Oct 22

Oct 22 a day of learning.

The weather forecast was for 6 to 10 knots from the South East. This would mean motoring all day as sailing into the wind would be too slow, but would also mean a nice easy ride.

As may be seen in the photo of our friends’ Nordhaven 48, it was pretty calm when we left the anchorage early in the morning after clearing industrial strength muck off the anchor chain, the foredeck and me. Some of the commercial fishing techniques were interesting. The clam digger in the photo lowers something that digs out a chunk of muck and then strains it leaving only the clams behind.

We were not long under way, however, when the wind rose to 15 knots right on the nose.

At least we were smart enough to take the dingy off the davits and to hoist it onto the afterdeck. So it proves that we can learn.

As we motored into the waves, the dogs became terrified (again) because of the slamming of the waves on the bridge deck joining the two hulls. Also, we took green water over the windward bow on several occasions. Unfortunately, we had left the forehatch cracked. It is about 7 feet above the water line but it took solid water on more than one occasion, making our bed more than a little damp.

Out other minor calamity concerned the dogs’ potty mat. It was on the foredeck, was not tied down and disappeared.

We were a happy couple to pull into Soloman’s Island and to anchor.

Our friends on the Island Trader 42 left about an hour later than us. They got soaked, taking heavy spray on the bridge deck as they motored into the same waves.

Lessons learned:
Ø Don’t believe the weather forecasts.
Ø Close and dog the forehatch.
Ø Relocate the dog’s mat to the afterdeck, now to be known as the poop deck. The afterdeck is a safer place for them anyway.