Day 141, Year 10: Surprise Weather ‘Attack’
Date: Saturday, February 28, 2015
Weather: Overcast with Heavy Rain and Wind in the PM
Location: Dinner Key Marina Anchorage, Coconut Grove, FL
It was my turn this morning to get up at 6:30 am to listen to Chris Parker’s weather report. There is a chance of crossing the Gulf Stream on Monday and then possibly another chance on Thursday/Friday. I had really hoped to be in the Bahamas to celebrate my birthday on Thursday, but now the best that I can wish for is to be on the way. Patience, patience.
We went to shore this morning to do laundry and then to return the rental car. Just before we finished the laundry, the rain came pouring down. The rain was so heavy that it felt like an ‘attack’. We knew there was a chance of rain, but we were truly surprised by the intensity of this rain . . . and it went on and on and on. We certainly didn’t want to put our clean, dry clothes in the dinghy with torrential rain pouring down and winds gusting to 40 knots, so we asked the Enterprise rep to take us to Scotty’s Landing. This is the place where we had lunch with Detta and Tom on Thursday and it seemed like a good place to get in out of the rain and have a couple of beers while waiting. It was after 4 pm before we got a break in the rain, so we headed to the dinghy. I had kept a large plastic drink cup from Dunkin’ Donuts earlier in the day when I realized we were going to need something to bail the water out of the dinghy. The water was deep, so that cup was greatly appreciated.
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| 150228 Day 141 Florida, USA–Water in Dinghy from Afternoon Downpour |
It was when we got back to Windbird that the fun really started. First, Windbird had drug anchor and was much closer to the boat behind us. Thankfully the anchor had reset, but it is truly scary to think that you could come back and find your boat floating out to sea without you. We pulled up the anchor and moved forward to re-set. Mark then worked to change the fan belts on one of our alternators. For the past few days, the batteries have not been getting the charge they need because the belts on the alternator were loose and starting to fall apart. Mark had replacements, so he put on the new belts and tried again to charge the batteries. Before long, we could see that the new belts weren’t helping the situation, and when Mark looked in the engine room, both of the “new” belts were falling apart. So much for spare parts. Mark and I then spent a great deal of the evening searching for an automotive store that has the belts we need. In the meantime, he put on a different belt and so far that’s working. Tomorrow morning Mark will remove the belts and take them with them to try and find a match. This will be difficult since it is Sunday and we no longer have the use of a car, but he made calls this evening and is hopeful that an auto supply store close by will have what we need. So I guess our day of rest isn’t happening tomorrow.
