Heading south delayed for Hurricane Sandy
10/27 Sat: our plan was to get the boat ship shape for cruising but there is a hurricane coming up the coast so we altered our plans. Jay’s dock would not be a good place for us to stay so Bristol Marine said we could use one of their moorings. It was a beautiful day and we took advantage of the calm waters and moved the boat over to the mooring.
Instead of getting ready for cruising we were now getting ready for hurricane Sandy.
10/28 Sun: the day was spent taking down sails, tying off lines, storing just about everything below. We decided to take off all the canvas since it was looking like the hurricane landfall could be close to RI. The wind predictions were reaching 80mph and we doubled up lines through the mooring. The weather was grey, cloudy with on and off rain and building winds. We did the best we could deflating and tying down the dinghy on the dock and removing the motor and anything that could get blow away. The folks at the Marina were great, very accommodating. It was the best place we could be right now. We left the marina with hopes that the boat will still be there after the storm with no damage from any other boat that may break loose. The storm is now predicted to come ashore in the CT, NYC, NJ coastal area with high storm surge. I guess we wait and see.
10/29 Monday: Hurricane Sandy was as bad as predicted, it hit the New Jersey shore and lower Manhattan with a vengeance. The devastation was incredible.
My cousin Jay checked on the boat during the day and it was doing fine. I hope it makes it through the night when the worst of it will hit here.
10/30 Tuesday: The news was full of photos of damage along the coast line and into NYC. I called the Marina to see if the boat was still floating but did not hear back. I know they must be busy but watching all the horror stories on the news did not help. I will go to RI tomorrow and check out the boat. I checked out the NH coastal area to see what was going on.
10/31 Wednesday: I left for RI a little after 9am and while on the way I got several calls, one from the Marina saying the boat was still floating. They said they had a gust up to 70 mph but the boats were doing well. The surge was of the most concern. The road to the marina was closed so I went through Colt state park to get to the marina. The dinghy was good, and so was the boat. The mooring was a tangled mess.
I made some room below by moving the kayaks and fenders out. It took about 45min to untangle the mooring. I had the boat heads pumped out. The boys were going to help with the motor but they were so busy I decided to wait for Bob. The rowing back and forth to the boat was fine. If it gets too windy it won’t be. So I chose to stay on board have some wine and soup and catch up on emails, blog notes, etc.
11/3/2012: Friday: Bob and I headed back to Bristol to put the boat back together. We
arrived late and pretty much crashed.
11/4/2012: Sat: We put up the sails, canvas, etc and put motor back on dinghy. After a long day of putting the boat back together we decided to stay on the mooring at Bristol Marina. We went for pizza, Bob was impressed with the pizza place on rt 138. Then back to boat to crash again after a long day of manual labor. Advil was needed for Bob’s shoulder which was not in good condition. It was also getting cold and we had no heat on board.
11/5/2012: Sun: We cleaned up the boat, changed racors, cleaned raw water intake etc then decided to head out and see if all the sails would work. The weather was great, sunny but cool, not much wind but just enough to fill the sails. The main sail was a bit of a struggle until the boom height was adjusted. It was nice to have the new running rigging and sheaves that actually move. We checked it out then headed to Jay’s dock. went in bow first to avoid the stern first challenges. Our plan is to head back to Bristol Nov 8 with our crew, Bill Pelletier, and start our journey south.
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