New Theme..."Rachel's always Right!"

Well, with what basic boat knowledge I have, I've been able to predict with uncanny accuracy everything that could possibly go wrong in any given situation.  Most of my predictions have been scoffed at by JB as being a worrywart, but his tune may have changed after this week.

Rach's Prediction: The winds have shifted and we may be in for a rough night on the mooring ball if we stay here

 Reality- KBD, was tossed around, jerked all over, and I ended up lying in bed with my seasickness pills and no sleep.  JB sleeps on the bench because it’s too hot and we can’t run the generator.

2.    Rach’s Prediction: If you don’t tie off the anchor rode the chain can slip out of its pocket and we’ll lose the anchor.  JB- “the anchor is fine…it’s in the cleat of the windlass, I don’t understand what you’re trying to tell me.

Reality- Minutes later (really!) the chain pops out of the pocket and starts screaming as the chain lets out from the boat and JB has to run to the front and try to stop it before we lose our anchor.  Mind you, we’re in the middle of a squall.

3.    Rach’s Prediction: You can’t count on the anchors to hold you in rough conditions. The winds shift, and waves, currents, and bottom composition matter…we can drag and we need to have a plan.  JB’s philosophy- “We’ve got a delta anchor (the ‘best’ there is), and we’ve carefully set 2 anchors, so forget about it…we’re fine Reality- That night we were caught in another squall with 40+ mph winds and our anchors broke free and we started heading straight for a wooden piling and rocks.  After 2 hours of backbreaking and stressful work, JB had to hoist our anchors and we relocated further offshore for       another sleepless night.

So, in case you think it’s all bad news…that was really just 3 days of the last week.  We’ve had 2 days at dock that have been extremely pleasant with pools, Jacuzzis, continental breakfasts, borrowed scooter adventure to the grocery store, and Starbucks coffee.  Prior to all those hazardous events we also had a thoroughly enjoyable snorkel day at Key Largo Dry Rocks Reef.

We are leaving dock today to go bayside and anchor in Tarpon Basin.  The wonderful Tropical Storm Irene has delayed any further progress to the south.  We will be waiting for better weather forecasts to decide exactly what our plans will be, but Tarpon Basin is considered a secure “hurricane hole” by locals, so we just need to get there early and find a good anchoring spot. 

We’re both pretty tired, and bummed about this storm.  Hopefully it will turn away from us or fizzle out, and we can actually enjoy some nice weather on the water for the next 2 weeks.  Sorry for the weird formatting issues...MS word to Blog is confusing.