Breeze On’s Wild Ride

The Spanish Wells harbor was flat calm when we left the mooring ball yesterday morning. We dodged several small boats and ferries coming and going as we motored out of the busy harbor. Our destination was either an anchorage at Meek’s Patch, an island two miles away, or press on to Hatchet Bay, 25 miles away. We decided to check the conditions once we passed the tip of Meek’s Patch. If the chop was too rough from the SW winds would turn around and anchor at Meek’s. If not, we would continue on to Hatchet Bay. The chop wasn’t bad at all—only about a foot with wind about 10-11 knots—so we carried on. We sailed slowly with just the jib in order to time our arrival at Current Cut at slack tide. Once we were through the cut we turned toward Hatchet Bay, raised both sails, and had a lovely sail for a few hours. When the wind dropped and moved more on the nose we furled the jib and turned on the motor. Then George noticed some ugly looking squall clouds moving in so we furled the main. When we started furling the mail the wind was 8 knots, by the time we were finished it was up to 20 knots. A few minutes later it was up to 25 knots.  It didn’t take long for the seas to build to 3-4 feet at very short intervals. Breeze On was slamming over the waves, with several waves splashing over the entire deck. We were hoping the squall would pass and the wind and waves would calm down by the time we were ready to pass through the narrow (80 foot) opening into Hatchet Bay. The winds dropped into the mid-teens and the waves dropped slightly. Nevertheless, we powered through the opening. My thinking was, “I have over 30 feet of clearance on each side. If I go right through the middle and keep up my speed,  there is no way a wave is going to knock me 30 feet off course.”  It all went well and it was a completely different world once we were inside the harbor. 

One of the ugly squalls. 

Approaching the Hatchet Bay entrance. The water on top of the dodger is saltwater from the waves, not rain. You can see how calm the water is inside the harbor.