wx-weenies

It is pleasantly cool on Kintala this morning. A vigorous cold front lit up the sky last night with a lightning display the likes of which I haven't seen for months. Even the front that hammered us in Charleston didn't toss as much forked energy around, which made it kind of sporting when it became necessary to go out to the mast to secure a wildly flogging mainsail cover. The Charleston storm still sets the bar for wind, though last night's sustained mid-30s blowing for hours got close. We sat on and off anchor watches until after mid-night since the boats are packed in here pretty tight, depending on which way the wind is blowing we are about ½ a boat length from our nearest neighbor.

The wind is supposed to blow hard all day and a small craft advisory covers the Bay outside of No Name Harbor. Getting in here to ride out this blow was one of my better weather decisions. It wasn't until early yesterday afternoon that the weather gurus started issuing warnings. Anyone not in or near a protected place by then had a very interesting night. Still, though Kintala will stay put for a while yet, I saw one boat out on the Bay flying a reefed head sail and making tracks to the south. A big Lagoon motored into the harbor and started practicing touch-n-goes on the sea wall in the wind. A smaller mono-hull and his obvious buddy-boat Leopard 40 (they spent the night rafted up in the back of the harbor) headed out a little while ago and turned north into the teeth of the wind and waves.

Clearly, in the hierarchy of the sailing / cruising world, I dwell (quite contentedly I might add) among the wx-weenies. Instead of going anywhere, Kintala will get a little routine maintenance today. Deb is changing water filters and cleaning pump filters. I have been taking the itty-bitty little set screws out of tubing connectors on the Bimini and replacing them with rivets. It works so well me thinks the same should be done to the lifeline stanchions.

The weather should be pretty good for a few days once, that is, this wind finally blows itself out.  Kintala will put a few more miles of Biscayne Bay water past her hull when it does.  Then we will decide where to go next.     

Our morning guest