It struck me today that I have not been in many storms. Sure, the occasional thunder and lightning storm that most places experience once in a while, but nothing like this. Two weeks ago we were on anchor, had two anchors out and waiting out a storm with 30 knot winds. I was sea sick for the day and I thought the whole experience was fairly intense. I was surprised by the fact that I was scared. For the past two days, we have been preparing for hurricane Earl. We were waiting to see where the hurricane was going to go to make our decision as to what we were going to do. Two days ago, just out of curiosity, we called Nantucket Harbor to see if they had any slips available. Sold out with this being Labor Day weekend. With the hurricane getting closer in the last day or so we decided that maybe a mooring would be better than our two anchors. We called Nantucket Moorings. They were closing. Too much of a liability. We thought we would stay on anchor, stay on the boat and keep the engine running in case our anchor(s) let loose. Late morning, as the storm prediction got worse we called Nantucket Harbor again and they said they had many slips available. Basically, all of the boats that were coming here for the final summer weekend cancelled to stay where they are. Good choice. We wish we were some place else too! So, for a small fortune (literally) and our first born we decided to take a slip for two nights. We’re not sure if that’s the best plan………at least out on an anchor we won’t have the possibility of being slammed up against the dock or a piling. We’ll see how it pans out. Checking our trusty site of passageweather.com a few minutes ago, they’re now predicting for less wind to hit us and the hurricane to travel more east. Maybe we spent this fortune for nothing. Not sure yet. But, at least we got a nice shower at this marina and they have wi-fi! We have the alarm set for two hours from now (12:00 am.), when its low tide. We’ll check our dock lines then and check them again at high tide. Every day on the boat I continue to learn something new. That’s for sure! Wish us luck!
One perk to this storm and having to hunker down in the boat is the fact that while I was in Los Angeles Tobin made some finishing touches to the inside that make it much more comfortable. TRUST is looking and feeling so put together. I just have to trust that since she has been around the world twice, she can handle Earl!
Jamie Elmer's Blog 