Penance?
Apparently there were some who were not amused by my April Fools Day joke yesterday. I apologize for causing any of our friends unneeded worry. As a small offer of penance, I share the following important tip for those hoping to visit Statia.
Oranje Baai can be rolly. The author of our guidebook says that the worst he has ever rolled at anchor in the Caribbean was here, just off Oranjestad. To tell the truth, I’m not sure if it’s ever not rolly here but it’s hard to tell as, since we’ve been here, we’ve had a north swell and when that subsided, south wind, both of which are famous for generating uncomfortable conditions. To minimize the effect of that roll we moved our boat into, what we feel, is the best spot in the anchorage. If you look in the pic below you’ll see that we’ve tucked in south of all the mooring balls, in between them and the pier. We’re anchored in 12 feet of water with a beautiful sandy bottom, sheltered as much as possible by the break wall. The holding is great, thoroughly tested by the very gusty conditions that we experienced yesterday. Are we still rolling? Yes, quite badly as a matter of fact (more penance?). We are certainly rolling much less so than the other poor vessels further out in the anchorage. It is so bad where they are I actually feel sorry for them!
ZTC is the furthest boat to the left in the pic.
Yes, that is ZTC out in the water in front of the cannon.
If the cannon was functioning do you think they could hit her?
By the way, the award for the best comment on yesterday’s joke post goes to Dockbum:
Great news. Finally we will not have to read endless posts about hiking around some dumb island, nor partying with your friends, or exercising on your trampoline. Now maybe we’ll get some good posts about fiberglassing, sanding, spending money. etc. Have a great April 1st day.
Oh man. You got me! Thank you. I was feeling a bit down today that I hadn’t participated in April Fool’s Day in any way. Now I feel better. Buy you owe me another beer.
Next time we see you we’ll be sure to pay up.
Hooray, Finally won something in my dull life. Does that mean I can fly down and spend a fun filled week aboard?
Perhaps we’ll have such a contest.
At the risk of offending both of you and at least some of your US readers, yesterday I was reminded of just how much like Brits Canadians can be!
Care to elaborate on why you think that?
Because you have a sense of humour?
Mike
Some form of one.
Now You Owe Me A Beer! Shame on me for falling for it!!! It was great!!
Yes, shame on you.
I assume you are rolling because the swell is from a different direction to the wind. If so why not rig a line from your anchor chain across to your port bow? If that is not enough, pull it round towards your mid-ships cleat (or something) so as to point the boat towards the swell.
Mike
Easy enough when the swell is on the quarter but not so easy when the swell is on the beam or aft of it, as it is now. A stern anchor would be more suitable but we saw someone else try that and it didn’t appear to help much. I also dislike setting more than one anchor as it seriously complicates things if we need to “get out of Dodge” quickly.
I fell for the joke and was very concerned. However, it was all in fun; some comments were rather harsh. You guys have given us so much that for some to get rude and vulgar was not called for. Mike, you were very gracious in spite of it all.
No need for penance from you, but there are some who should think twice before they press send! IMHO.
Fair Winds ALWAYS to you and Rebecca!
Because I thought it looked more like a Dremel tool cutting (?)(after closer inspection), I thought my answer would be appropriate! How did you get that torn out look design?
It really is a whole in a boat. I copied it from an image on the web and then PSed it onto a pic of ZTC.
Sign us up for the contest!!! Glad to hear everything’s alright 🙂
Will do!
Doh. Totally missed that one.
Apparently you weren’t the only one.
No penance necessary. Something looked just a bit fishy with the photo to me…and knowing what the date was I figured it was a joke. Glad that you, Rebecca, ZTC and Photoshop are all doing fine.
You provide a service to many of us. It includes information, experience, and *entertainment*. Keep up the good work! Hopefully we can catch up with you some day…even if it is in a rolley anchorage.
We tried a stern anchor for the first time and were quite pleased with the results. A flat boat was worth the effort. If you need to ‘Get out of Dodge in a hurry’ tie your orange bouy to the end of the rode and come back later to pick up stern anchor.
True, but sometimes when I want to get out of dodge, I don’t want to have to come back to collect my $500.00 anchor.
We use a cheap, lightweight Danforth for the stern anchor.
We have a Fortress. They are not cheap. The other problem is that is holds SO well, it is always difficult to retrieve. Always!
Perhaps a more British sense of humour than many Americans have, after all you are more recent colonials (she says digging an even deeper hole for herself). Personally I loved the extra dimension to your blog though frankly you could have tried harder with the photoshopped picture of the hole 🙂
hehe… like I needed it to be even more accurate! That was a really hole in a boat by the way, just not our boat.
Not. Fooled.
Me. Neither.
Having studied artillery, yes if the cannon were functioning it would have the range to hit you. As for hitting such a small target, that would depend on the skill of the gunner….
I’d rather not try it. 🙂