Wow – this afternoon’s motor down the ICW
was quite a trip! First it poured as soon as we set out – with forbidding grey
skies and howling wind. Then we had waves with whitecaps on the protected
waterway, and a 25-knot blow (more wind than we would have wanted to sail in –
fortunately we were motoring).
Just when things started to calm down –
with some sunshine and rainbows, we were shocked by a howling alarm all over
the boat (above and below). We were totally mystified about what this could be –
I was imagining our engine about to explode – when my captain yelled down to
me, “turn off the VHF radio”. Miraculously, the alarm stopped.
It was a “severe weather warning” and
small-craft advisory – we were hearing about water spouts, gale-force winds and
10-12 foot waves. We never did figure out where all this was taking place (not
where we were, fortunately) – I was still trying to stop shaking from the alarm that preceded
this weather report on the VHF. It certainly got our attention!
We decided it might be wise to find a safe harbor,
in any case – so we headed for the nearest marina at Melbourne, and here we
rest for the night – with the wind still howling in the rigging. It looks like
rotten weather followed us from Toronto to Florida – let’s hope we can find a
weather window to make the Gulf Stream crossing in a few days. We won’t go without one – but we may have to
wait a while for the weather to calm down. There are definitely worse places to
be … J.
No comments:
Post a Comment