Hurricane Idalia and Be Free

[Herschel]

Over Easy reported:

Note the stretched lines in the water… when we left her before the storm, they were all up and out of the water. Line stretch was something I was concerned about as the intention was to keep Over Easy off the pier and minimize any hard banging of the hull.

So noted. I have seen marina finger piers actually get bent slightly at the main connection to the pier especially ones not attached to a pylon at the end. Any chance some of the line slack could be from that?
Glad you were just "shaken not stirred"!

[Herschel]

As promised, for the win!

Final score MacGregor one, Idalia zero!

The mainsheet is tied to the handle on the cabin top because I was expecting 110mph winds from that direction. The hasp would have kept the top closed but it would have allowed it to open enough to let rain in.

With Be Free, Over Easy, and mine in Sanford, I'd say: Macgregor 3: Idalia zip. OBTW, I've never met an "Idalia". Is there anyone with that name out there? Sounds more like an onion variety to me! Bill, hang in there with the heat and humidity. I know it's tough. Hard to realize we grew up without A/C in Orlando back in the '50's. Department stores, banks, and theaters had it, but not schools or homes.

[Be Free]

In the 50's, 60's, and some of the 70's I lived in Miami. Heat, humidity, and hurricanes were a way of life.

I was married with our second kid on the way before I lived in a house with air conditioning.

I do feel like I've gone back in time though. When I was a kid my grandparents had a "window shaker" in their bedroom that they would run on hot nights. Now that's all I have and I'm very grateful for it!

[OverEasy]

Hi Herschel!

Good suggestion on the finger piers.
I don’t think so in this case as the juncture to the main pier are recently replaced last week with new ones that are incredibly robust and internally cross braced at both corners along with new tie rods. These were part of a scheduled unfit for the marina.
But in all fairness it’s something I can check into as I believe the contractor is still on site with additional work…wouldn’t hurt to ask.
He’s gotta reposition and reset my dock cleat anyway.

We’re still very relieved that things worked out as well as they did.
Turns out our Macs did ok

Speaking of window shakers…when I was working through college in East Texas my 1940s era dorm didn’t have A/C during the Summer sessions… come to think of it it didn’t have much for heat either during the fall and winter but that’s a different problem…. My low budget solution was to make a window swamp cooler with a pair of end capped rain gutter sections, a strip cut sheet, some water, an aquarium pump and a box fan. Crude but it did work enough to give several degrees cooler air…damp but effective. I could ‘supercharge’ it by adding ice cubes to the top trough. The pump circulated the water from the bottom trough back up to the top one. I just had to remember to refill it before it ran dry…. .. at the very least it helped psychologically if nothing else

Best Regards
Over Easy

[Russ]

Had a poor man’s version of fish ‘n chips for lunch aboard washed down with a bit of cider:

Now that provided me with a good laugh.
Your boat looks well prepared. I'm not at all surprised that you would secure her well.



Glad everyone in the path of this storm seems to have faired well.

[Herschel]

Bill, just making my nightly rounds. Glad you have that window unit. Memories of coping with worse conditions helps our resiliency skillset. As you know. Had a longer post queued up but lost it in the preview. I'll give it a go tomorrow. Thinking about you and your family.

[Be Free]

Thank you for your kind thoughts.

Don't you hate it when you put a lot of work into a reply and then do something that causes it to disappear? If it's something I've put any significant time into I've gotten in the habit of copying my reply to the clipboard before a preview or posting just in case. It's save me more than once (and not just on this site!)

[Herschel]

Thank you for your kind thoughts.
Don't you hate it when you put a lot of work into a reply and then do something that causes it to disappear? If it's something I've put any significant time into I've gotten in the habit of copying my reply to the clipboard before a preview or posting just in case. It's save me more than once (and not just on this site!)

Hope you are inching closer to having power restored. Last night I had launched into a "sea story" about enduring hot weather. Let see if it gets published tonight! Well, it goes like this. I bought a sailboat when I was 15. That love of sailing resulted in my joining the Navy at 17. Long story short, I did get to sail on the USNA ocean sailing team. 44 ft Luder yawls.

