Gale used the dinghy to go in for water – twice. The wind and seas were building and the forecast was for storms and high winds from the south in the afternoon and then switching out of the north after midnight and blowing 20 to 25 knots. There was a Small Craft Advisory, a Gale Warning and a Wind Warning. The marina guys were out circulating notices to each vessel about the storm to make sure all were aware of the impending weather.
Instead of going into West Marine and the grocery store as we had hoped, we decided it was getting too rough and we could make do with what we had on board for food. Brad and Alicia checked out of their hotel and called to see if they could stop by the grocery store to purchase any items for us before Gale picked them up at the dinghy dock. They grabbed a few things we needed and Gale met them at 11 am to bring them aboard. The afternoon was spent reading, fishing and baking key lime pie.
During the afternoon, Gale caught two nice snappers but he really wanted one more for our dinner. Brad had fun catching a small stingray and two nurse sharks. The ray was released by cutting the line.
The first shark was probably 50 pounds and too scary to bring on board without the proper tools. The second shark was smaller and caught just as the storm rolled in. The guys landed the shark, brought it aboard and cleaned it for dinner. Because of the weather, we couldn’t use the outside grill, so we put the filets in a pan and baked the fish. Because the shark filets were so large, the baking time was longer than expected. After a little research on Brad’s iPhone, we also learned that shark should be cut into steaks rather than filets. We enjoyed our shark for the main course and key lime pie for dessert.
As the storm blew in from the south, we saw a motor yacht enter the mooring field looking for a mooring ball and safe harbor but he was unable to grab a ball before the storm hit. We watched him struggle to keep his boat from banging into any other boats or the shore, but lost track of him after awhile.
The winds died down after the big blow and since we had some protection from the south, the waves weren’t too bad. As we went to bed around 10 pm, we hoped that when the wind switched from out of the north during the night, we wouldn’t have too rough of a ride.
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