I awoke around 0730, fixed hot oatmeal and coffee for breakfast as the temperature was down to 60 degrees and the wind was making it feel even colder. Around 1130 we dinghied over to Whisper and helped Larry and Walt work on the propane system. After we got it working, we all had coffee and cake, discussed the weather situation and decided to stay hunkered down until Sunday. I took Walt and Maggie back to Day-O, then Donna and I went back to Ninkasi to ride out the wind.
Around 1430 Whisper began dragging anchor and was drifting toward our boat. I was just about to call Larry when he came on deck and noticed the situation. The winds were 30+ mph and gusting above 40 mph. Larry got his crew on deck, retrieved his anchor and then repositioned Whisper and set two anchors. The anchors held for a little while and then Whisper started dragging again. Larry got the crew on deck, retrieved the anchors and repositioned Whisper south of Ninkasi. He deployed two anchors again and then waited to see if they held.
At 1800, Whisper’s anchors are holding firm but I’m still watching the situation outside as the winds are predicted to increase more before they subside. Watching the shoreline tree tops as the boat spins on the anchor makes me dizzy. Not having finished the anchor riding sail before we left home was sure gnawing at me even though I had never used one and was unsure of how it would help in these high winds.
It was a long, long night. The wind howled through the rigging and the boat lurched and heeled as I checked our position against lights on shore and the other boats. I was still awake at 0200 when things started to slowly calm down. I eventually fell asleep, but awoke again around 0400. I checked the boat, decided everything was OK and fell asleep again. I awoke again at first light and crawled into the vberth with Donna.
Larry’s wind instruments recorded sustained 42 knot winds overnight.
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