Safe and Sound

Got up this morning to abated winds and only a slightly higher tide than normal which is still below the level of the jetty we are moored to.  Crew is doing well and were not particularly put out by the weather.  Nic’s first comment this morning was “is that it?”  So all in all we are pretty relieved and it seems we have come through unscathed.  Still need to have a good look at the boat but from first impressions it seems to have weathered the storm well.  Many thanks for all the messages that were sent enquiring as to our safety.

Seems we were luckier than some.  There is quite a bit of devastation along the NJ shoreline and in New York due primarily to the flooding and some people have been killed.  Where my brother lives the power is out and there are a few trees down.  We saw maximum gusts around the 55kts to 60 kts range which was probably due to the fact we were on the “good” side of the hurricane.  On the other side (the NY side) the winds would have been much worse given the direction the storm was moving.  There was a three masted sailing ship (replica of the Bounty) which has been sunk off North Carolina with one person dead and one missing.

Yesterday was one of those days which reminded me of rainy days during camping holidays where you zip yourself in and  listen to the wind and rain outside hoping that the tent will not collapse.  We spent the day playing games with the kids, watching a bit of TV, catching up on paperwork (yes we still have some) and getting some schoolwork done.  The kids did really well throughout and remained pretty relaxed through the whole ordeal.  Their main concern is the concentrated period of schoolwork and lack of escape.  Forgot to mention in earlier blogs that we got Sam’s first test results back and they were pretty good.  A couple of subjects need some attention but all in all it was a good effort despite the handicap of their teaching staff.

Today its still pretty cold and dreary so will not do too much apart from tidy up down below, more school and make a start on getting the boat re rigged and all the storm gear put away.  We do have one issue to address.  When we were removing the big genoa the halyard (line that pulls the sail up) messenger line got away and as a result we now do not have a halyard to hoist the sail.  The halyard runs internally in the mast and so as soon as possible someone has to go up to the mast head and try and feed another line down while someone at the bottom “fishes” for the line.  It will be a bit tedious but hopefully not insurmountable.

Planning to head out of Annapolis on Thursday bound for Norfolk where we will hole up for as long as it takes to await a favourable weather window to allow us to make the transit around Cape Hatteras down to Charleston.  This will be the longest sail for us yet (around 400NM) and probably involve three days and two nights at sea.  Both Nic and Scott have concerns regarding the fatigue issues over the multiple night sails but somehow we have to find a way to cope given the passages which we have coming up.