The day before yesterday we were the only boat anchored here Kickamuit River.  That let me pick the spot I liked best and get well settled in.  Over the last two days about a dozen other boats have trickled in to this protected bay picking their own spots.  It’s not crowded, everybody is well spaced out. I watch each boat coming in and evaluate their anchoring gear and technique.  So far, nobody has me really worried.

We just finished clearing the decks putting as many things below and out of the wind’s reach as much possible.  One of the great things about an Amel, is the cavernous storage spaces.  Even our liferaft has a dedicated below deck space.  The dinghy and its engine happily go into the locker at the stern. The only thing we have left on deck is one jerry can of gasoline for the outboard. Looking at some of the other cruising boats here in the bay I am shocked by the amount of “stuff” they carry on deck.

The boring part?  Other than waiting, it is the upcoming weather forecast:

At first I thought this meant they didn’t know for sure when the storm was going to get here.  But, nooooo… it’s expected to linger in the area for days. Since we are ready for the worst that can be expected, we are hoping to be pleasantly surprised at getting less than that. But if we have to spend four days in strong winds, we are ready for that too.

Right now the weather is overcast, with north winds at 8 knots or so.  Nice to get here early and spend the last daylight hours relaxing with a beer, watching other people scramble to get ready.