Relentless wind

A clean oven once again

West End on Grand Bahama Island: As sleet and snowstorms battered the U.S. North East, our Bahamas breezes turned into northerly 25 knot raging winds as a cold front swept across the North Atlantic, dipping southward to spoil my notion of Bahamian heaven.  Incessantly slapping waves struck the boat’s hull banging like drum sticks against a kettle.  Dock lines creaked, straining to hold Dolce Vento in place. Halyards and lazy jack lines rapped rhythmically against the mast despite all my efforts to silence them with bungee cord restraints.  These winds ground against my psyche, squeezing out my energy, reducing me to a quiet morose mouse-like creature.  Abatement is promised for tomorrow after four days of wind.  Sleep evades us, but the days are bright.

Radiant laser like sunlight streamed through brilliant blue bird sky splashing light into our open hatches. The air is cool, cool enough for me to discard shorts and tee-shirt for long pants and sweatshirt.  What has happened to the promised summery Bahamian weather?

To stymie my impatience, I took to cleaning the oven during the wind rage, restoring a minimal level of stainless steel shine after months of roasting meats and potatoes. A late fall sweet potato explosion left a crispy, burnt residue in the back of the oven that’s been blackening ever since.  My cleaning approach was the “Bahamas” method – I patiently waited two hours after spraying the oven cleaner, and only then, wiping off the blackened buildup. 

Not satisfied with the results, I did it all again.  Persistence and four hours of patience paid off.  We have an almost “like new” oven.  It even heats better, but still does not hold a constant temp without a lot of fiddling with the upper and lower oven burners.  Am I starting to relax a bit?  Doubtful.