Barnes Bahamas Trip

STILL Spanish Cay Apr 23, 2012

Still stuck on Spanish Cay. Now the wind has moved from the south, to the west, and finally from the north, as will happen when a large swirling storm passes a given location. When it moved around from the west, it began hitting dead on our stern in the slip and literally pounding the swim platform upwards, causing it to loosen and lose some screws. K had to wedge a couple of two-by-fours above it to keep it from getting any worse. Later in the day, the wind subsided enough for us to be able to turn the boat around, which saved a lot of pounding, but the waves still slapped the hull loudly all night.

At least we had some entertainment. Three very large yachts came into the marina, two of them in the 90-foot range, and docked in winds of 25 to 30 knots, with gusts up to 44. The captains (one with only a remote control in his hand) deftly spun them around and put them in their slips without touching a piling. WE would pivot on a piling, but they can’t because they would just snap the piling off. I’ve got to say, those guys have some BIG cojones to do it in that wind. Of course, they have bow thrusters, but still…it was some awesome boat handling.