March Madness Continues!

 

Our daughter, Jessie, and son-in-law, Will, arrived a few hours after our nieces' departure. Although there were some last-minute changes in their flights that were frustrating for them, we were thrilled because they arrived half-a-day earlier than originally planned which allowed them to settle in and rest a bit for our departure the next morning. 

Jessie and Will Aboard Starry Night

The winds were not favorable for sailing the next day, but we motored - with a boost from the jib - to Allan's Cay, the island just north of Highbourne Cay. 

We selected Allan's because the charts showed promising areas for snorkeling and also because within the next couple of days the wind was forecast to shift clockwise 270 degrees, starting from the east, all the way to northerly and be fairly gusty - up to 30 mph or so.

We were greeted as we anchored by one of the many nurse sharks we encountered during our season in the Bahamas.  We are guessing that some boats feed them because there were very often one or two hanging around the boat. 

Warm Welcome from the Local Nurseshark

Soon after our arrival at Allan's Cay, Will geared up in mask, fins and snorkel and jumped from Starry Night to see what other interesting marine life might be in the vicinity. He judged the snorkeling to be "pretty good", but I was secretly anxious for him to see the really good stuff.

We started out the next morning in the cut between Allan's Cay and Highborne Cay since it was close to slack tide - the only time you can effectively snorkel in a cut. We found some decent coral, but it was fairly deep and somewhat spread out. We all took turns in the water and then headed back to the boat for lunch. The wind direction that day was in our favor so, after lunch, we went to the coral reef area on the east side of Leaf Cay that we had been hoping to try. 

Coincidental Twins - The Wardrobe Had Not been Coordinated :-)

Will is READY!

Will was the first in the water, and Jessie and I were gratified to hear "Holy @#$#" emanate from his snorkel.  Mission accomplished!

Jess was next in the water with me close behind and we spent the next few hours exploring a beautiful, huge field of coral, while Steve manned the dinghy and kept lookout.

A Jessie-Fish

Will: Doing His Thing

Small Sample of the Coral East of Leaf Cay

Shiny, Happy People

By the next morning the wind had started shifting, as expected, and we noticed that it was getting gustier while we were fixing breakfast.  And then all hell broke loose!

The wind picked up rapidly and with extreme intensity. Steve immediately headed to the helm and started the engines so that we could maintain control of the boat if needed.  I turned on the instruments and the radio and donned my foul-weather gear and headset in case I needed to raise the anchor.  We saw gusts of 65 mph, far exceeding the predicted 30 mph and well within the tropical storm range (39 mph-73 mph).

Inclement Weather - Ha!

While Steve was at the helm, Will, Jessie and I waited at the ready in the salon.  All of a sudden, a tremendous gust of wind came from the side of the boat, causing Starry Night to swing about 90 degrees and resulting in a terrible noise which sounded like the hull had dragged across our tight anchor chain. 

I ran below and opened the bilges to make sure the hull had not been breached and thankfully found nothing. The wind continued for probably an hour, but our anchor held fast. At some point during the storm, one of our neighbors in the anchorage appeared to have drug their anchor.  We hailed them on Channel 16 and they confirmed their anchor had drug and their sailboat, Freedom, was aground. We told them that we would be there to help once the storm had passed. 

Communicating with "Freedom" During Storm

Once the storm was over, we breathed a collective sigh of relief, and Steve began gathering the things he thought he would need to help pull Freedom from the shallows.  He went into the anchor hold and found that we had not weathered the storm without a bit of damage. It appeared that during the gust of wind that rotated our boat, the anchor chain had somehow pulled through the fiberglass. This should not have happened because of the anchoring system we use, which employs a bridle.

Thankfully, the damage was minimal, in a non-critical location, and easily repairable - albeit time-consuming. 

To assist in describing the system to those unfamiliar with anchoring a large boat, I've added a picture.

