Flamingo

They have arrived but have not yet portaged around the dam. A front went through about 12:30 with a torrent of rain and wind. They were well protected from the wind, and the rain was likely welcome--just a preview of the intentional shower yet to come.

I'll keep an eye on the Spot track this afternoon to see what they decided to do. If KB can get text messages, she has the weather forecast and the info about my GPS.

Update: A quote from ThereAndBackAgain on the WaterTribe Discussion Forum:

"I've been told that just a little while ago when a front came upon Seiche and KiwiBird that it caught them off guard. Kiwi had her PAS up and the winds were so strong that she couldn't bring it down. Quick action with a knife saved the day! We can now see once again why we have some of our rules; like a knife on our PFDs."

For those of you who don't do kayak initialisms, PAS is Pacific Action Sail. If she was unable to bring the sail down with the sheets, she would have been forced to cut at least one of them to let it luff. Quick thinking on her part. Just glad she's okay.

Update Two: FwKB talked to KB a few minutes ago and got the full story. At 13:15 KB and Seiche were about five minutes from CP3 and paused for Seiche to take a picture of KB against a very black cloud. With no warning the wind instantly went to 40 knots. Waves became very large very quickly and sheets of rain fell, as the temperature dropped from 80 to 50 degrees.

Seiche capsized, and KB had to cut both sheets to get her sail down. He was able to self-rescue and KB managed to get ahold of one of the sheet ends and pull the sail out of the water and onto the deck. She got out her cag, which is basically a raincoat that attaches to the lip on the boat where the spray skirt normally snaps. That helped her get warm, and they proceeded on to CP3.

At CP3 they were met by Seiche's spouse, along with KneadingWater and his spouse. Dry clothes and a microwave burger made everything better.

It's quite windy and cold in Flamingo now, and they're not considering continuing until very early tomorrow morning, when the winds might ease enough.