The weather can't be perfect forever

We've had a nice couple of days, but last night, the weather started blowing in.  It wasn't supposed to be here until Monday evening, but our weather guru is off on Sunday(so no 6:30am broadcast on SSB), and it snuck in early.  But since we last posted, we have had some unbelievably great weather.  Sunny, light winds and 70 degrees.

We spent 4 nights anchored in Staniel, diving the grotto and visiting the pigs.  The weather couldn't have been better.  On Sunday morning, we got up early and headed south to Black Point Settlement, a tiny village at the south end of Great Guana Cay(only about 5 miles S of Staniel).  Black Point is famous for its few cruiser amenities- Lorraine's Cafe where you can get good local flavor and a great laundry mat where the machines are solid, and the Kalik(local beer) is cold.  We pulled anchor around 9 and headed out.  We had a nice NE wind, so we popped the sails and shut down the engine.  It was a beautiful day for sailing and we made pretty good time.  We had to tack to get around some shoals, but were able to sail right up to the anchorage and only needed the motor to turn up in between a few boats and drop the hook.  The place looked quiet, and once we dingied over and tied up, we walked into the one street village to find it nearly lifeless.  Sunday is certainly taken as a day of rest around here, but apparently a funeral for one of the locals(they are all kin to each other) nearly emptied the island. 

We milled around, letting Bella stretch her legs and peak the interest of the kids that were playing in the street.  There is something about a big furry black dog that kids can't resis- I don't think there are many dogs in the Bahamas, as it would be another mouth to feed.  The kids were quite lively and talkative, in contrast to their surroundings.  After realizing that our visit would be a bust- the laundry mat was closed and the restaurant was quiet, we headed back to the boat and made lunch(nice- saved another $30-40). 

Then ensued the now frequent discussion: where do we go next?  It has been pretty fun not having an itinerary, but it results in a seemingly constant debate on where to go, and when.  After a few minutes, we decided to defer any big decisions and re-join Las Sirenas, Starbound, Calypso and a few other boats at the north end of Bitter Guana Cay.  While we had decided to go to Black Point, several other boats reconnoitered there at a nice beach for play time.  Many of the boats had kids aboard, so Las Sirenas diverted to there so the girls could socialize.  Seemed like a little socializing was due, so again, we pulled anchor, threw up the sails and headed north along the western shoreline to join the party.  It was a beautiful sail, with winds now out of the East, we were ghosting along in calm water(inthe lee of the cay) with 12-15 knots of breeze filling the sails.  We made quick work of the 2 miles and this time we did something we've never done: we pulled into the anchorage under sail.  Yep, no power(OK, so we did have the engine running in case something went terribly wrong).  Carryn rounded  SolMate up into the wind, heading right to the spot we had picked.  I quickly furled the jib and the main, and sauntered up to the bow to drop the hook.   We paid out 40 feet of chain and she fell back on the anchor which planted firmly.  It went so smooth, we amazed even ourselves.  What a great day so far, and it was only 2 o'clock!

Wirhin minutes, I dove into the crystal clear, 8' deep water and Bella followed.  We swam the 50 yards to Las Sirenas and joined them on deck.  Carryn, considering 74F too cold to go swimming(she has only been in the water a few times), dingied over and we enjoyed the afternoon with cruisers from several boats.  Scott had rigged a tow rope on his dingy to pull Haley and Alana on their surf boards, so I had to git it a try.  Fortunately, Jim from Starbound had his longboard and I rode it(not sure the 15hp dingy would have gotten me up on a 5' surfboard).  Sure enough, all the time I spent waterskiing in my youth came back pretty quick and I was up and surfing.  It was a blast.

As the sun neared the horizon, we dried off and enjoyed a few coldies(C: Coors Lt, B: Cape Cod).  It was a great sunset, but a few clouds in the distant horizon hid the final drop, robbing us of any chance of a "green flash". 

After dark, we headed back to the boat, grabbed a quick bite for dinner and settled in.  Carryn took interest in the stars and pulled out our handy "Planisphere" star chart and tried to figure out "who's who" and "what's what" in the night sky.  A bit frustrating when there are ten zillion stars in view.  We retired around 9, exhausted from the day. 
Assuming we had another 24 hours before any weather blew in, I didn't do my normal walk around and anchor check.  Well, sure enough, around midnight, the wind piped up and it started to get bumpy.  I got up to find the wind had clocked around to the SE and was blowing around the point and into the anchorage at around 15knots.  I went up front and let out another 20' of chain, put a snubber on and made sure everything on deck was secure.  Of course, when I get back to bed, I find Bella has taken her spot on my pillows, so I shift down to accomodate and drift off again.  Once the wind pipes up like that, though, it is hard to get a really deep sleep again.  I'm always hearing noises and noticing shifts in how the boat is rolling or pitching.  Daylight came and we still had the same 15 knots, but overall it wasn't too bad.  I was looking forward to hearing Chris Parker's assessment and forecast, so I got up at 6:30 and tuned in to 4.045mhz to listen in.  Sure enough, the system had arrived earlier than expected, but fortunately would be fairly mild.  The wind should clock through the S>SW>W>NW fairly quickly today and tonight.  So we decided to head out(this spot would be totally unprotected from the SW to the N) and take up shelter in Pipe Creek.  We have never been in there and it is pretty tight but well protected.  If we can make it in and get the hook set we will have a comfortable spot to sit out the wind today and tonight.

Update:  we made it in without bumping the bottoma and found a spot.  We dropped the hood in soft sand and it set well, but with some unseen currant pushing the boat around, we were a little to close to a shallow sand bar.  So after we had a quick lunch, we pulled the anchor and moved about 50 yards away.  Yes, the anchorages can be that tight sometimes.  (Our anchorage in Staniel, we nudged into 5' of soft sand to drop the anchor and let the boat fall back into 6-7' of water.  This worked great until the wind shifted, where I knew we would have to reposition the anchor  to keep us from swinging into that same shallow water.)  But you always make sure the hook sets well, so soft sand is great, sand/grass is ok.  Avoid the channels where the current washes the soft sand off, leaving a sandy looking but hard pan bottom that the flukes can't penetrate.  I usually check the set by dingy-ing over it with the looky-bucket or even donning mask and fins to get a good look.

So now we are comfotable and fairly safe(anchor is set OK) to waste away another day.  The weather has turned crummy(rain, cloudy and windy).

The cool thing is Carryn has taken an interest in bread making.  Yesterday, Nika from Calypso was sharing her knowledge with Esme and had a good book.  We borrowed it from her and scanned a few of the pages so we could start baking as well.  It is quite a process.  Esme baked a few loaves last night and they turned out great.  So Carryn is inspired to bake bread! 

Her first loaf is going in the oven as I type these words.  She is actually going intermediate for her first loaf, and using a recipe for Rosemary Bread.  And yes, she is using rosemary sprigs off of her little bush that Joan and Byrd gave us for Christmas.  How cool is that??

Well, until next time.  Hope everyone is doing well.  We LOVE to get comments from you.  It really makes our day, and motivates us to write more blogs.  So, click the comment link, type a few words, make sure you do the word verification, and submit it.  If you select "anonymous" let us know who you are in the body of the comments.  Thanks.