this sentence.

The rest of the day was spent watching our land markers to make sure we 

stayed put.

And, me, cleaning the bilge, reorganizing (bathroom) head cabinet, finding our underwater Go-Pro …. Joe checked the engine, fuel, oil and water intake to engine … see pictures to what we found living in there

Boy of Boy, it is nerve a dull moment on this boat

The winds are to quiet a bit tonight.  Tomorrow, Friday, we are off to Great Guana Cay and Orchid Bay Marina, to wait out the next gale passing thru.

to be continued ….