We are tied up at Whittaker Creek Yacht Harbor in Oriental, NC. On arriving two days ago, we prepped the boat as best we could for Isaias. The scary part about hurricanes is you never know which direction they will go until the last minute. Wind shear, ocean temperatures, land masses and other forces can turn a storm in a heartbeat. Since our boat moves slowly, we try to be very cautious to get out of a storm’s way. Our plans this summer were to have travelled north before the season started, but sometimes life throws challenges in your way that force you to change your plans. Such was our situation.
We tied the boat up to the pilings at the marina with a total of 13 dock lines. It looked like Seeking Kokomo was in the middle of a spider web! We wrapped lines with towels and duct tape to prevent chafe. We removed both our genoa and our staysail and pulled the furling mainsail as far into the mast as we could get it. We cleaned out the cockpit and stored all our cushions and any loose items below. All our bumpers were either in use or stored in the sail locker. We took down the side canvas, but left the top up (a decision we came to regret later…next time it will all come down.) The cabin was still secured from being at sea with all items stored and cabinets locked. We felt as prepared as we could be given the circumstances.
Around 6 pm we felt the first bands of Isaias go through with wind gusts that heeled the boat over at the dock. We got a short hard rain to accompany it. Then everything died down. It was quiet; hardly any wind at all and no rain. The weather maps showed the eye of the storm moving just west of our location around 2 am.
The wind picked up quickly around 11 pm and the water became very rough. Seeking Kokomo was bouncing on her 13 dock lines and heeling over in the wind. It felt like being at sea while still tied to the dock. Wind speeds increased to about 60 mph throughout the night. The dock lines stayed secured and although we bobbed all over the slip, we never hit the dock or pilings. Our canvas zipper came undone several times during the night (hence why I say we will never leave it up again!) Nick and I were up most of the night watching for trouble. He had lines he could adjust from the boat if necessary, but our preparations held us secure. It was uncomfortable down below, but not unmanageable. Very much like it is when we are out sailing and heeled over in a good wind…the floor is on an angle and rocking all over the place. Don’t set anything on the counter or it will slide right off. Everything stayed stowed away safe.
Around 5 am it calmed down again and the waves settled. By 8 am the water level here was about 2 feet lower than the day before, but we were still afloat. We had electricity throughout the storm, but it went off this morning and has been off all day. I guess we are used to that and at least we have the resources to manage without it, unlike in a regular house. No damage done to either us or the boat, but I plan on making sure we are far away from hurricane season next summer!
Today’s projects involved putting the boat back together so we can continue our journey north in a few days.
Glad to hear it wasn’t a total nighmare, and you can learn from your (few) mistakes.