I wasn't sure I wanted to post this, I'm still not. In hind sight my last post seemed a bit flippant at the weather and the situation we were in that Saturday. Truth be told I had put us in a bad situation without recognizing it. Not much of an excuse, but we came through that night without too much damage other then nerves. Here is what I wrote of that time.
A cold wind is sweeping up over the flats, building with each hour.
The rising tide will fill the bay, churning waves in our direction, miles to build. For the 10th time I huddle up to the bow, the howling wind cuts through my knit hat to chill my ears, life vest cold against my neck. The rain starts falling, of course. Looking down I watch the gray chain tighten in the blue water, somewhere at the end sixty pounds of metal seeks purchase. Dig down and hold so we can be safe tonight, set deep for the coming storm.
As night settles gale force winds dominate all senses. The big swells show up, building, lifting up the heavy sailboat as a toy. If the anchor fails now we will be blown into deep water, which is a good thing, better then grounding. But that would mean trying to reset in the dark and now terrifying night.
At thirty knots it's too rough to sleep in the v-birth, we are pressed deep into the bed as the bow climbs, then that twisting gut feeling of an elevator dropping, too fast. We try to rest by staying to the center of the boat..
Hour after hour I check to see if we've drifted, but our gear holds, unbelievable as we are heavy, full of fuel and water, 14 tons and somehow we hold position.
By 2 AM the winds finally drops with an eerie suddenness and we collapse into bed. I don't sleep but her warmth and calm help to sooth my nerves. I open my eyes to every sound, creak and groan. We're safe now and I'm awake waiting for morning's light to clear away the nights demons.
The rising tide will fill the bay, churning waves in our direction, miles to build. For the 10th time I huddle up to the bow, the howling wind cuts through my knit hat to chill my ears, life vest cold against my neck. The rain starts falling, of course. Looking down I watch the gray chain tighten in the blue water, somewhere at the end sixty pounds of metal seeks purchase. Dig down and hold so we can be safe tonight, set deep for the coming storm.
As night settles gale force winds dominate all senses. The big swells show up, building, lifting up the heavy sailboat as a toy. If the anchor fails now we will be blown into deep water, which is a good thing, better then grounding. But that would mean trying to reset in the dark and now terrifying night.
At thirty knots it's too rough to sleep in the v-birth, we are pressed deep into the bed as the bow climbs, then that twisting gut feeling of an elevator dropping, too fast. We try to rest by staying to the center of the boat..
Hour after hour I check to see if we've drifted, but our gear holds, unbelievable as we are heavy, full of fuel and water, 14 tons and somehow we hold position.
By 2 AM the winds finally drops with an eerie suddenness and we collapse into bed. I don't sleep but her warmth and calm help to sooth my nerves. I open my eyes to every sound, creak and groan. We're safe now and I'm awake waiting for morning's light to clear away the nights demons.
That is how it was and it was a mistake I will not make again. You see, I had seen the report of building winds from the South. I expected to anchor far enough into the small bay to avoid the worst of it. But I didn't know this bay and when we arrived early Saturday I realized there wasn't enough room to go into the sheltered area least we swing into the shallows when the minus 2 tide came later that day. So I anchored outside and hoped the wind would hold south or better yet, swing south west, letting the island take the brunt of it. A lesson for the captian, the wind chooses it's own path and that night it decided to build stronger then predicted and from the south east. We got clobbered.
The winds eventually eased and gave us a few good days there, and Tuesday saw us rested and back into Cap Sante for a night before heading out into the heart of the San Juan Islands.
The winds eventually eased and gave us a few good days there, and Tuesday saw us rested and back into Cap Sante for a night before heading out into the heart of the San Juan Islands.
RSS Feed
