Grammy Always Said The Weather Turns Dark and Rainy Before Easter

Great Harbour Cay   

Grammy (my great-grandmother) always said, "The Weather Turns Dark, Rainy, and Cold Before Easter." This year she is, once again, correct. Good Friday, was not a good weather day. At 11:30, the clouds were thickening. By 3:00, it was looking pretty scary. We checked the radar again and saw that a whole lotta red was coming our way.  

We did a final sweep of the boat and secured everything the best we could. In the cockpit, the dinghy lines were adjusted, the swim platform flipped up, the cover was put on the flag. Very quickly, a wall of wind and rain overtook us from the west. Waves kicked up and visibility dropped. Barry and I moved to the pilothouse to keep an eye on our anchor monitor, other boats, and the wind. The wind stayed pretty constant in the upper 20s, and we saw it top 30 knots only a few times. For a while, we couldn't see the tip of our bow because it was raining so hard. 

We also kept following the weather radar to see how long until it was over. The rain continued for another hour and everything began to settle down back to normal. The shore slowly came back into view. All of the locals on land had to be thankful for the rain that undoubtedly filled their cisterns.

The dinghy rode out the storm like a champ, although tomorrow we'll have to pump about four inches of water out of it. During the storm we swung close to 180-degrees as the wind shifted to the north. Our anchor held fast as pivoted. By dinner time, the wind had clocked back to the southeast and we were back in our starting position. With the weather settled it was time to check in with the family back in North Carolina as they attended the Good Friday service. This service has been a part of my Easter tradition for decades, and thanks to the livestream, I was able to join in with them on every song. Then we all texted and chatted about it when it was over. Our approach to Easter has not changed for four generations -- family, church, and Easter dinner. And many more times than not, we've referred back to Grammy's weather prediction of close to a century ago. There's something to be said for tradition.