Another early morning but it’s all going to be over by the afternoon. My destination is Grenada and it is only around 40 miles away. Even with a slow 5 knots I’ll be there by 13:00. Invest 92L, now named “Bret” was a hurricane for a while, but has weakened. Bret is heading right over St. Lucia and many models show strong winds even in Grenada.
Morning
I got going and left Port Elizabeth. I had reefed the mainsail in preparation for open water, even though it was quite calm in the anchorage. I’m glad I did, it was howling out there. I made good time, averaging over 6 knots despite throttling back on the engine.
I made the final turn around Union Island and could see my destination in the distance. Finally, after a lengthy journey southward.
Hillsborough, Grenada
Destination Grenada reached. Upon passing the little island off the anchorage on Carriacou, I furled the mainsail. And pulled in the dinghy so that I couldn’t run over the line by mistake. Immediately after that, I was greeted with a strong downpour. So strong that I could barely keep the bow into the wind – which kept the cockpit dry. The shower soon passed and I began hunting for a good anchoring spot.
Usually this is a simple procedure. But not now. The most negative forecast has 30 knots of wind coming through. First from the North, then backing all the way through West to South! And since I don’t know about the other boats, I’m keeping as far away as possible, while still being in shallow waters. This narrows down the options significantly.
I’ve got a spot in 30 feet of water and have put out over 200 feet of chain. That should be more than enough holding, but I’m still a bit worried. So i’m going to take a nap now (late afternoon) and then do an anchor watch up in the cockpit overnight.
18:00 update
Now both the GFS and ECWMF show that sometime during the we are going to get strong winds from the wrong direction. So it’ll mean anchor watch tonight after all.
Night
I took one sleep until 23:00, as the inclement weather wasn’t forecast to arrive until then. The I held anchor watch all night, on and off with naps. But that’ll be detailed in tomorrow’s post.