It’s raining this morning, and windy. We don’t have the storm force winds that were forecasted, but the wind is gusting to 30 knots. Weighing heavily on our minds is the storm we rode out here about ten years ago, when the wind blew out the Eisenglass on the flybridge, straightened the hook on the anchor chain, and blew the wind cups right off the anemometer. The anchor held during that storm, so we’re confident we won’t drag anchor. But, we still worry. The howling of the wind messes with our minds.
When the wind started picking up around mid-morning, driving the rain sideways, we were seeing gusts over 50 knots. Our eyes were riveted on the wind speed indicator. It started looking like we were in for a monsoon. The wind speed indicator was now pegged at 60 knots. Then, all of a sudden the boat started heeling over, from side to side as we were whipped around on the anchor. The wind was blowing so much water off the surface of the water that the seas were solid white for about 15 feet above the surface. We figured we must be getting gusts well over 80 knots. Then, thankfully, the wind dropped to a steady 30 to 40 knots for the rest of the day. By dark, it looked like the worst was over.
We’ve decided that there must be a venturi effect created when the wind blows through the little islands just outside this anchorage. Whatever the cause of these Devil Winds, we don’t ever want to experience them again. As Al said when the storm was over, “Chapple Inlet has seen the last of us.”
Summer Cruise Aboard "Jubilacion" 2017 