That was cool. Did the 1964 Newport-Bermuda race. Very cool. Three years of sea duty then a turn in my career into the medical end of things (clinical psychology) and I ended up in the Medical Service Corps. Fast forward a decade or two, and I am the CO of a USMCR field hospital company. My summer duty in 1990 was to set up my hospital in the Mohave Dessert (29 Palms) in July. I kid you not; 124 degrees one afternoon. 115-120 degrees common. We did our usual mass casualty training exercises and still took care of regular training injuries and heat/dehydration sick call. One day I am looking at the topographical map, and I notice that my hospital tents are set up next to a dry lakebed. It's all sand, but it says "lake" on the map. I'm 28 years into my Navy service a this point. I stop and sit down on a post and look at this huge sandy dessert lying out in front of me and this "lake" shore on which I am sitting. I say to one of my men sitting nearby, "You know, it was my love of sailing that has brought me to this place where we are sitting in the dessert at 124 degrees; how did THAT happen?" I think someone muttered something about "the needs of the service"! I just smiled to myself as I pondered the choices we make in life and where they lead us. So, Bill that is my "sea story" about enduring heat. Hope it is entertaining at least. Cheers.

[Be Free]

That was very interesting and made me smile. I love irony. Thank you.

Our power came back on yesterday afternoon so I've disconnected all of the generators and now have a cool house. We still have to boil our water but that is a very minor inconvenience.

I realized yesterday that I had made a very "rookie" mistake regarding my water though. I totally forgot that the ice in the freezer had been made with the potentially contaminated water. I'm pretty sure I dodged that bullet (no signs of distress yet). I've dumped the ice and turned off the ice maker until we get the all-clear. I won't forget to dump the first couple of loads after it's safe to turn it back on.

I worked all day yesterday at a food distribution center. My brain still thinks I'm 19 but my body is reminding me this morning that my brain has somehow misplaced almost a half-century of birthdays. On a related note: did you know that cases of water are really heavy? Well, the first couple of hundred aren't so bad but they seem to get heavier in the afternoon.

Today I'm back to working on clearing a large oak that came down in the back yard and getting all of the admiral's plants back out into the yard.

[March]

All the best, Bill! Our thoughts go to you and pummeled Florida

[OverEasy]

Hi Herschel!

Those funny forks in the road that leads to horizons not known…
There actually is a long history of dry sailing
http://www.rosamondca.us/history/DryLakeSailing.htm

Hi Be Free!
Good catch on the ice cubes!!!
Glad ya got power back!
Waddayamean we’re not 19 no mo???
It’s only a couple bottles of water…. right…..

Best Regards,
Over Easy

[Herschel]

Power back on for Bill! That rates five smiles: As to the manual labor in the aftermath, yes, that seems to be something to monitor. "One hand for the man; one hand for the ship" seems an applicable metaphor for us sailors. Take care up there. I'm going to keep my boat strapped in and battened up until I see what the tropics look like toward the end of the week. I still have vivid memories of the 2004 Charlie-Francis-Jean "train" that rambled through Central Florida.

[Be Free]

I woke up this morning and my first thought was, "I wonder if I can take a couple of days off cleanup and go for a sail." I think there is something wrong with me.

[NiceAft]

I woke up this morning and my first thought was, "I wonder if I can take a couple of days off cleanup and go for a sail." I think there is something wrong with me.

Not at all….you seem to a be sensible guy….take a brief respite…then get back to work. Peter Drucker would approve.

Of course if you’re being factious, never mind.

[Jimmyt]

I woke up this morning and my first thought was, "I wonder if I can take a couple of days off cleanup and go for a sail." I think there is something wrong with me.

Great idea! Do it. Life is short. Hurricane cleanup usually takes awhile, so there's no need to get in a hurry about it. Once you've got the basic needs restored and it's safe to go sailing, go.