What does “prepared” look like?

We nestled into Sampson Cay three nights ago to be ready for this—days of wind over 20 knots, gusts in the 30’s, and tonight’s expected gusts just under the 40 knot mark.  We chose this spot as it has great protection from winds from all directions except west, making it ideal for this blow.

So how does one prepare for this?  We got here EARLY, days ahead of the weather so we could have good depth and swing room for our boat and so we could ensure the anchor was well set.  We have our 45 pound Manson Supreme out on 100 feet of 5/16” G4 chain, with dual snubbers to dampen the tug.  This is really the most important prep in my opinion!  

We did have to contend with boats anchoring in front of (to windward) us yesterday.  This isn’t usually good boat courtesy, but as long as you don’t create a dangerous situation it can work.  The closest boat in front of us is a charter with an older style anchor, so we were a little concerned.  With a charter you don’t know if it’s their first or 15th charter and if they have experience with the conditions.  Our Captain went and let his concern be known.  We had another boat end up almost alongside us.  With our different “sailing” behaviors at anchor and the fact that a forecast wind shift would put their stern close to our bow, we chatted with them as well.  A few hours later, they actually chose to move and even sent us a nice email.  We meet some great folks out here!  So as we get rolling into this event we have two boats off our bow, and three astern of us.  We are all diligently watching one another!

Ok, so what else do we do to prepare?  We ran to Staniel Cay to get milk, bread, rum, and veggies! 😂  We also topped up the water tanks and batteries (though solar performance has been GREAT!).  Also...

The snubbers are doing their job and the Genoa is furled tightly.  A Luci solar light is clipped to the bow so at night our neighbors have a good view of where our bow is.

Genoa sheets (the black lines) are double secured in their stops and around the winch drums. We don’t want that baby coming unfurled and flapping around!

T-shirts are dampening the halyards from slapping the mast.  When we can rest, some peace is nice!

A knife is at the ready just in case an emergency calls for a line to be cut.

The dinghy is secured in the davits so there is one less thing creating drag and at risk of blowing away, but it’s also ready to drop at a moment’s notice.

HEY!  That air horn will get everyone up on deck and looking should we or anyone else start to drag anchor in this little cove.

The anchor alarm! Here we are using the Anchor Pro app.

That’s about it!  We may stand some anchor watch this evening as that’s when the worst is expected.  Everything on deck is secured and we are busy with school, reading, games, movies, and blogging!