Somehow our original email message to the Suzuki outboard dealer went astray, and our order got delayed by a week, so our departure from George Town has also been delayed by a week. Well, it's not like there's nothing to do here. We've taken some long hikes on the beach, our bare feet feeling the texture of the sand vary from hardpack to sugar to squishy wet goo as we veer from the water's edge to the hillside and back. We've read a lot and played some Scrabble and backgammon, and we've spent time talking with friends we probably won't see until they sail to the Caribbean next year.
The boats keep pouring into the harbor in advance of next week's Cruising Regatta, and the organized activities have started to ramp up. A few days ago there was a dance party at Chat-N-Chill, the mostly outdoor bar and grill on Volleyball Beach. (The beaches at Stocking Island, across the harbor from George Town proper, are where most of the cruisers anchor and where most of the activities are held.) We love to dance but don't get many chances these days, so the dance party was a real treat. We danced up a storm -- why, we didn't get back to the boat until 9:30! (Hey, we're cruisers. We go to bed early.)
We got to dance again at Eddie's Edgewater, a restaurant in town where we met our friends from Gratitude for dinner one night. A couple of times a week they have a band playing "Rake 'n Scrape", a Bahamian type of music played on electric guitar, drums, and what looks like a basic hardware-store saw. It's bouncy and repetitive and just makes your feet want to dance. And who are we to say no to our feet?
The most entertainment in the harbor was provided by the front that came through on Monday, obligingly waiting until mid-morning so we could all watch the show. This was the same system that pasted the East Coast with a blizzard; here we just had a lot of chilly wind and a few showers. Since the front had been well predicted, boats had moved around in preparation, tucking in wherever a bit of protection could be found from the expected west and northwest winds. (Northwest is one of the worst direction for winds to come from in George Town, as the harbor runs essentially northwest to southeast. South winds tend to be lighter than north winds, so they're not as problematic.) We stayed at Sanddollar Beach, the beach furthest to the southeast, where the curve of the island would shelter us from the northwest. We put out a second anchor and felt reasonably secure.
The southwest winds built to around 20 knots, gradually shifting further toward the west, and since we had plenty of fetch across the harbor with this wind angle, things were pretty bouncy. A few boats scrambled to beef up their ground tackle, and there were a few VHF screams, "Daisy B! You're dragging!" Then the front hit. The wind shifted to northwest and increased to a steady 30+ knots. Our maximum recorded windspeed was 35 knots (about 40 mph), although other boats reported slightly higher windspeeds. All hell (and many boats) broke loose.
The VHF chatter exploded. It seemed like half the boats in the harbor were either dragging or being dragged into. Warnings flew, rescues were organized, windspeeds were compared. We heard of two boats dragged onto the beaches, both forutnately rescued quickly with little damage. We put our cockpit VHF on and moved upstairs to keep an eye on things.
Our neighborhood at Sanddollar Beach had its own unfolding drama. Lickety Split, on only a single Bruce anchor, dragged into Two Dreams behind them, then they both dragged into the web of anchor lines of the next boat, Traveler. Half a dozen cruisers braved the waves in their dinghies to go help sort out the dogpile, including our friends on Rhapsody, who were next in line if Traveler were to break loose. With our sick outboard prop, all we could do was watch as everyone worked to fend off, untangle propellers from anchor lines and dinghy painters, and get all the boats separated and reanchored.
Although the front has passed and the sky is blue, the winds are expected to continue to howl at 20+ knots from the northwest for another few days. We're just going to hang tight while Windom, we hope, hangs tightly to the bottom. There are plenty of small boat projects to keep us busy, and I've been taking advantage of the cooler weather to bake bread and other goodies. The wind is supposed to die down on Thursday, and by then our parts should be in, so we'll head over to town to get them and do laundry and a little more provisioning, with an eye toward getting out of George Town -- at last! -- on Friday.