Saturday, April 9th

Adams Creek

The weather forecast was spot on. The wind started building and got seriously fierce by 10 am. While I had contemplated crossing the Neuse before the peak of the gale, I'm glad I didn't leave from here. Another sailboat was anchored behind me in the bay, and later a second one appeared who anchored closer to the channel.
I stayed mostly below, apart from occasional visits upstairs to check that all was well. The sailboat behind me left and anchored on the west side of the channel - a good idea since there's better wind and wave protection there, I hadn't known that there was space to anchor there. The other boat suddenly had a Towboat US boat next to him, I didn't know why.
While my new chain reduced my worry about dragging the anchor, I realized I had another problem. The bow roller that the anchor usually rests on and through which the anchor line runs was working itself loose. The constant left-right travels of the boat in high winds also makes the line chafe every time it touches the end of the boat''s path, as the line angles at 30-40 degrees and touches the heavy bracket the roller is mounted on. I had to find a way to take the load off the main anchor line to avoid this chafe and the bow roller possibly ripping off.
I thought of tying two relief lines with rolling hitches to the anchor line and lead these lines through the chocks to the main cleat. Unfortunately, the rolling hitch knot does tend to slide on the slippery Nylon main rode. Also, the knot must have tension in the same direction of the main line, not at too large an angle.
The problem with the relief lines was that it was hard to balance them so that both of the knots had tension, especially since the boat was zig-zagging so much. The wind was really fierce now, at times over 30 knots and with gusts to 40. Whenever I tied two lines to the main line, one of them would slip. I realized I couldn't put two lines on there, especially since they would each be at an angle to the main force.
I eventually had the idea of using my old big bridle from Montrose harbor. I tied a rope to the shackle of the bridle and then that line to the main line with a rolling hitch with 5 turns rather than the normal 2 turns. I now let the main anchor line slide by 10 feet and it worked! The tension and chafe was now on the old heavy bridle. I will sleep well tonight.



The wind was gradually diminishing and will turn N overnight, which will make it colder but better protected.