We had a beautiful, sunny day here in South Bimini yesterday, the calm before the storm, but we didn't know the storm was coming.
Chuck and Wayne were trying to figure out why we always have water in the bilge. No success, but suspicion that it may be coming from the anchor locker. After they were done and we put the boat back together, I made shrimp fried rice for dinner and crustless apple pie over vanilla ice cream for dessert.
After dinner, we were getting ready to take the shuttle to the Beach Club, the sister marina to this property. Chuck hadn't turned the chartplotter off from looking at something earlier and the weather alarm went off. He saw a severe storm was coming, so we decided not to go to the Beach Club and button down the hatches.
The winds came fast and furious with lightening, thunder and pouring rain. Before he even had a chance to secure the jib sail, the wind took it and ripped it. (When we came in the other day, the jib sail didn't wrap correctly and we didn't get a chance to rewrap it because of the winds.) He wrapped the spinnaker halyard around it to prevent more damage. At first we thought it was just the sun cover, but the leach line pulled out. The closest sail repair is in Nassau, New Providence (129 miles) and we didn't intend to go there. We may have to now. He always wanted to buy a different head sail. Now may be his chance.
During the night, winds were sustained in the mid-30s with gusts to 45 knots! I was getting seasick in the aft cabin and had to pull out my sleeping bag and sleep in the salon. Not too comfortable and a rather restless night.
This morning I made French toast for breakfast for a change. We're staying down below for the most part, although it's just windy now...20-25 knots with occasional gusts to 30. There are more thunderstorms predicted later today.
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We had the same terrible storm here in Marathon. Pete saw it coming on his smartphone, so we weren't surprised. But when that first gust hit, we heeled over big time and things started falling off the table and galley. The winds kept up throughout the night and sleeping was indeed difficult. The boat behind us said "MicMac danced like a ballerina last night," and was surprised our anchor held. Sorry to hear you'll need a new jib. I think we're all learning the true meaning of "island time" as we wait for calmer seas and less wind.
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