Changes

Everything appeared to change on Thursday with the weather. Besides a strong trade wind and showers, a late season Northwest swell showed up in the bay. That is the direction where we have no protection. So the boat was really rolling around during the night making sleep a challenge. I moved to the small bunk and rigged the lee cloth. That made it tolerable. By the next day conditions had moderated. I watched the surfers enjoying the 8 foot waves. One guy had his dog with him. The dog definitely knew what he was doing. When they launched on a wave the dog would immediately crouch down on his front legs for the ride on the front of the board. This was not a small dog. The waves have subsided now with frequent showers passing with the trade winds. The canoe clubs are having their races in the bay today. There must be 200 people on the beach cheering the paddlers on. We had some great rainbows this morning. I got pictures but haven't downloaded them yet. Looking at the long range forecast the strong trades should lessen by next weekend so I may be looking to depart for home about that time. One project I want to do when I return is to install solar panels. Seeing how well they are working for some of the other boats, I am really obsessed now with getting 2 large panels. I usually have to run my generator at least an hour a day to keep the batteries charged. Solar is the way to go.