As we left the choppy anchorage at Cross Harbor Bight the anchor got lodged under a rock and we had a tough time getting it free, the anchor got bent and we’ll be needing to replace it. We sailed south towards Eleuthera Island. Wind was right on our noses, and we had to motor all day towards Royal Island since ugly weather was coming in soon. Seas were choppy with confused waves and swells starting out at around 6 feet. There was 6 large commercial ships coming through and we had to alter course twice. The swells were growing to around 8 feet for a while then finally started to settle down, then the rope tying the jerry cans down broke and we had to jury-rig a temporary solution to keep the 40 gallons of fuel from falling overboard. Soon after that a “dark and foreboding storm front” came up from behind us. We’d had good visibility on the area where we’d planned to anchor, but as soon as the rain hit the visibility went away completely and the rain was sheeting down and winds were in the 20’s. Negotiated the Egg Islands Cut with the help of the chart plotter. From there we were able to make our way into the Royal Island Harbour, with great protection from all but the south. Down below we found LOTS of stuff had “shifted” (fallen, flown, slid, crashed, etc.) throughout the cabin. We spent the next couple of hours cleaning up and drying off. We’re going to take a day or two to resolve a few issues that cropped up during our adventurous day, recover and wait for some settled weather before sailing on. They say the worst day sailing is better than the best day at work… Today, I’d have to disagree.
