After looking at charts yesterday, we were going to head to another anchorage today at daybreak, but last evening the Coastguard, then NOAA put out a small craft warning. The Gulf Stream is only a couple of miles off shore from here now and with north winds blowing a steady 20-25 the waves were steadily building 7-10 ft. We talked to Azaya yesterday & Mary & Axel are in Vero. Tomorrow they’re going to head over here, so we’ll both move on from here (weather permitting). It’ll be so nice to see them again!

The winds howled all night and I laid there listening to the wind generator sound like it was gearing up for take off as the halyards kept slapping the mast. I found it interesting that with all the winds, I didn’t seem to worry about us dragging. Hmmm… The winds continued all day today but with the sun out, somehow things always seem better.
We attached the new line with the eye splice in it to the old lazy jack line and while carefully watching our balance on the rocking boat (high winds) and keeping an eye on the lines, we got the new line that will act as the control line up on one side, then I spliced another ring and eye section for the other side and we managed to get that one raised without much problem. Remind me why my hands are sore tomorrow! This splicing “eyes” takes some tugging and milking of the rope! I was going to start another section, but thought my hands could be better served by making dinner (sausage and egg noodles) and then working on the computer. I may make another eye splice later if my hands are up to it. I have 4 more rings to splice but 2 will have to be done on deck in nice weather since the rope has to go through another ring before adding the last two to the lazy jacks.
I hope the winds die back tonight. Then I can work on deck. There’s a full lunar eclipse tonight – lovely!

Pre-lunar eclipse. The darker it gets the less photos I can take on a moving boat!