ADVENTURE FOUR CONTINENTS AND A WEDDING
Tropical storm force winds appeared to be building and there seemed little doubt that a full on hurricane was going to hit us. The wind shrieking in the rigging, competing with the wind generator for maximum decibels, meant our approach to the pontoon berth didn’t go unnoticed, unlike our repeated VHF calls. Despite the unconscionably early hour and driving rain, fellow sailors appeared, and helped us berth. Suspecting worse was to come, we knitted the boat to the dock with every line we possessed. There was already far too much wind to take off the sails and canopies; any attempt at reducing windage would have resulted in shredded canvas. In driving rain, accompanied by thunder and lightning, we put extra lashings on the roller reefing headsail, stack pack and mainsheet traveller, passing lines from the bottom of the fenders under the boat to the opposite toe rail. By now the wind was gusting to hurricane force so we did the sensible thing; Liz cooked us a fry-up, we showered and went to bed in our cozy aft cabin, glad to be out of the storm.
It was early July 2014 and we were in Grand Bahama on passage north away from the Caribbean hurricane zone. We had left the UK, equipped with solar panels, wind generator and Hydrovane self-steering, had proved seaworthy and comfortable. Every few days we ran the engine for an hour in order to use the water maker to top up the small 24 gallon water tank, enabling us to enjoy a shower three times a week. This attention to personal hygiene, together with the lack of any mid-ocean competitors, paid off as during the passage my girlfriend, Liz, agreed to marry me. The happy event took place several months later at the Soggy Dollar Bar on Jost Van Dyke Island in the British Virgin Islands, with us swimming ashore for the ceremony, the wedding dress safely transported in a dry bag.
