Ernesto, you bastard
2006-09-06

Well, our vacation was mostly uneventful except for the remains of tropical storm Ernesto. He wasn't a very good house (boat?) guest, coming early and staying way too late. The wind started whipping up Friday night. We were having friends over for dinner and drinks, but it was too rough for the dingys. They came over by launch and even that was getting iffy... Everyone left fairly early to attend to the boats and I added an extra mooring line and stowed some stuff away, just in case.

At 2:30 in the morning all hell broke loose. The boat was rocking and rolling and the halyards were clanging and the cockpit canvas and frame were flapping literally up a storm. I threw some clothes on and tried to salvage what I could. I ripped down the canvas and tied up the frame. Then straining against the wind which at this point was 40+ knots gusting 50 went up to check the mooring lines. My extra line and added chafe gear seemed to be holding. I was just ready to head back in when I noticed my brand new dingy and outboard were sinking. Wonderful�

I yelled down in the cabin for M.E. and jumped off the back into a foot of nice cold water to save what I could. I started bailing like a mad man, while M.E. used the foot pump to try and re-inflate the almost collapsed starboard pontoon. I was using a big salad bowl to bail. It wasn�t pretty. The wind was howling and the waves periodically broke across the bow. I was soaked. I managed to get the engine off and passed it up to M.E. She normally wouldn�t even try to lift it (it weighs 58 pounds) but she grabbed it and hauled it in all by herself. Not knowing what was wrong with the dingy, we hauled it to the front of the boat and heaved it on the deck and tied it down. It apparently had a restful night. We did not.

I should have had a drink or two to calm my nerves, but I just crawled into bed and listened to the wind howl. I got up a couple of times during the night to try and stop various lines from flapping, but there was zero chance I was going to make things better. It was a long noisy night. Saturday the weather got worse. The launches didn�t run, the boat was lurching like a drunken sailor and we were stuck. I checked the wind direction on a regular basis to see where we�d crash if we broke loose. The night of bouncing and swinging made M.E. sick and she threw up. I offered to get us a room, but she said no. We found out later that we couldn�t have gotten to shore anyway. Even the huge ferries that come from the mainland were canceled. The waves outside were up to 17 feet and even inside we were talking three feet. I just grabbed a bunk and read and read, and read. I polished off four books and several magazines during the week.

M.E. asked for some bread which I thought was a good sign. Later in the day I made soup. She ate it all. Saturday night was much like the day was, but by Sunday morning, it was gone. We showered cleaned up and took the launch to shore happy to be on land again. And then the sun came out and life was good and we headed into town for lunch and Ernesto was just a bad memory and a story to tell after a few drinks. Sailors� memories� too short and too long�. And life goes on.

Previous - Next