Had the weather apps we checked first thing this morning suggested that the days's wind would be 10 to 15, gusting a bit higher and more or less on the beam, we would have stayed right where we were. But they didn't. So we didn't. What they actually suggested was a bit of wind in the morning then light and diminishing throughout the day.
The forecast that was, wasn't.
The forecast that wasn't, was.
But that didn't become obvious until we were well under way. Still, though the channel waters varied between being lightly peppered with white caps to pretty heavily salted with same, the ride wasn't all that bad. The original destination anchorage was a place called Thessalon, 26 miles and about 4 hours away. Our arrival time was around1300 hours but, seeing as the ride wasn't terrible I wanted to cover a few more miles if possible. Tomorrow's route was almost 7 hours long as planned and landed us at a dock for a couple of days. There we are going to indulge in a side excursion. (More on that after we actually do it.)
Deb allowed that going on for a while would be okay and found a string of anchorages where we could stop when the day was long enough. The first one was about 20 miles and 3 hours away, a little cove near a place called Hole in the Wall. (Honest. I wonder how may Hole in the Walls there are in the world?) We pulled off the route, checked it out, and that is were we are for tonight.
Of course being on anchor means that the generator has to be started. Deb tried to get it going from the switch in the power panel but, nothing. When climbing in and out of the engine hole we occasionally bump the remote control switch to "off". She crawled down into the hole from the front access under the stairs, found the switch was on, but started the generator from below. Not sure what is going on with it so, another problem that will need to be fixed.
While crawling out of the hole she found that a little green snake had taken up residence onboard First Light. After informing me that we had a stowaway she asked what she should do and, of course, I said, "Kill the thing." But Deb is a much better person than I am. Instead of dispatching it to snake heaven she tossed a rag over it while I got her a jar. She got the little critter into the jar and handed it to me. It was kind of a cute little bugger so killing it might have been a bit of an over reaction. I tossed it overboard figuring it could swim. And swim it did, heading off toward shore as if it knew where it was. So that was something new. (Ed note: no photos of this as I was trying desperately to keep the thing from crawling into some crevice from which I couldn't extricate it.)
In complete defiance of the weather forecasts, the wind is now rattling the tops of the trees and the boat is back to swinging like a wind vane. Protected as we are with little fetch, I am glad we pulled in when we did. Tomorrow's weather calls for winds light to variable. Ahh...yeah. Still, the laws of Probability and Statistics suggest that they have to get it right once in a while.
This is yet another pretty place tucked into the terrain with trees, rocks, and pretty green water. (The green snake we apparently brought with us.) We have been several weeks now in the midst of places just like this one. Truth is, it is all starting to look pretty much the same. Which is part of the reason for our little side excursion. Once we leave there we will be heading south, west, and south some more. For the first time on this trip, the bow will be pointed, more or less, toward St. Louis. It has been months. It is starting to get cold in these parts. It is time to be heading south. And home.
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