Foul Winds and High Seas!

So, it turns out that having made the sixteen hour (horribly rough, huge seas and 50+ knot winds) sail from Antigua to St.Maarten, to get coffee, Opsss, I mean a new battery, it happened that there was nothing wrong with the original battery after all??? One has to question this, the Oyster team doing the safety inspection found one of the batteries (there are 6 in total) to be faulty, and as no replacement batteries were to be found available in Antigua the crew had to make the long very unpleasant trip (with Graeme throwing up the whole way, and the rest of the crew turning green) back to St. Maarten. Where the (so called bad) battery was removed; not an easy task, these batteries weigh about seventy pounds each. The battery then had to be transported across the choppy bay (winds still blowing close to hurricane force) to the shop where said battery had to be lifted out of Whoops-a-daisy, (our dinghy) by crane, and inspected, only to report there was nothing wrong with it… ARGHHHHH cuss, swear, throw many toys around… Before transporting the damn thing back to Daisy and placing back with the other batteries. However, something good comes out of everything, and at least Bob got his coffee fix… Daisy is now well stocked with the wonderful (Dutch) brew (according to my brother Paul), enough to transport her and the crew across to Panama. I just hope and pray that the winds die down for their trip, 40 - 50 knot winds are no fun and can cause terrible damage to a boat(and its crew). So far the winds in Simpson bay have broken two of Daisy's snubbers while she was anchored in the bay. In five years Bob and I have only ever had one snubber break and that was in 50 - 60 knot winds in Soapers Hole, Tortola, about four years ago. For my non-sailor readers: a snubber is a thick line/rope that takes the strain off the anchor chain, it's tied around a cleat on the boat and attached with a heavy metal clip to the anchor chain. It takes a truly massive force to break this, bearing in mind its designed to hold a 32 ton vessel. So, you can just imagine how strong the winds are in the bay there! My heart is in my mouth as I think of my boys (husband, son and brother) heading out for a 6 - 7 day leg to Panama in rough conditions. While I am so happy that I'm not on board, I still panic at the thought of what their trip will entail. Please say a prayer for the Crazy Daisy crew as they head out tomorrow morning. I will report as I hear from them… God Bless