Weathermen hate troughs which are what's left over when a low pressure system runs out of steam. We don't like them either, for they bring unpredictable and unsettled weather.
While we were at Archers Cay, a trough settled over the area bringing squally weather. Just as we were finishing our dinner, a cold blast of air entered our cabin from astern. That's not a good sign when you're at anchor, so we sprang into action. The blast was soon by rain, thunder and lightning. Out in the cockpit, Peter quickly turned on the GPS to see if we had dragged. Sure enough we were quite a bit closer to the rocky shore as the wind now clocked with the squall. The wind was whistling right across the Sea of Abaco and our boat rocked up and down in the waves that quickly built up.
For over an hour the nasty weather hung around. Peter kept watch at the helm ready to start the engine if necessary, but the anchor held in its new position. I cleaned up the dishes and made coffee. We listened to other boats who were anchored nearby us. One had a particularly nasty situation with its anchor chain caught on its keel. It circled throughout the storm and eventually lost its anchor. Luckily the couple had a spare. Finally everything settled down.
The trough hung on, though, and the next day more squalls began to form. It seemed as if we were circled with black clouds and an occasional bolt of lightning decorated the horizon. We decided to pull up anchor and sail about five miles to a safe harbor at Treasure Cay.
It would have been a quick sail, but a large field of rain moved into place between us and our destination. Visibility up at Treasure was nill. So we leisurely sailed back and forth in the Sea of Abaco with a nice breeze and only a light chop as we dodged the rain squalls. Finally a clear patch of sky that had teased us for over an hour made it to Treasure . A rainbow arced over the tip ofr the island. We hurried into the harbor and anchored there until the trough was shoved out by a cold front two days later.
With the new plastic cockpit enclosure Peter made last summer for our boat, we stayed snug and dry despite the rain.
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