Namaste Helps
Namaste Catches a Wayward Fender!
Our plan today was to sail over to Great Guana Cay to ride out the upcoming days of high wind in relative comfort. After a bumpy day yesterday and last night at the anchorage (rent free livin’), the waves calmed down a bit in the morning. We took a dinghy ride in to get our canvass and solar panels just as the waves were picking up again. It was a rough ride and I got soaked from the waves splashing over but we made it ok.
The wind today was supposed to be 10-15 knots and I don’t think we saw anything below 16 as we did a short sail to the marina here, gusting up to 25. That is decently strong wind. Waves were probably 3-4 feet, not bad for our boat but definitely not smooth as they splashed over our bow.
As we arrived at the marina entrance, Shelly radioed to confirm our slip and ask which side we would dock on to prepare the lines and fenders. Fenders are cylindrical air-filled rubber “bumpers” that cushion your boat from the dock. The dock master was busy with two other boats that came in right in front of us, and they told her to stand by on which side to set up for. So she untied the fenders and waited for a docking side. Just then a wave rocked us and sent one of our big (and expensive) fenders rolling overboard.
With the sea as rough as it was, I didn’t think we’d have any way of retrieving it. We had been towing our dinghy Namaste, which was an unusual configuration for us as we would normally have it up on the davits but it was too rough to prepare and lift it and the outboard when we left. There are many reasons you don’t want to tow your dinghy, but that’s what you do if you don’t have a choice.
As the fender floated back from us, it got caught underneath Namaste’s bow. I turned to manage the steering and when I looked back, the fender was gone. I couldn’t see it anywhere, which made no sense, it should be floating away somewhere behind us. Then I saw it – caught between the transom and the tilted outboard of Namaste. That was a completely secure place as we towed it into the marina. You can see it in the picture above, it’s the white rectangle in the center back of the dinghy. There is no way a small mishap like this could have worked out any better!