january, 2003 -- but not sent till february because
my laptop died and the file was on it. thanks to trent
for saving the file.


hi all --

am back on wonderland and back in the bahamas again.
have tobi, a 26 year old friend of hannahs (my crew
from last year) and evert, a 50ish dutch giant who 
is a good sailor but a bit of a bull in the china shop
type person.

anchoring is supposed to be the final action after
a nice sail, tucking you into a safe harbor at the
end of the day.  it should be a happy event followed
by happy hour in the cockpit with munchies and rum
punches.  somehow for me it seems to be more of a
horendous exercise that often goes arwy in the
middle of the night.

wonderland has 3 anchors, a 35 lb. delta as primary,
a 33 lb bruce as secondary, and a medium sized danforth
as a last resort.  all are the right size for my boat
on the charts at west marine and also the right size
for the strength of my arms.  but somehow i have managed
to drag anchor and nearly hit something several times.
add to that the number of times it hasn't held and i
have redone it, and you end up with about 2.5 anchoring
tries per harbor.

in grand cay (abacos) tried the delta twice and didnt hold,
switched to the bruce and it seemed to hold.  i dove on the
anchor to be sure and saw that we had hooked another boat's
mooring chain.  swam over to admit it to him (local fisherman
who was polishing his saxaphone), he said no problem, just
leave it, but then sent his lobster diver down (using a
compressor and his lobstering boat to unsnag it and set it
properly in the grassy, muddy bottom.  this was actually
fortuitous because on his way to the local bar, he showed
us a big snapper he had caught and offered us half.  we said
yes of course, then went to the local bar via the fishing dock.
at the fishing dock we got given 3 lobster tails (appetizers
to our fish dinner), 4 conch and then 4 more lobster tails.
we invited our fish donor to dinner with his saxaphone and
had a real feast.  the fish donor's nephew took a shine to
tobi and the next day we were given 12 lobster tails.  we sure
ate well in the northern abacos.

our next anchoring adventure was at double breasted cays where
we anchored with two anchors, in a narrow creek, one anchor
from the bow of the boat and one from the stern.  the current
ran that way so it seemed fine.  problem was a cold front that
arrived with 20-25 knot winds, gusting to 30 and hitting us
broadside.  by morning we were not in the middle of the creek
anymore, but solidly aground at the downwind shore.  oops.
fortunately, in the bahamas there is about 3 feet of tide,
so being aground is usually a temporary condition.

in green turtle cay, i thought i did everything right.  dropped
the anchor, let out lots of chain, backed down on it, dove on
it, etc.  but in the morning, after a cold front had blown 
through with again 25-30 knot winds, there we were aground
and nearly on someones back porch.  there were about 10 other
boats in the harbor, all with advice for how to get off.
i listened politely to all the suggestions and agreed to use
their ideas if mine (wait for the tide to come in) didnt work.
the tide worked just fine.

nassau harbor on new years eve was my next anchoring challenge.
it was crowded with most boats using 2 anchors.  after dragging
once and swinging too far once we managed it pretty near the
commercial docks, so we were anchored securely but had tug boats
manuvering big freighters pretty close by.  was scary the first
time the tug went chugging by.

the abacos are really lovely islands, lots that are uninhabited
with beautiful reefs and beaches and some with nice settlements
and friendly people.  having a 20 something young lady on board
as crew seems to facilitate making friends with the locals, at
least the locals we meet on the docks or in the bars.

had my nieces and nephew and sister-in-law on the boat for xmas.
7 in all.  it was crowded but fun.  we each slept in the cockpit
one night since wonderland only has 6 sleeping spots. visited
the northern part of the exumas with the whole crew.  returned to
nassau for the junkanoo parade new years eve, or rather early
new years morning. the parade starts at 2am and goes till 10am
on new years day. incredible costumes, great music, dancing in
the steets.  a bit like carnival in south america or mardi gras
in new orleans.

hit my first squall yesterday -- 44 knot winds, confused angry
seas, lee shore about 3 miles away, blinding rain, etc.  we left
nassau early to beat the front scheduled that that night, bound
for royal island near eleuthra, about 40 miles away .  it was foggy
and cloudy.  then it started to rain and we stripped, got out 
the joy dish soap and washed down ourselves and the boat.  this
delayed our putting up the sails and by the end of the rain shower
we could see a squall coming, so waited with the sails. the wind 
went from south east to north west in what seemed to be 2 minutes
and from 10 knots to 44 knots.  our motoring speed went from 6 knots
to 1.5 knots thanks to the wind and waves.  visibility was near zero,
we were soaked and cold and had put on our raingear while already wet
(a very bad idea because you stay cold and clammy).  we turned into
the wind and away from the shoreline and waited about an hour till it
blew over and the winds slowed down to the high 20s.  put up the main
sail but double reefed it and put out about 3/4 of the jib.  sailed
like a banshee, 7-8 knots all the way to royal island.  arrived before
dark looking like the most bedraggled, drowned rats you ever saw. a
cup of hot soup fixed us right up, until we noticed that all our beds
were wet (combination of rain and waves).  we baked bread to warm up
and dry out the boat.  very yummy hot out of the oven with loads of
butter slathered over it.  butter and rum are the only things we have
found in the bahamas that are cheaper than in the states.

will head back to the abacos after doing eleuthra.  loosing crew
shortly, susha (a niece) goes back to school jan 9 and tobi goes
home jan 15.  so anyone who wants to sail with me in the bahamas,
mid january would be a great time to come.

hugs.

-evi