We have known about this storm coming for a week now. People were moving all around and preparing. Chris Parker, the marine weather expert that we watch every morning at 6:30 predicted it would be the worst weather of the season. In the 500 millibar section of the atmosphere, where weather is made, it looked something like this. This would produce a bomb cyclone in the states, spurn a nor”easter for the coast and for us would cause west and northwest component wind, sustained 30-35 with gusts in the 40’s. In the Abacos, gusts were predicted to reach the 50’s.
In the morning, the wind was east southeast. We decided to go to the beach early and even splurge for a cheeseburger. We walked down the beach looking for the hidden trails around the rock formations on the shoreline. Sometimes we walked around the rocks in the water but most areas had a trail behind the rocks if you looked for it.
On the way down, we met Romeo, a dog that likes to just sit in the water to cool off. he reminded me of Kit and her snow bank.
We went to Peace and Plenty for our last meal. We were early but they opened the kitchen for us. We played beach jenga while we waited and watched umbrellas fail in the wind. Peace and Plenty is my favorite beach restaurant. The food was excellent.
We then walked back again looking for trails. We found one that lead to a cave and a tidal pool.
Another took us up on a ridge with great views.
We returned to the boat for storm preparation. We had already done a lot. David had our lines tripled with chafe guard applied. We experimented with Fat Tuesday on deck but her windage on the bow increased our swinging and we were already worried about that. We decided to go with her behind the boat close so she would have a little eddy made by the boat. Another option would have been to put her high on the beach and paddle board back to the boat. It was a little late when we thought of that.
We then brought everything on deck back to the cockpit to reduce our windage. We went for a swim and looked at our mooring ball. Everything seemed secure. It was now time for the waiting. We had a little squall before sunset and a beautiful rainbow to end the day.
