2017 Life Logs, Day 113: Squally Day in Hog Cay
Date: Sunday, April 23, 2017
Weather: Overcast and Squally, Winds SSE 20, Gust to 25+
Location: Warderick Wells South, Hog Cay Anchorage
As expected, today was spent on Windbird waiting for this weather front to pass. The rain started during the night and the wind has maintained a steady 20 knots with gusts to 25. When the gusts come through we get jerked around just a bit, but it is fairly calm in this anchorage to be as windy as it is. With this weather, we all decided to do rainy day activities. Dawn baked this morning
while Sam did planning for the next few days. I have worked all day editing underwater photos and naming videos from our snorkeling adventures. They have the Humann, Deloach Reef Fish and Reef Creatures Identification books onboard to help me. From time to time, Sam, Dawn, and I consult on exactly what kind of fish we really did see. We have learned that what we thought we saw is not nearly as accurate as looking at the photos or pausing videos to study the fish characteristics. Right now it is late afternoon and Dawn is watching a movie while Sam is writing his monthly article for Flying magazine.
He needs to send that in once we get back to the land of cell and internet service. I don’t think I mentioned in a previous log that in the May issue of Flying magazine, Sam’s monthly article includes a two-page spread photo of Windbird at anchor. I excited to read the article and am hoping to find a copy at the airport in Atlanta on the way home. Today he is writing about his experience of working his way up to becoming a captain at Compass Airlines for six years before getting his position with Delta flying Boeing 757’s and 767’s. Luckily for him, during the winter cruising season, flights in his fleet are down by 28 per cent. So for right now, Delta is happy to let him have the time off to cruise during the slow flying months. It’s a good deal for Delta and a great opportunity for Sam and Dawn. But he goes back to work in June and it is time to get Windbird back to the US East Coast for the summer. They have chosen to spend the summer near Annapolis so Sam can easily get to the airport in Baltimore. The first leg of the trip to Annapolis is to get the boat to Marsh Harbor in the Abacos. From there I will fly home and they will prepare for their passage to the East Coast. They hope to get to Georgetown, South Carolina, just north of Charleston to get new canvas for the cockpit enclosure and then they will head to the Chesapeake Bay. But first we have to get to Marsh Harbor in the Abacos so I can fly home. Due to tides, today Sam changed our itinerary. We have eliminated Spanish Wells from our trip northward. If weather permits, tomorrow we will head to Rock Sound in southern Eleuthera. We plan to spend Tuesday there and rent a car to tour the island. On Wednesday the forecast is for almost no wind or variable winds at best, so we’ll probably motor northward to Hatchet Bay. From there the plan is to head west to Fleeming Channel and do an overnight to somewhere near Marsh Harbor. If this plan sticks, we should be there by Friday. But as always with sailing, you make plans and then you adjust them as you go. We have had no internet service since Black Point, but once we reach Eleuthera, we should be back “online” for a few days. I’m getting anxious to hear how my brother-in-law Joe is recovering from his knee surgery last week. Hopefully he is doing great!
