On Wednesday, we headed back
to George Town on our rather long passage to Rock Sound (maybe). Winds were 15-20 kts on the butt so we used our normal combination of mizzen, jib, and a bit of motor (as we were in a bit of hurry to buy more cat food). As a result, we arrived in George Town at 1330. Of course, the seas were high in Elizabeth Harbour so we got soaked both going and coming to fetch the cat food. Sammy Jane has it made! Had a bit of dinghy motor problems on the way back. It almost died several times. Much to Ann's delight, it was operator error on Bob's part (vent was closed).
Thursday we left Elizabeth Harbour for rolly seas (5-7 ft left over from the last several days) and winds on the stern at 10-15 kts. We again used JMM on our way to Galiot Cut. We decided to run the watermaker to replenish our jerry jugs. Of course Bob failed to turn it off until a gallon or so fell onto the cabin sole. Next Bob was making some tea but a rather nasty wave pitched it (leaves and all) into the galley and stove. Last, Ann made some brownies but she did not secure them so another wave tossed them on the floor where they were mostly OK after picking out some cat hair. We arrived at Big Majors Spot at 1700 and anchored with the crowd of 12 boats. We knew we would be awake by 0500 as the winds would veer more to the south and the anchorage would be very rolly from 20+ kt winds.
Yep. Seas were nearly 3 feet
on the hook by 0600 so it was time to go. We decided to try Warderick Wells again even if we could only get the Emerald Rock mooring field. Of course the north mooring field was full! The sea state was already a bit high at Emerald Rock which made for a difficult pendant pickup. Two boat hooks in the water and 4 passes, we had the pendant on board. One of the volunteers fetched one of the boat hooks but we believe the other one sank. Fortunately there were only three other boats that got the show.
The staff preferred that we dinghy into the office which we did with great wetness. Last time we explored the dinghy pass so we were not concerned about it now. The trip back was the wettest of the season. Last night and this morning were quite miserable. 25-30 kt winds from the S/SW really churned up this place and we were pitching most of the night until midday. It calmed during the afternoon but is now picking up again. Joy!
Seven days on really rolly
anchorages is too much. We left Warderick Wells (Emerald Rock) on
Monday as the persistent westerlies convert the mooring field into a
washing machine. As we headed north we checked the anchorages at
Hawksbill and Shroud Cays, the anchorage in the Norman's cut, and
finally the anchorage behind Highbourne rocks. Nothing! So we decided to
take a slip at Highbourne Cay marina. Heaven! No rolling! More later.
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