Since arriving in George Town, we have been watching the “big blow” that was expected to stir up the water in Elizabeth Harbor. High winds were predicted to roll in on Monday night, February 5th and continue for a couple of days before calming down. Monday started out a beautiful day, sunny with just a few clouds. We spent time batting down the hatches, walking the beach, a dinghy ride and of course some time at Chat N Chill. We headed back to the boat around dinner time and got ready to sit still and rock.
We are on a mooring and took every precaution possible including: doubling up our lines, adding more ties to the bimini, discussing ‘what if’ plans and storing everything. We had the radios ready and ‘marriage saver’ ear phones set up, just in case. The first storm hit with high winds, light rain and some big waves rolling in. As the night progressed, so did the storm conditions. Three Sons was rocking and rolling, waves crashing against the hull and a loud sloshing sounds running under the boat. We settled in for the long haul, set the anchor alarm, turned on the VHS radio on and tried to sleep. With the chatter on the radio about boats dragging, the popping sound of water rushing under the swim platform and constant up and down movement giving the feeling of being on a roller coaster, not much shut eye for us. We knew we had done everything possible to prepare and were as safe as could be, it was just a matter of comfort. The sunrise was a welcome sight! Tuesday was just more of the same: high winds, a surging sea, short periods of a light rain and all while the sun was shinning. At times, the conditions were calm and we had a glimmer of hope. Then, BAM, you could see the squalls rolling in, the line in the sky, and hear the wind howling. We entertained ourselves with boat projects, cleaning, organizing our provisions, updating the blog, lots of card and board games and binge watching an old season of Survivor. However, the winds calmed down before we finished, so we may never know who outwitted and won.
It was comforting being in the middle of a large boat community with constant check in’s and updates on the VHS radio. Using various boating Apps, we were able to check in with some folks and get updates. Not many pictures taken with the fear of the phone going over board. In the end, wind gust were 38-48 mph for about 48 hours. The only damage to Three Sons was an existing rip in the canvas finally being completely torn off. In order to preserve, Bob was able to repair during a calm period.
