Squally Day

Windy reef

Tues Jan 13th, 2015

It blew like crazy last night.  Probably the highest winds we have had yet here in Clifton on Union Island.  Our anchor has held well through all the windy days but we had to wonder about the forces tugging on it last night.  Tom opted to sleep in the salon/saloon just in case he need to get up quickly, but we did fine.  However, when morning came with another round of squalls, things weren't so fine. Three boats ended up dragging anchor.  One American boat near us got tangle up in the long bowsprit of an old schooner.  The same schooner we were originally anchored in front of.  It took a boat boy to get them off the schooner bowsprit and after 20 mins of struggling, they finally got re-anchored.  Action was taken in time with the other boats so nothing serious happened.  The old schooner's bowsprit is a beefy one and sustained no damage.  The bimini frame on the American boat took the brunt of the encounter and ended up pretty mangled.  The odd thing was that no one drug during the night when the winds were highest.....to our knowledge.

Windy anchorage

Anyway, we decided to pull up anchor and head to the leeward side of the island.  We were nearly ready to go when some fishermen (Sweet Deal)came by with fish for us.  Payment from boat boy Buddha for recovering his lost mooring line from the sea floor the day before.....or so we thought.  It turned out it was payment from him in the form of a discounted fish to buy, not free.  But we didn't discover this until after the transaction.  Oh well.  Lesson learned and we got a fabulous, fresh tuna!  We cut it up further, bagging most for the grill later, while enjoying sashimi for lunch.

Sweet Deal cleaning and cutting up the tuna

Now what?

Steaks bagged for grilling later, stew pieces and sashimi lunch

We finally pulled up anchor around 13:30.  I motored very slowly out of the anchorage thus letting a squall pass just ahead of us.  Then with the headsail partially out, we were broad reaching along nicely.  On the south side of the island we jibed in order to sail around to the leeward side of the island.  We were nearly there when another squall rolled through, this one catching us.  Gusty wind and rain accompanied us into Chatham Bay around 14:40.  Then it moved on, leaving only a light drizzle for us to anchor in.  Both s/v Honey Ryder and us got a needed wash down and then it was over. Dinner was of course grilled tuna.  Yum!

Delish!