This morning around 6:30 I could hear high winds and felt our boat being tossed about. The storm had arrived in full force and I needed to get up to see if our anchor had drug from the double force of rising tide and wind.
Winter Storm Diego at Herb Creek in Thunderbolt GA
Winter storm Diego is pouring snow in our home town of Hickory, NC. Meanwhile, we are catching rain and strong winds anchored in a creek off the IntraCoastal Waterway. Yacht A Fun, our Gemini catamaran, arrived to Thunderbolt Georgia’s Herb Creek on Friday about 3:30. It was a morning that had begun from a mooring ball in Beaufort, SC- so our distance gained was excellent.
Our plan for Saturday was another day’s long distance (48 miles) run. But alas, either I misjudged the amount of propane left to run our heater- or the weight scales acquired for that purpose was off a tad. Our heater pooted at us- the red glowing flame of the radiant heater gasped as it died on Friday night.
So instead of leaving our anchorage at 7:30 Saturday morning, I had to prep our dinghy and run to Bahia Bleu marina to in turn use our hand truck cart to ferry two grill type propane tanks to a local propane refill. By the time I got back, it was too late in the morning to go thru the trouble of pulling anchor to again set it just 3 hours away. Besides, Diego’s effects were headed to our route. Staying in a solid anchorage, close to provisions, made good sense.
Hand truck cart has multi-purpose plywood used to help support the tanks which together are wider than the cart
By the time we went to bed on Saturday night, we had been thru three full cycles of tide change. Our 35 pound Delta anchor with 100 feet of 5/16 chain had held well via the 20 ft bridle. Our scope was 120 feet of rode divided by (9 for depth when set, +9 rising tide, + 3 boat deck off the water) which equals 5.7 More scope is always good when there’s plenty of swing room.
Really….. knowing that 30 mph winds were coming, and that the wind would be right up the creek with fast current- I should have let out more rode for greater scope last night. BUT I wanted to see how well the chain combo worked. Ebb tide faced with inbound wind had made the boat unsettled through 3am. The result was that with flood tide and strong winds, we drug a little- probably with the huge gusts that had tossed the boat and awakened me.
At 6:45 this morning (Sunday) there was no morning coffee before adding scope. Our chart plotter confirmed we had drug a small distance, perhaps 20 feet or so. With wind howling, but no rain at the moment, I ventured to the bow. To add scope to the bridles, I tied bowlines to attach half inch line. The 5/8ths main line was let out 54 feet. The resulting scope is a tad over 8.
The dashes correspond to the location of the boat over time
As I write this, it’s been two hours past having added the scope and it appears from our chart plotter that we are swinging without dragging.
The next post will be a catch up of recent events for Diann, me, and Yacht A Fun. Best wishes to all our readers. Thanks for joining us.
The story / blog of Yacht a Fun, a Gemini catamaran sailboat, traveling the ICW and east coast with insights to the extended cruising life. Headed to Green Cove Springs Florida