Windy Grand Case
Windy Grand Case – the two hills upwind of the anchorage work together as a funnel for the wind. This makes it seem windier than the prevailing winds are. Years back my dinghy, complete with fuel tank and engine, flipped during a gust at night. Today it is quite windy and is gusty with long periods of no wind. When that happens, the boats turn side-on to the swell and roll. I am stumbling about the boat as if drunk since the movement is hard to compensate for. When the wind arrives, it does so with a vengeance and snaps the boat around. I get about 30 seconds acoustic warning from the upwind boats with howling and singing from their rigging.
Some of the boats upwind of me look like they might be anchored badly, so I am going to remain aboard today and see if I can take care of some of the collected tasks that I’ve got on my to-do list.
First task is mounting the Starlink RV on the rail, as it is tipping over in the gusts when on the stand.
Gusting 35+
It’s still windy in Grand Case. There were a couple of consecutive very strong gusts a while back and when I went topsides to check on the dinghy I noticed that the big catamaran behind me had decided to anchor much closer. I thought about this and decided that my frame of reference was wrong. They hadn’t shifted by I had dragged over a boat length!
Since I broadcast my AIS I could check the track on MarineTraffic and found that I had, indeed, dragged anchor. The last gusts had each shifted Zanshin backwards a bit. The straight line to windward is from my weighing anchor and motoring upwind to re-set the anchor and let out significantly more chain.
Afternoon
I got the Starlink RV system set up on the front pulpit during the gusts. I’ll need to order a connector kit for CAT-6 and make the installation a bit less makeshift, but for the moment it works better than the default stand. And I still need to tap the stainless with a thread to fix the antenna in place, but that can wait.
Evening
I’ve decided to remain aboard tonight. I have a normal work day tomorrow and still have some leftovers in the fridge that need consuming. This decision isn’t easy to make, as occasional wafts from the LoLos ashore pass by Zanshin.
I’ve attached the dinghy running lights to the new cowling as the old cowling got damaged by the dinghy dock in Grand Case. Then I’m going to replace the salinity probe on the watermaker before making dinner. The winds have calmed down for the past 15 minutes and I hope it will remain like this tonight. Luckily it is now not so windy Grand Case.
