It was blowing 25 knots on Sunday so we decided to just stay put and have a relaxing/projects day. I baked bread for the first time and David got the SSB Sailmail and GPS connection figured out! We enjoyed the fresh baked bread with homemade jam (thanks Julia!) and butter-delicious!
I built a "flopper stopper" to keep us from rolling at anchorages where the wind and waves are coming from different directions and started sprouts from some seeds a fellow cruiser (thank you Amy!) had given me. It's often difficult to find good fresh salad makings so cruisers often grow their own sprouts.
We read and relaxed. We are going to try to do some kind of Bible study together so David got started by reading the first chapter in one of the books we brought.
It was a lovely day except for the stupid wind! 25 knots is noisy-you hear the wind whistling through the rigging, everything rattles and bangs and the boat is constantly moving. It is hard to sleep and just wears on you. We were in a protected anchorage from the Northeast wind and it was still annoying. We put up an anchor riding sail that I had made before we left and that settled the boat motion a lot. The anchor riding sail is a teensy sail made of tough material that is hanked onto the backstay at the back of the boat. It helps keep the boat into the wind instead of sailing back and forth on the anchor. The sailing back and forth is uncomfortable because of the constant motion, but it also can cause your anchor to break free if not set well.
We had a bit of excitement earlier in the day. We felt the boat "bump" a couple times and then noticed that we weren't pointed in the same direction as the other 2 boats in our anchorage. Well we are a little slow...I turned on the electronics to check the depth and we were aground! When we had anchored the day before (apparently at high tide) the depth was 10 feet. It was now 5 feet. The tides here are about 3 ft, but apparently we swung around over a shallow spot also. We were able to crank up the engine and pull ourselves off, pick up the anchor and move - all of this in the 25 knot howling winds. We were praying the engine wouldn't cut out! So we are learning...we need to pay more attention to the tides and also check out the full scope area of our possible anchor swing.
Today, it is still blowing like crazy, but we wanted a more protected anchorage since it will be like this for a couple more days. We had a delightful sail under genoa only and are now moored in a more protected anchorage by a marina. Wifi, laundry and long hot showers instead of our quick "use as little water as possible" showers! Luxury living!
Pics below: Sunset on way back from grocery shopping and visit to Nippers Beach bar which has the most gorgeous beach! Typical street with pastel houses and narrow cement road for the golf carts that most people drive instead of cars.
