#4 – A Picture A Day for Seven Days

As I said anchorages are deceptive. What is idyllic one moment can become lethal the next. Well it happened. We have been experiencing tremendous gusts with pelting pounding rain. Last night was the worse.

For the four of us behind the reef in 3 metres of water ( at low tide) we faired well with only torn awnings, wet decks and a bouncy night due to high tide being at 0200hrs. For those outside the reef the wind came from the worse direction possible. They were caught in an onshore wind and sea. Already during the day two boats came in behind the reef while four stayed outside. The day saw them trapped on their boats as some of them had their bows buried in the waves as they pitched up and down. They hung tight though and late in the day they had a reprieve as the wind lightened and seas abated.

As nightfall came hopes for a calmer night were tempered by an ever darkening sky. By 0200hrs we were pitching, albeit lightly, but with gusts approaching 55knots the boats outside were definitely worried. With visibility in the gusts being practically zero they clung on with only one of them dragging towards the reef. The one dragging boat managed to get their engines going before they hit the reef and motored out to deeper water to try and again anchor.

Needless to say everyone is on tenderhooks, tired from 2 days and two nights of worrying conditions. It’s been a good lesson in perseverance, patience, group support and the need for good strong anchoring gear.

Storm coming