We’ve been buffeted by a gale for a couple of days. It began with a front with lots of rain that pounded the roof. We had caulked leaks in the roof in preparation, to no avail. We listened to the beat of water dripping into a couple of bowls the early part of the day. Then the skies cleared but the wind remained and we went for a walk to Squally Cove on the southeast side of the island. We were exposed to the wind on some bare spots and at times I had to keep my head down to prevent the wind from blowing me away. This posture enabled me to see some interesting ground photos though.

When we got to the cove, we were surprised to find three boats there. One fisherman had been anchored at Hogan Island, to the northwest of us, but got blown out to sea in 50 knot winds. While we sat on the beach, we saw sea smoke: clouds of water blown across the surface. We initially thought it was sand, but there are only rocks in Squally. As we watched the water, we saw williwaws hit the surface and the water would spiral out from it as if a fan had blown it in a circle.

The picture of the tree in the compound looks like a nice, bright sunny day. What it doesn’t clearly depict is the tree’s leaves being blown in 30 knot winds. I think we had at least a Force 7 on the Beaufort Scale.