Position: N39 08.735 W076 30.882
Location: Pasadena, Maryland, USA
While we are down in Virginia visiting family we are continually watching the weather. Julie's brother Tony is coming from England to visit for a week, flying into BWI (Baltimore Washington International airport) and catching the train down, as we did. As the day of his arrival approaches so does Hurricane Irene. She's scheduled to pass by the Chesapeake Bay, where Rachel is moored, the day after Tony arrives. We're in a quandary, glued to the Weather Channel, watching Irene's progress and hoping she'll turn out into the Atlantic, giving us a miss.
No such luck. On Thursday afternoon the models still show her tracking close and we make the decision to drive up and have her hauled. We need to change a through hull fitting anyway, so we'll be killing two birds with one stone. Charlotte graciously offers to loan us her car and we leave Radford at 2:30 Friday morning and make the 6 hour drive back to Oak Harbor Marina. There we strip all the sails and canvas off, stow everything that could get blown away in a hurricane and get Rachel up on land where hopefully she'll be safe and sound.
Then it's off to the airport to pick up Tony. He gets to spend his first night on Rachel on land, climbing up and down the ladder, experiencing all the “fun” that comes with living on the
hard. The next morning the hurricane is supposed to hit the lower bay, working it's way north. Rachel's as safe as she's going to be, so we pile into the car and head back south to Radford. This is a tough decision for us – we really want to stay and make sure Rachel is OK, but Tony is only here for a week and we don't want to ruin his holiday!!
As it turns out Baltimore area only got winds in the 45-60 mph range and Rachel was pretty sheltered behind trees so she only saw 30-45 knots of wind and no damage was incurred. Our friends who remained at the boat yard kept a close eye on her for us. We spent four more lovely days in Radford with the family and then
traveled back up to Baltimore on the train. The plan was to take Tony out on Rachel for a couple of days before he returned to England.
Mark was able to change the though hull fitting the day we arrived back on Rachel and the boat yard was able get her back in the water early the next morning. We spent the rest of the morning getting her partially back together and left the dock at noon. We had a wonderful day sail in the Bay and spent the night anchored out, giving Tony a small taste of our cruising life. The following morning we gave him a ride to the airport and he's been whisked away back to England while we
slowly get Rachel back to herself. Phew what a week!!
...and guess what? Now hurricane Katia is working her way across the Atlantic and may well hit the US near us at the end of this week. Sigh.
Stay tuned,
Mark & Julie
Location: Pasadena, Maryland, USA
While we are down in Virginia visiting family we are continually watching the weather. Julie's brother Tony is coming from England to visit for a week, flying into BWI (Baltimore Washington International airport) and catching the train down, as we did. As the day of his arrival approaches so does Hurricane Irene. She's scheduled to pass by the Chesapeake Bay, where Rachel is moored, the day after Tony arrives. We're in a quandary, glued to the Weather Channel, watching Irene's progress and hoping she'll turn out into the Atlantic, giving us a miss.
No such luck. On Thursday afternoon the models still show her tracking close and we make the decision to drive up and have her hauled. We need to change a through hull fitting anyway, so we'll be killing two birds with one stone. Charlotte graciously offers to loan us her car and we leave Radford at 2:30 Friday morning and make the 6 hour drive back to Oak Harbor Marina. There we strip all the sails and canvas off, stow everything that could get blown away in a hurricane and get Rachel up on land where hopefully she'll be safe and sound.Then it's off to the airport to pick up Tony. He gets to spend his first night on Rachel on land, climbing up and down the ladder, experiencing all the “fun” that comes with living on the
hard. The next morning the hurricane is supposed to hit the lower bay, working it's way north. Rachel's as safe as she's going to be, so we pile into the car and head back south to Radford. This is a tough decision for us – we really want to stay and make sure Rachel is OK, but Tony is only here for a week and we don't want to ruin his holiday!!As it turns out Baltimore area only got winds in the 45-60 mph range and Rachel was pretty sheltered behind trees so she only saw 30-45 knots of wind and no damage was incurred. Our friends who remained at the boat yard kept a close eye on her for us. We spent four more lovely days in Radford with the family and then
traveled back up to Baltimore on the train. The plan was to take Tony out on Rachel for a couple of days before he returned to England.Mark was able to change the though hull fitting the day we arrived back on Rachel and the boat yard was able get her back in the water early the next morning. We spent the rest of the morning getting her partially back together and left the dock at noon. We had a wonderful day sail in the Bay and spent the night anchored out, giving Tony a small taste of our cruising life. The following morning we gave him a ride to the airport and he's been whisked away back to England while we
slowly get Rachel back to herself. Phew what a week!!...and guess what? Now hurricane Katia is working her way across the Atlantic and may well hit the US near us at the end of this week. Sigh.
Stay tuned,
Mark & Julie
