We arrived from a long overnight sail and spent most of the day catching up on sleep. The day was calm with a little bit of rain and big storm clouds in the distance. That night it hit us hard.
Most of the day, the water was smooth like glass.
Later we could see the storm clouds, I thought they were passing us to the East.
Of course, in the pitch dark, just as we were falling asleep the storm suddenly hit us. We could hear the oncoming thunder. Time between flashes and the thunder were quickly getting shorter and shorter. The rain started. And then the wind hit us hard.
It was hard to capture it all on camera, but in that short distance of the bay the wind was picking up the water off the lake and throwing it at us. I spent most of this time in the cockpit, keeping an eye for us slipping and at the ready to start the engine. I had trust in our Mantis anchor but we only had 5:1 rode out, about 60 feet in just over 10 feet of water. I was too nervous to go up on deck now to try and put more out. So I just sat there and watched. Fortunately the wind was coming from the South and if we did slip, it would just push us out to deeper water.
And I know I’ve said this multiple times before, but Kerr Bay is my favourite place for a storm like this. It’s comforting to know that the nearby wind turbines tower high above our mast and can withstand a lightning strike.
I look over at the other boats bouncing around. Flashlights were shining and lights were being turned on. One boat put on their nav lights, which were helpful for me. I was worried about us swinging into another boat and couldn’t really see them other than when the lightning briefly illuminated the bay. I pop down below and turn on our nav lights so they can see me. Another boat puts on their deck lights. Maybe that was a better option, since we were all still anchored. Either way, putting on lights in a storm is something I’m going to do as a courtesy to the other boats in the bay.
And just like it started, it suddenly stopped. The wind was silent, the rain slowed. The lightning flashes continued to the NE and the time between the lighting and thunder increased. I double checked the track on our anchor alarm. We stretched out a bit, but the anchor held firmly! I put my head down and quickly fell asleep.
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