We are woken at 3 am by the sound of really strong wind and can feel the boat pulling on the anchor chain. Mike gets up to see what’s going on and immediately I hear the engines start I know it’s not good news. I hastily throw some clothes on and join him in the cockpit to find out that the wind is blowing constantly at over 40 knots with higher gusts and that we have turned around 360 degrees and have begun to drag our anchor. Terrific. We are not alone though. Looking around, other boats are doing the same thing and one boat is a few hundred yards from where he was when we went to bed as a result of an anchor dragging session.
With the wind pulling us against the anchor I find it difficult to unhook the clip that holds the bridle to the chain so I call Terry for help. Never a man who likes to rush things, he asks if he can use the toilet first but Ann shouts ‘ noooooo’ and kicks him out of the door.
It’s cold in the howling wind but thankfully there’s no rain with it. When the anchor is down and we are waiting for it to settle I ask anyone if they want a cuppa. Tea in a crisis – how English! However, we all do so Ann goes off to make it, and there we sit, in our strange assortment of clothes, wind howling all around, warming our hands around a nice cup of tea.
I don’t get to sleep immediately but am quite soundly asleep when the phone rings at the bottom of my bed where it is plugged in to charge. It is Jim calling to make arrangements to get together. I try to sound like I’m awake but obviously fail as he notices my ‘sleepyhead voice’. We arrange to meet at 12 by the dinghy dock.
The wind has died down considerably but it’s still around 30 knots so Mike takes the boat in a little closer and we put down a hell of a lot of chain. Most of the other boats have left so there is less of a problem with swinging.
We get togged up in our wet weather gear to go ashore and look pretty stupid as we approach the dock as the water here is completely calm and the sky is blue and cloudless. Better to be prepared though – salt water splattered clothes just never dry out, and as I’ve just done my hair the rather fetching hood protects it although the advantage of this protection is somewhat reduced by the fact that my hair is now plastered to my head. Why does life have to have such irritating Yings and Yangs?
It’s great to see Jim again, alone as he is for the moment while Annie is still in Australia after her son’s wedding. He has her dog, Rex, with him for company though, and Rex proves to be very well behaved unless there is a squirrel around. After all, it’s a dog’s job to chase a squirrel and stand, sentinel-like, at the base of a tree, just in case said squirrel happens to fall out of the branches, the only way he’s ever going to get one between his teeth!
Jim takes us to Oxford for a lovely lunch and then we have a walk around, stopping to check out Ocean Jasper on the way. The walk reveals that Oxford is a very sleepy, very pretty, very New England sort of place. The restaurants outnumber the shops but they do have a lot of picket fences. Local artists paint 3-ft squares of these and they are offered for sale at a silent auction each year with the artist who raises the most money choosing which charity the profits will go to. There are 18 of these little picket fences scattered all around Oxford. Good job Jim found me a flyer – I was beginning to wonder why there were little bits of fencing stuck in strange places!
Photo: One of the many painted pieces of picket fence scattered around Oxford
We find ourselves walking through a playground to get to the water and stop for a quick swing. It brings back childhood memories – mainly of Ann pushing me so hard that the chain stopped being stretched out and that horrible ‘oh shit I’m going to go over the top’ feeling would come over me, although I didn’t know the word ‘shit’ and never fell off. Good job too as playground surfaces were not made of the nice rubbery stuff they have now! Anyway the memory stops me from revving up the pace too much.
Photo: Down by the water in Oxford
Photo: Big kids on the swings
Photo: Ann taking another opportunity to sunbathe
After the swings it’s ice cream. Even Rex has one – vanilla in a bowl. I wonder if dog’s get brain freeze as he eats his much quicker than we do.
Photo: Painting on the side of the only food shop in town
We leave Jim by the dinghy dock with promises to meet up again when Annie gets back.
Photo: Jim, me and Mike
On the way back to the boat, we suddenly hit something. We look all around but there is nothing obvious then suddenly Mike realises that it is low tide and we might have even hit the bottom. Even though we are only in the dinghy it’s really shallow if you get out of the designated channels. He slowly gets back on course and we get back to Jeannius without further mishap.
It’s cold on the boat during the evening – the weather is set to change over the next few days – nice during the day but colder at nights. I hope we’ve got enough blankets – we won’t be heading south for a couple of weeks yet!
Position: 38 deg 47 min N, 76 deg 12 min W
Distance so far: 2636 miles
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