Well, ok –
so it’s -30 in Toronto, and we’re generally glad not to be there. Cold is not
our problem here – but too much wind is. It’s been blowing 25 knots (more than
MPH) – which may not sound like that much to a sailor, but the ocean roils up
and makes for extremely rolly passages. We did two of those from Emerald Bay to
Staniel Cay, and by the time we arrived two nights ago, we were very ready for
a safe harbour. The first night was fine, and we even dinghyed into Staniel
yesterday for water and provisions. We left a “welcome to paradise” gift for
our friends, Anne and Reg, who will be arriving on Thursday for a week in a
cottage, before coming to the boat for another week. Before leaving the Cay we
had a great lunch at Staniel Cay Yacht Club, and made it back to the boat just
as the wind came up several notches.
I spent the
rest of the afternoon watercolour painting on the deck, noticing that it was
becoming increasingly rolly in the harbour. By dinnertime the boat was bouncing
around so much, we needed to gimble the stove to cook (for non-sailors that
means letting the stove swing free to keep the top horizontal). That’s usually
not necessary except on the open ocean! We were getting the surge from wind and
current moving in opposite directions, not far from the cut to the deep sea –
no danger, but very uncomfortable L - we could barely stand up!
All night
like that convinced us to move – so at 7:30 this morning, along with a parade
of other boats, we weighed anchor, and within an hour, our world had changed.
We are now in a quiet harbour near “Pig Beach”. It’s wide open to the West,
which is why we didn’t go there in the first place – but the wind is from the East
now – stronger still, but we’re completely sheltered from that direction. We celebrated with a blueberry pancake breakfast. :) We
may even jump into the dinghy later and visit the wild pigs on the beach, who
like to swim out to the boats to be fed. Pig pictures and story in the next
blog post...
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