I'm taking a break from photos- we're too tired for it. This picture of Ivy at 7 AM pretty much sums it up:
This morning was exciting to say in the least! It was at 4:30 AM when the wind got rough and the rain started beating down on the thankfully already closed hatches. Next thing I know Captain Runyon is up in the cock pit screaming and yelling. I run up there with sleep in my eyes, without my glasses and I can still see clear as day the stern of a neighboring small sail boat about 5 feet away from us!!
With the winds at 30 knots, our peaceful, dreamy anchorage in Green Turtle Cay became quite a hazard. Four boats in the anchorage were dragging! Two immediately around us too! And not just dragging backward in the sensible way but the small boat that started off on our starboard stern came too threateningly close then crossed our stern, swinging this way and that. We had our running lights on, with the engine running , though our anchor was holding. Ivy and I were ready in the cock pit with spot lights, flashing the surrounding boats, keeping a constant eye on them, with Debby flashing the spreaders and controlling the radio. Runyon skillfully moved us out of harm’s way multiple times, we motored forward to avoid the swinging, dragging neighbor, only to come frighteningly close to our port side neighbor when we both got opposing winds pushing us together.
The rain would let up and the wind would easy, only to rustle up again and we sat drenched in the cock pit, cold rain dripping from the brims of our foul weather gear. At one point the wind reached 40 knots. Around 5:30 AM things quieted down enough to get our neighbors on the radio and make sure they were far enough away from us to rest easy, as well as re-anchored.
7:30 AM- Now we were dragging. Still half awake from never really falling fully back to sleep, we all got up to find that this time, in calm water and wind, we had move a good ways off from our anchored spot. Apparently while we were skirting out of the way of loose boats in the dark, we had moved up on our anchor chain, must have dislodged it a bit, then when we re-positioned our selves back into our spot, our anchor had caught onto something so we weren’t secure anymore.
What was it that we snagged on, causing us to dragging in the early hours of day break, you ask? Something that looked a lot like a kitchen sink, but much heavier since it proved to be made out of galvanized steel. What ever it was (not a dorm refrigerator- as Ivy first thought it might be- telling Runyon this, making him worry that we had picked up a 6 foot frigid- putting us in a whole new set of issues) Runyon cleared the sink away, we motored out into a nice open space and re-anchored- letting our 175 feet of chain instead of our regular 125 feet.
Finally I felt at easy enough to rest. Ivy and I slept until 11:15 AM. Meanwhile Debby and Runyon rested and woke. They bailed out the diggy, took it into town, returned the golf cart key that we had rented in New Plymouth for 24 hours, only to find the town totally silent on this over cast Sunday morning. The only thing in town that was open was the church. They came back to the boat, hauled up the diggy engine and started the generator and water maker. Quite the exciting morning, all this before noon!
We left Green Turtle Cay around 2 PM heading for the marina in Hope Town. We got a little wind to sail but for the most part the wind was right on our nose. The predicted 7-10 knots ended up being more like 10-15 knots and we motored most of the way, not making it in time fore high tide. Since the marina of Hope Town sits at 7 feet at high tide and we draw 6’6”, Runyon anchored us out in a nice secluded spot very far away from all other boats, called Matt Lowes Cay (look at the map and it says: private, does it sound like we care at this point?). Which is where we are now. We have a sneaking suspicion that this is indeed a shark hole since we are sitting in a nice 16 foot dark hole close to a deserted shore. Just the kind of place sharks would like to hang out. Everyone has heard splashes and seen some swells in the water where something big is coming to the surface but not showing themselves. This proves to us that they are not dolphins or turtles. No jumping off the boat for a refreshing swim after morning yoga- that’s for sure! We’re all weary of mosquitoes in this situation too, being so close to land in a nice protected area, all the screens are closed and the fans are on.
Ivy and Debby made a delicious fajita style quesadilla dinner with corn and black bean salsa. Ivy also make rum punch with a good kick.
Now at 9:30 PM, the only light on this boat is from the glow of my little computer and the sound of Mozart lulling us all into a quite, hopefully uneventful night and morning.
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