Oh What a Night!

Well, here we were just chilling out last night (7ish), making our plans for a dive today. I was updating the blog and Steve was checking out the dive maps, when suddently we heard this aweful noise. It sounded like a freight train. We both jumped up and realized that a gust of wind was the culprit! And there was more coming. There was a cold front supposed to come with 10 knot winds and a chance of showers, but we certainly weren't expecting what was about to happen - nor had we heard of any warnings to this effect. We jumped into action, closing hatches, stowing stuff, turning on the weather for any warnings that may have been posted, and checking the radar (basically battening down the hatches.) In only about 4 or 5 minutes we were getting slammed with 35 to 40 knot winds and pelting rain. There wasn't any time to hoist up the outboard on the dinghy (because we know what happens when dinghys flip over.) We were very concerned because of the shallow water we were in and how close the shore looked. After putting our life jackets and shoes on, Michele realized that a marker (huge pole - along it doesn't look so ominous in the picture to the right) which was previously about a half a mile away from us near Rodriquez Key was suddenly right next to us. Our anchor was dragging and bringing us along with it. We immediately started the engine. Michele took the helm to try to keep us from slamming into the marker and off the shore while Steve went forward to pull up the anchor - all in the pitch black, pouring rain. It is amazing that we even saw the marker because visibility was almost nothing (and that goes to show how close we came to it!) Anthing that could go wrong with pulling up the anchor did. The chain kept getting snagged and it took almost 15 minutes (which felt more like an hour) for us to be free of it. We then were able to motor away from the shore (which incidentally has a couple of wrecks already submerged - thus the marker). But where to go? We couldn't see anything directly in front of us (only the lights from Key Largo (which also has a wreck in front of it - see picture) and the shoreline of Rodriquez Key - which is very difficult to judge distance at night).

We felt our way through very shallow and picked a spot which we figured was far enough away from shore; however, the anchore refused to set. Every time we set the anchor, we just kept drifting back to the dreaded pole and shore. By this time we were both soaked and freezing (and Michele a nervous wreck). By the third attempt, we decided to try our luck with our other anchore. This time it held. After a while the rain stopped and the wind died down to a reasonable 10 knots. By this time it was close to 9:00 p.m. We started to relax and assess the situation that just happened. After much discussion we decided that we both handled everything perfectly. Although my legs were shaking uncontrollably at the helm, I did remain calm and composed. Steve also demonstrated his excellent captain skills.

The winds did pick up again at about 10:30 to midnight, so it was a long evening! Today the weather is much calmer, but the water is still a little choppy. The winds are between 5 to 10 knots and the air is chilly. With the current circumstances, we decided that it is not the best time to venture out into our first solo dive. We would rather calmer conditions and a more relaxed state of mind, so we will try again tomorrow.