Between the Majors—fun and pain

We ended up spending three nights anchored between Big and Little Major Cays.  In hindsight, we should have only stayed for two!  But...we dropped the hook Monday, well ahead of Tuesday night’s west wind, to ensure we had a safe spot.  With fairly calm weather Tuesday during the day, we revisited Thunderball Grotto and hit a few snorkeling spots with our friends on S/V No Limits.  It was a great day!

When we returned to the boat, it was clear that the dreaded wind vs. current was in play at this anchorage as the chain was grinding against the bow and the boat wouldn’t point into the wind.  Grrrr.  We ported the helm and that seemed to help.  

Wednesday saw the worst of the west wind, with it clocking to the north as evening set in.  This is when we should have moved.  But with our anchor holding well we stayed put.  Around 0300 I heard and felt waves slapping on the side of the boat thought I could hear the chain along the hull way farther back than it should be.  On deck with a flashlight, I was certain we had again gotten the chain wrapped around the hull.  The Captain disagreed at first, but a thud around midship confirmed it.  So he dropped the dinghy and I put the helm over again.  At some point the wheel had centered—I’m pretty sure this was the start of our problem.  With the wheel to port and a nudge of the dinghy we were able to free the chain from the keel and get back to riding the same direction as the other boats.

At some point, one of the little plastic guards covering a drain hole in the anchor locker got broken, but that seems to be the only casualty.  I still hate anchoring in these conditions.  Maybe I had the snubbers out too far, but then I fear the chain would have scraped up more of the bow.  Or maybe our new lightweight chain is too light and we need a kellet when anchoring in current.  Whatever the “perfect” combo is, we haven’t found it yet.  

After all of that fun, we are out of here!  Time to go check out Black Point and get some rest!