Anchor Bridle System

In a boat like Starry Night the anchor is attached to anchor chain and is raised and lowered by a windlass. The windlass is mounted inside the anchor locker (circled in red in the graphic above).  Without the use of a bridle, all of the load is transmitted from the anchor chain to the windlass and then to the mounting structure in the anchor locker. A bridle, which is attached to the anchor chain with a hook, is used to redirect the load from the anchor chain and windlass to the hull of the boat. In the picture above, the bridle is shown in brown.  Once the bridle is attached to the anchor chain, half of the load is distributed via each of the two lines of the bridle to a connection point on the boat. The inset photograph at the upper right of the graphic above is the anchor chain roller assembly, which allows the chain to play out and changes its orientation from horizontal (as it is as it leaves the windlass) to vertical (as it drops into the water). 

Upon further investigation, Steve found that our anchor bridle attachment hook had failed, which meant that the load was no longer being transmitted to the hull of the boat but rather through the anchor chain to the windlass. The windlass, the chain, the anchor and all of the critical components easily handled the load and, with a few minor adjustments to our anchoring system, we were back in business.

Anchor Bridle Attachment (Before)

                                     

Anchor Bridle Attachment (After)

Once we were secured Will and Steve, took off to assist Freedom. They were joined by a power boat and, between the two of them, they succeeded in getting Freedom floating again. This was the second boat that had run aground - and that Steve and Will assisted - in this particular anchorage. The first boat's captain had simply misjudged the depth of a sandbar but Steve was able to push the grounded boat off with our dinghy.  Its name, ironically, was Liberty.

On a Rescue Mission 

The next day, Steve got to work on patching up the anchor locker. It was multi-day process using epoxy marine filler, laying fiberglass cloth, sanding, and applying gelcoat.

Steve Holland:  Captain and Fiberglass Specialist

Sanding from the Dinghy is a Two-Person Job: One to Sand,
One to Provide the Reacting Force to Hold the Dinghy Against the Boat

 For the most part, the repair work was a one-person job, so Jessie, Will, and I took several more snorkeling expeditions and made use of the kayak.

Jessie Kayaking in Allan's Cay Anchorage

Triton's Trumpet - Large Sea Snail Shell - Found in Allan's Cay Anchorage

Inspecting Conch

Abundance of Coral

 Sea Anemone

I mentioned in one of my previous posts that we had found "Iguana Island" while we were passing through the Allan's Cay anchorage in search of lobster. I have since learned that the island is called Leaf Cay and that the iguanas that live there are a species which are only found there. They are quite large and have pink tinged backs and tails. A stop to see the iguanas is part of daytrip tours from Nassau to the Exumas, and the tour guides bring the visitors to Leaf Cay.  The tourists are armed with grapes on long sticks, which ensures the iguanas come out for photos. The first time we went ashore, an iguana that I named "Grandpa" came out to see us - or more likely came out to see if we had grapes. Jake ambled over to say hello but Grandpa took two steps forward towards Jake and held his ground as if to say, "this is my island and you had better keep your distance". Needless to say, we leashed Jake from then on whenever visiting that particular beach. 

Iguanas at Leaf Cay

Sunset at Allan's Cay

Days spent in the water and evenings ushered in by sunsets passed quickly, and soon it was time for the return trip to Nassau.  Although Jessie and Will had been on Starry Night many times, they had never had the opportunity to travel under sail power with us except for a 30-minute period with wind barely strong enough to turn off the motors. This time the wind was favorable, and we had a beautiful sail back, averaging between 5 and 6 knots. 

Jessie Stowing the Sail After Our Return to Nassau

Up until this time we had stayed on anchor when we were in Nassau, but the weather forecast was calling for a lot of wind for several days and with our primary anchoring system since not functional, we decided to find a marina and dock. After calling several marinas and finding them fully booked, I finally found one with an open slip. We were quite relieved since we would feel more secure at a dock in unsettled conditions, taking the dinghy to a dock in windy conditions is no fun, and it would also provide the convenience of laundry facilities while we waited out the unsettled weather.

We spent our last evening with Jessie and Will at a nearby restaurant, and as with the rest of our time together, it was time filled with lots of love and laughter. What more could a mother ask for?

Steve, Laura, Jessie and Will 

Postscript:  Jess and Will arranged for their taxi to pick them up at 7:30 am the next morning in preparation for a flight sometime around 11 am. After numerous delays, they finally rebooked a flight through Miami which left at around 6 pm and got them home to Baltimore at 2 am the next day! Not the best endorsement for flights in and out of the Bahamas, and unfortunately, a portent of things to come.