Lo and Behold

Marsh Harbor, Abacos Bahamas
26 32.83 N 077 03.47 W

The other day we were passing through The Whale (that infamous danger spot). Conditions were mild with winds 10 knots or less. We were getting bounced around a bit but nothing bad. Right in the middle of the passages I looked out. Lo and behold I thought I was looking in a mirror. Passing near by going the opposite way was a Westsail 32, white with blue trim. It looked identical to Tarwathie. I hailed the captain on the radio and learned that the boat was called Alice out of Freeport Maine. There's a good chance that we might encounter Alice again sometime this month.

(I never used the word lo before. I'm not sure what it means but it goes witht the phrase "lo and behold". I looked it up: Simplified spelling variant of low; Look, see, behold (in an imperative sense); A shortened form of "hello" ('lo; see hallo))

In the harbor yesterday we met Russ and Pat aboard Consort, a Westsail 42. That makes three W42s, and two W32 in the locality that we know about so far.

Yesterday, we met up with our friends Ray and Pat on Reflection and Andrew and Vanessa on Tally Ho. They are also long time cruising friends. We last saw them in Vero a few months ago. While we went to Marathon and the Florida West Coast and Marathon again, they elected to stay here. They joined the Royal Marsh Harbor Yacht Club. That entitles them to steeply discounted rates at the Boat Haven marina. Doing it that way makes it affordable. With a slip rented for three months, they were free to use it as a base and to explore the Abacos on day trips, by boat and by rented cars. We saw the marina facilities yesterday and it looked very nice.

Tonight we'll join Vanessa, Andrew, Pat and Ray at The Jib Room for dinner. Tonight is rib night at that restaurant. Ray said that they have a really good limbo show after dinner. It should be fun.

Libby and I went to buy groceries this morning at Maxwell's. Maxwell's was a supermarket that greatly impressed us last year with the variety of foods offered. I say was, past tense. When we got there this morning, it was gone. Nothing remains of Maxwell's other than a concrete slab. Perhaps it burned down. I'll try to find out the story while we're here.

Last night, a weak cold front came through causing the wind to shift almost 180 degrees. Predictably in a big harbor like this, the radio soon came alive with reports of boats dragging their anchors and of dinghies that blew away from the docks. Oh well, it provides a source of entertainment. In reality it is a source of anxiety causing me to sit at anchor watch until fully satisfied that our anchor is not dragging also. You see the problem with wind reversals is that it causes the anchor to trip (i.e. get pulled out of the sand on the bottom), and then it must reset itself pointing in the opposite direction. Usually that works OK but a few percent of the time it doesn't work. In a harbor with a hundred boats anchored, a few percent drag every reversal. In places like this we use our CQR anchor. A feature of the CQR is that the arm is pivoted on a hinge. (See the picture.) That usually allows the anchor to turn around and pull from the opposite direction without tripping and resetting. That reduces the chances of us dragging when using the CQR, but the chance is never reduced to zero.