Day 6 and Day 7 - Blowing Like Stink!

As predicted, the northers crept up in the early afternoon yesterday. By nightfall it was really gusting! Most of the cruisers are running around in heavy jackets and some are even wearing stocking caps. It's in the low 50's this morning and will get up to the high 60's by the afternoon. It doesn't sound that cold... not like Jim and the kids in sunny Arizona where they are experiencing 32* in the morning! Yikes! But the gusty wind off the water is cold to me all the same. I'm running around in a fleecy jersey with two shirts underneath.

Hotspur is side tied on the south end of the dock. With the madness coming in from the north and at 37 knots this means that if the cleats break loose that the boat will get badly injured or will be doomed altogether. Oh, I know how to start the engine all right and steer her away from the rock wall, pier, pangas and other obstacles. It's just that the boat has been in the likes of Santa Rosalia for almost two months now and her prop is most assuredly encrusted in cement-like sea crustaceanous. Until the prop is cleaned, I don't know that starting the engine would do a bit of good... although I'll try if it comes to that.

Our dear friend Rich off Third Day visited me yesterday morning and tied a secondary bow line on a second cleat... just in case. Jim had already secured a secondary line aft on an alternate cleat before he left. The thinking is that if the primary cleat held to the little wooden dock with the rusty little wood screws gets ripped off, then the secondary cleat also held to the little wooden dock with the rusty little wood screws will hopefully hold it fast. Then David David tied another dock line midship so that Hotspur wouldn't ride back and forth so much. These safety concepts allowed me to sleep better last night EXCEPT...

the halyard on the mizzen woke me up! It was slamming violently against the mast and I had to get up at 1:30am to secure it. I had just secured it on Friday when we had a norther come through, but I guess it loosened itself between now and then. And while I'm whining about that, the 8 boats in the Santa Rosalia anchorage with the cruddy holding were undoubtedly up all night long.

In case you're wondering, this is the part of cruising that ain't so fun! It's not the end of the world tied up to a dock. But when you are anchored out and you have multiple days and nights like this, you ask yourself why you're doing it. Really.

P.S. Jesse on Frances Lee says he saw gusts up to 45 knots last night. He's real tired today.