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Hope all 424s (and everyone else) in the Exumas are OK this morning. They had as much as 100kt winds from Staniel to Georgetown from a low pressure system that formed and quickly intensified in the area. There was a report posted on the Cruiser’s Forum that appears to be from Bill on Charisma who got through OK without dragging. Friends of mine on a Whitby dragged, but were able avoid major damage. No reports of serious injuries.Regards,John Stevenson http://www.svsarah.com Sarah’s Blog
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Hey John, It was pretty hairy. I’m unable to upload to the Silverheels Logblog at the moment, but will eventually post something about that blow. It earned a long write-up in the ship’s log:
// 1730 The front hit Staniel Cay with gale-to-storm force winds for more than an hour, raining on and off, with lightning during the latter part of its passing. Later someone reported on VHF that they had measured 57 knots, but I’m not sure in which harbor that was. Someone else said up to 100 knots. Calling this one a 60+ knot storm wouldn’t be an exaggeration. Anyway, it’s one of the worst blows I can recall every riding out at anchor, its nearest rival being some of the nighttime thunderstorms I remember ripping through the harbor in Cartagena.
// Silverheels’ anchor held, but the damned spring tether, which I had just repaired and end-over-ended today, broke again and the windlass gypsy failed to hold the chain, letting it slip all the way out, all 125′ of it! Couldn’t hear anything in the cockpit over all that wind and breaking seas, but luckily I happened to come below for a moment, heard the racket forward, and went out to the foredeck to investigate. Caught it just as the line spliced to the anchor chain was beginning to run out. It was slipping in bursts, so I was able to get a rolling hitch onto it with a short dock line same one I used for the same thing last night! and made that fast to a deck cleat. Whew, what an ordeal!
// One of the two sailboats anchored near me dragged a ways, but then apparently his anchor dug in and he rode out the rest of the storm in place. A very big motor yacht dragged through here over and over, very nearly slamming into my neighbor, Piper, a young cruising family aboard. At one point Piper had to stream out a ton of anchor rode very quickly and drive his boat out of the way of the oncoming motor yacht. The big vessel careened by between Piper and Silverheels, whether by skill, luck or some combination I have no idea. Scary scene.
//I stood anchor watch at the helm throughout the storm, idling the engine in forward much of the time in hopes of easing some of the strain on the ground tackle, accelerating in the harder wind blasts and attempting to steer to counter some of the boat’s yawing. I didn’t dare motor forward on the anchor, just aiming to ease the stress, so I probably under-did the throttle most of the time.
//1900 After an hour or so, the worst of it passed. The wind finally began to ease off to a mere 25-35 kn, then gradually down to 15-20 with some residual gusts. I’m sure there will be some dragged & damaged boats from this completely unanticipated event. At least it happened early in the evening. Could’ve been worse. We’re OK. -
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Tor,
Glad you came through OK. I think we both prefer being lucky to good. My friends on the Whitby (Hold Fast) got beat up a bit when their anchor dragged and their dinghy flipped over with the outboard getting dunked. Other than minor damage and a lot of bruises they were able to get their anchor reset and avoid major problems.
Regards,
John Stevenson
http://www.svsarah.com
Sarah’s Blog -
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January 7, 2016 at 12:00 pm — Site Administrator — Glad you’re safe! Sounds like quite a ride. For interests sake, what anchor do you carry with all that chain? I’m considering a 73lb Mantus, but I’m not sure that is overkill.// Ewan, my primary anchor is a 66 lb. (22 kilo) Manta anchor from Port Supply/West Marine, a Bruce knockoff, with essentially all chain rode (150-feet before it switches to 5/8-inch nylon 3-strand line). It nearly always sets right away and (knock on teak) has never dragged, and only costs around $200.
// ———————–January 7, 2016 at 9:50 pm #94078 — typhoontye — Participant — From which direction was the wind blowing?ÃÂÃÂÃÂàOff shore?àDavid Tye×——————– // David, it blew from NNW the whole time. // Tor———————-Silverheels, P-424 #17www.silverheels.us——————   Â
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