Bahamas prayers

[DeepFrz]

Eric, glad you are both okay and that Raindog suffered no damage. Wakey, thanks for the info on Canibul.

[Ocean Girl]

The eye came within 36 - 40 miles of George Town by my plotting. I think the biggest lesson here is not what ground tackle ( though obviously it is very important ) it was location. It was all about location. We had the boat at red shanks which offered 360 protection with fairly high land. The seabed was lumpy soft sand with weeds scattered about. The other boats that did well all had good northern protection or were in the hurricane holes at stocking island on good moorings with 360 protection.
We had a Manson Supreme 45lb with 175feet of 3/8 chain and about 30-40 feet of 5/8 braid this was about 14:1. Our primary snubber was of Estarzinger design 3/8 three-strand with a dyneema tail on boat side. See snubber thread for more info. We also had lots of cheafe guard, two layers on the snubber not counting the endurabraid cover. We had to anchored twice, the fist spot had too much weeds, even though the anchor dug in well, it looked hinky and I did not like it (I'm the one who dives the anchor). Second time brian dropped the anchor in the perfect spot. we let it sit for a while, then I swam out and reposition it a bit and then we did a slow easy back down with the engine, starting at1500rpms ending at 3500 rpms. This was Wednesday and conditions were already pretty rough, so the anchor did not have too much settle time. The anchor was completely buried with only a thin line of shank showing, roll bar was not visible. Down wind of the anchor was a upward slope, Brian intentionally tries to put the anchor in this kind of hole. If it drug, it would need to drag up hill ( make sense? ).
We debated whether to put out a second anchor but decided the risk for the second anchor to foul the first was too great, we did not know what the dominant wind direction was going to be. The weather forecasters, including our paid weather router, just did not know what the storm was going to do. If we had more time, we might of played around with anchor configurations but the winds were already getting high enough to make a rough rough dinghy ride to land so we needed to get off or there would be no getting off.

[RainDog]

Originally Posted by Boatguy30

Surprised to hear hole 0 was full.

Sorry, I meant hole three. All the boats on moorings where fine as far as I know.

[LEOCAT66]

What great news, hoped for the best, feared the worst.

You picked the right spot, had the right gear, and applied it with perfect seamanship. A little luck is always helpful too as the eyewall apparently stopped just short of you. That said, you have survived at least cat 1 winds. Great job well done.

Will be checking your blog for details.

[wsmurdoch]

Out Island Explorers has photos of the George Town harbour on Facebook.

https://www.facebook.com/Out-Island-...=photos_stream

[RTB]

Originally Posted by Ocean Girl

The eye came within 36 - 40 miles of George Town by my plotting. I think the biggest lesson here is not what ground tackle ( though obviously it is very important ) it was location. It was all about location. We had the boat at red shanks which offered 360 protection with fairly high land. The seabed was lumpy soft sand with weeds scattered about. The other boats that did well all had good northern protection or were in the hurricane holes at stocking island on good moorings with 360 protection.
We had a Manson Supreme 45lb with 175feet of 3/8 chain and about 30-40 feet of 5/8 braid this was about 14:1. Our primary snubber was of Estarzinger design 3/8 three-strand with a dyneema tail on boat side. See snubber thread for more info. We also had lots of cheafe guard, two layers on the snubber not counting the endurabraid cover. We had to anchored twice, the fist spot had too much weeds, even though the anchor dug in well, it looked hinky and I did not like it (I'm the one who dives the anchor). Second time brian dropped the anchor in the perfect spot. we let it sit for a while, then I swam out and reposition it a bit and then we did a slow easy back down with the engine, starting at1500rpms ending at 3500 rpms. This was Wednesday and conditions were already pretty rough, so the anchor did not have too much settle time. The anchor was completely buried with only a thin line of shank showing, roll bar was not visible. Down wind of the anchor was a upward slope, Brian intentionally tries to put the anchor in this kind of hole. If it drug, it would need to drag up hill ( make sense? ).
We debated whether to put out a second anchor but decided the risk for the second anchor to foul the first was too great, we did not know what the dominant wind direction was going to be. The weather forecasters, including our paid weather router, just did not know what the storm was going to do. If we had more time, we might of played around with anchor configurations but the winds were already getting high enough to make a rough rough dinghy ride to land so we needed to get off or there would be no getting off.

Our thoughts have been with you. We are on the move again, and so happy to see the good news. See you kids in Florida!

Ralph

[Boatguy30]

I guess the wind must have only shifted around a bit during the storm then?


There was a boat that got caught in hurricane Charlie and anchored in Punta Gorda they were onboard and held until the eye passed nearby then the wind shifted 180 deg and they began to drag. They somehow managed to get underway and saved the boat. Was written up in southwinds.

[HappyMdRSailor]

Originally Posted by RainDog

More details later today, but we are back aboard and Rain Dog has no damage.

Bravo RD and OG!

[GordMay]

Bahamas photojournalist Terran Knowles captures devastation from several islands following Hurricane Joaquin.
➥ Pictures - Hurricane Joaquin damage Bahamas | Examiner.com

[Boatguy30]

Sorta what I meant about finding a safe building. Seems like the main cruising areas were not too badly hit. No doubt will be some good volunteer rebuilding opportunities this winter in Long Island and Atklins.

[zeehag]

Debris field found in search for El Faro - CNN.com
225 square miles of debris field and an oil slick. this doesnt sound good for the humans on board. no sign in 70,000 sq miles of searching of the ship no lifeboats seen. only debris and oil slick. the article includes a cute lil video for those who donot want to read....
today sar joins the uscg cutter in search.
one can only hope.......

[RainDog]

Originally Posted by Boatguy30

I guess the wind must have only shifted around a bit during the storm then?

Very little. N to NW to W.

[Hud3]

Originally Posted by zeehag

Debris field found in search for El Faro - CNN.com
225 square miles of debris field and an oil slick. this doesnt sound good for the humans on board. no sign in 70,000 sq miles of searching of the ship no lifeboats seen. only debris and oil slick. the article includes a cute lil video for those who donot want to read....
today sar joins the uscg cutter in search.
one can only hope.......

I looked at a NWS forecast for the area they were in, and it was calling for 40' seas, which means that they could have been twice that every now and then. Doesn't look good for recovering any survivors, unfortunately.

[Cheechako]

El Faro: The Triangle takes another...

[Cheechako]

Originally Posted by GordMay

Bahamas photojournalist Terran Knowles captures devastation from several islands following Hurricane Joaquin.
➥ Pictures - Hurricane Joaquin damage Bahamas | Examiner.com

Wow, looks pretty bad...