When we last posted, the boys were complaining about the boring weather of some sun and no wind. The second half of week 1 cured them of that complaint as we spent the rest of that time stuck in an anchorage. We started off with 4 lines to shore plus the anchor. After the first night we had 8 lines plus the anchor and after the second night we had 9 lines plus the anchor. A fairly significant low sat over our position for 6 days. We saw some pretty good gusts in the anchorage but with 9 lines to shore felt nice and safe.
We spent the time doing many boat projects. Sewing, electrical, mechanical ,woodworking and cooking took up our days. It felt like home-ec, shop and mechanics classes all rolled into one session. Nights were spent watching TV, sleeping and reading. Time passed slowly. Too slowly... The natives on the boat started getting restless and were demanding more and more jobs to keep them busy. I was handing out jobs that had been on the to-do list for almost a decade just to keep them happy.
To make matters worse there were periods of long calms in between the gusts and it was hard to justify sitting when the winds didn't seem that bad... When the jobs ran out I was forced to look very closely at the weather and try to find some window of opportunity to move on. After scouring the guide books and weather charts we came up with a plan to end the boredom.
The weather window was iffy, the next anchorage unknown but it was decided we could always return if needed so on the 7th day we untied the boat in the early morning and started out with a breezy 20 knots against us. It was a bit of a slow go but not too unconformable and after a few hours we were even able to get some help by using the staysail. After a pretty long day we made it to the planned anchorage and set about trying to sort out how to get the boat secured.
By this time it was snowing with winds around 30 but at least we were protected by the small nook so the seas were calm. A few exciting moments ensued and through strength and determination we were able to secure our selves to the fisherman's line at the peak of the squall passing through. We caught our breath and then went on with the task of running our own lines to shore just ask dusk was starting to set in.
After a hot dinner we all fell into bed, knowing that the next day would be just as challenging. This was ok as by now the go to phrase around the boat was "At least it's not boring..."
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"At least it's not boring..." .... that should be your motto!
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