Day 9: Strolla gets Grounded

Trip Start Nov 10, 2010

Trip End Ongoing

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Flag of Bahamas Bimini, Out Islands, Bahamas
Thursday, December 2, 2010

After arriving in the Bimini's the morning after Thanksgiving, we had two options. Leave the following day for the 2 day trek to Nassau, or wait till at least wednesday or thursday for the winds to change. All of us simply happy enough just to have made it to the bahamas decided we'd wait in the Bimini's for a couple days. Our week spent in the Bimini's was rather uneventful. It is the off season so not many tourists, and the island's so small there's not much going on anyway. Other than Nate getting hit by a boat while snorkeling, not much had happened. (He was alright, more of a laughing matter than anything else) The winds were supposed to change out of the north by thursday, perfect for our 2 day sail to Nassau, so on wednesday night we got everything cleaned up on the boat, and we were all antsy to leave at sunrise.

Not one of us slept well that night. Where we were anchored, there was a really strong tidal current

Strolla 1

. Strong enough that when we went swimming, it was a struggle just to stay next to the boat. These currents, paired with the changing of the winds, kept pulling our anchor loose. Inside the boat, a dragged anchor is loud enough that Pete and I had to yell to hear each other in our bunks only about 5 feet away. This grinding sound should've been a warning sign for all of us who were all lying wide awake. This started happening at around 3 am and what we should've done was try to reset the anchor or set a second anchor so we didn't drift away. It was windy, and it was cold outside, so no one wanted to do this much needed task. Finally the anchor stopped dragging and we all instantly fell back asleep.

Captain Pete's alarm went off at 6 am, and it was now time to leave for Nassau. He walked up on deck only to return a few seconds later informing us we were stuck on a sand bar. We didn't drag our anchor in circles like we thought, but across the bay and onto this sand bar. To make things worse, it was high tide. The next high tide wasn't until 5:45 pm so all we could do was wait. Shortly after, the boat started to lean...and lean and lean and lean. By low tide around noon, Strolla was now sitting on her side in ankle deep water. It made a great photo op, but man it was embarrassing, as every local fisherman passed us laughing hysterically with huge grins on their faces. So we sat there...all day long

Strolla 2

.

As the tide began to rise we started to formulate a plot. The plan was flawless. We were to set a series of anchors to pull the boat off the sand bar. Since we grounded at high tide, we'd have a small time frame to work with, so we had to work quick. As Strolla had almost come back to upright, everything heavy in the boat was moved from the port side, the side she'd been lying on all day. I put on my snorkel gear and set an anchor as far off the starboard side as I could get it. The anchor line was hung from the top of the mast, so the pull in that direction would be the strongest. Nate quickly jumped in the water to help. Starting from the anchor, he began to climb the line to the mast. He was a good 6 feet out of the water hanging on the rope, the all of the sudden, Strolla shot free. The plan worked perfectly. We were all so excited that everything had worked as planned, we ignored the fact we were a day behind schedule. That night for the first time we broke out the rum.

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