The Chain Gang

 

                                            Bill and his pile of anchor chain

Remember on the last post when I talked about the lovely 5-knot breezes at our anchorage yesterday evening?  Well, about the time everyone went to bed, those same breezes ratcheted up to over 20-knots.  Not only was this unforeseen, but it could not have been worse for our snug little anchorage.  The wind and waves were coming right into the mouth of the harbour, making for a real bucking horse ride on all the boats!  That extra three-hour ride to Mangrove Cay yesterday was looking like it definitely might have been the right decision after all.

I was up every 45 minutes or so checking to make sure that I could see all four anchor lights and that they were roughly in the same position as before.  Eventually, dawn came and all boats were still exactly where anchored!  So at 6AM, I rallied the troops to get up, get the anchors up, and start heading west to the Indian Cay channel and Old Bahama Bay Resort on West End, Grand Bahama.

                                                    Chutay!

At Last had their anchor up first, quickly followed by The Office II and Chutay. Bill, aboard Pipe Dream II, radioed that  his windlass seemed to have died and they could not retrieve their chain and ginormous 110-pound anchor, "Big Ben".

After several suggestions, it seemed that the windlass was indeed dead, so Dennis and I lowered his dinghy off the boat deck in the wind and waves and lit off towards Pipe Dream to try to help.  After determining for sure that the windlass was a goner, the three of us started heaving the chain up like an old-time tug-of-war while Betsy did her best to keep Pipe Dream pointed into the wind.

We eventually brought Big Ben home into his anchor chute, locked everything down, and headed back to Mother Ocean to re-stow the dinghy and get our own anchor up.

                                                    At Last!

The rest of the day was spent playing catch up to the 37' fleet and marveling over just how nice the day had become.  We all passed safely through the narrow break in the reef at Indian Cay Channel and docked the boats side-by-side in beautiful Old Bahama Bay Marina.

We spent the afternoon getting all the boats checked out of the country at the customs office, rinsing off salt, and having coldies at the pool tiki bar.

The big going away dinner tonight was a lovely affair at the resort restaurant where we all ate and drank our fill, while everyone had to listen to me wax on about how much fun it was introducing new folks to the Abacos.

I couldn't be happier or prouder of the way everyone bonded as a group this trip, coming together when someone had a problem, and just really genuinely being a fun and entertaining group!  I know that EVERYONE will be back someday - maybe even introducing more new folks to the beauty of the cruising paradise that is the Abacos.

Tomorrow morning, we all head back to Florida at dawn.  I will try to write another entry tomorrow to describe the crossing and talk a bit more about this great group that I was honored to be part of.