Knotty Cat Tales: On the move again

A dreary day in Lemon Bay (you can't see it in this picture but it was raining)

Nothing of great importance happening here these days. Although due to very strong winds we did stay at our anchorage in Lemon Bay for a day longer than planned. We arrived on a very pretty day with no wind. The next day was ugly, overcast, and rainy so we stayed put and since the solar panels and the wind generator were getting a break we sat around and read all day. And then, Wow, during the night the wind kicked in and we woke up to waves slamming against the Knotty Cat, the wind generator shrieking with glee (or perhaps agony), and the solar panels straining at their harnesses (thank God we'd tied them down tightly the night before). Several times during the day we turned on the helm pod to gauge the wind strength and compare it to all the weather apps and forecasts we read each day. We were seeing consistant 20 to 25 knot winds. I'm sure they gusted higher at times because poor Windy would groan and shudder and shut down when she started pumping more than 15 amps into our batteries.

But holy cow, with all the power we were getting from the wind and the sun that day we actually turned on our inverter (something we never do unless we have shore power or are running the generator) and watched TV and made ice at the same time. All.day.long. and the batteries never went below 13. We did try a little experiment and attempted heating water but that was a no go. As the afternoon wore on and the wind showed no inclination of dying down we finally rolled up the solar panels. We were getting hit with a north wind and it was so cold we completely shut the boat up and fought over who got to sit beside Wilbur (our heating blanket) in the salon. Needless to say he slept in between us last night.

But what a difference a day can make. We woke up this morning to virtually no wind and a cloudless sky. After our morning coffee (somewhere in the vicinity of noon) we cranked up the engines and even though I was worried the anchor might be buried, it came up very nicely.

Nine miles later we came upon our next anchorage and just like that we were set once again. Those two hours were just enough for our engines to heat our water and we both got the first showers we've had since Sunday (maybe TMI but this is life on a boat). This is a tiny little spot and it's surrounded by homes not dissimilar to the anchorage we tried to enjoy in Miami 4 years ago. Active Captain has given it rave reviews and so far no police or angry citizens have approached. We have no desire to overstay our welcome and hope to dinghy to a state park for poor neglected Wilbur and also dinghy up a channel that's rumored to be within walking distance of a Publix.