agnoli

waiting on bill

We woke early and motored north to Carriacou. The weather is hot and windless, glassy with a good swell running. Not enough breeze to keep us cool. Bill has sucked all the energy out of the atmosphere, quelling the trades, as it spins to our north, category 4. While we were crossing from Grenada a big swell hit the fleet here, smashing up 4 fishing boats, and pushing waves up over the road. The swell event lasted only an hour and a half and then was gone, legacy of Ana as she passed some swell window days ago. Everyone is waiting for Bill, some have moved over to the mangroves, the rest of us are anchored in the bay, ready to run to sea if it gets too big. It looks like we won't see any weather. Bill is headed north, away from us, but we are supposed to see some swell tomorrow. I'm asking around for a surfboard. There's a nice reef in front of the yacht club, looks like it could break.
http://www.goes.noaa.gov/HURRLOOPS/huirloop.html

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waiting_on_bill.zip (838 KB)

Filed under // dorte enzo grenada marcus weather

hurricane weather

I'm talking to Marcus this afternoon and he mentions that the upper islands will see some weather around Thursday. Ana and Bill, the first tropical storms of the season, churning their way westward towards Puerto Rico. Same old story. Last time I was scheduled to visit the Caribbean in 2005 I decided to call it off. Good thing. My arrival date found Marcus and Dorte holed up in St George's bay with the rest of the fleet, hiding from Ivan, or Emily, I can't remember which, as the eye passed over Grenada. Dorte tells a good story of driving the Lizzy into the mangroves and tying her off, rather than dodging boats that had lost their moorings. It is more harrowing when she tells it.

Enzo and I board our flight to Grenada in the morning. We'll be sailing the Grenadines for the next couple weeks. The storm track looks to be taking the weather north, so we are staying south of St. Vincent.

In Dorte we trust. Marcus too of course.

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/53/Grenadines-Archipelago.svg