Tropical Storm Isaac.

August 29^th 2012  

Position N 27° 22.225’.

               W 82° 37.075’.  

Longboat Key Club Moorings, FL 

Pre Dawn while drinking a 'Cuppa'

The Hurricane we were threatened with did not materialize! For days everyone was expecting ‘Isaac’ but as each day passed the storm track moved gradually further to the West. The good news, ‘Isaac’ would not affect Florida too badly, yes some moderate wind and in some areas plenty of rain but Florida handles rain pretty well, it’s sandy soil allows the rain to soak in quickly and the water ends up in our aquifer which is the supply of most of our potable water; the bad news, it looked like ‘Isaac’ would make landfall with a direct hit on New Orleans, almost 7 years to the day after ‘Katrina’. Stepping back a few days to Saturday the marina became a hive of activity as owners, crew and marina staff busied themselves putting out extra mooring lines and fenders, much canvas was being removed lest the wind gusts rip it off. We really didn’t know how bad it might be as the weather forecast could not, 4 – 5 days out confirm the path of the storm so we all prepared for the worst. As the weekend passed and we hunkered down aboard each forecast brought a small sigh of relief as the track moved out into the Gulf. When ‘Isaac’, still a tropical storm, was due west of us and getting a little better organized, our thoughts more focused on the misfortunes of the people in and around the New Orleans area as it became very apparent that they were going to feel the full force of this strengthening storm. Although the wind speeds were not as high as ‘Katrina’ the storm was big and the storm force damaging winds extended out 200 miles from the centre. We were seeing a small storm surge with a tide about one foot above normal.  

Some good news! All the work I did on tracing and fixing the sources of the few leaks we had in our decks which manifested themselves in some water ingress around three of the four prisms we have were holding up. The frequent heavy rain events we were experiencing gave the repairs a very good test and we were fine! I got an ‘attaboy’ from the Admiral! 

To be a cruiser, is to be travelling to wherever you want, is being focused on the now not concerned about the past, is looking forward to the adventure ahead, the unknown! It is easy to complicate one’s life and to grow ones belongings, we all do that over a lifetime, it is far more difficult to scale down to unshackle one’s self and set yourself free. Getting back to the now, this day, immersing in this day not waiting for the weekend or a specific day in the future but this day, this hour, this minute…I’m telling you it is a discovery. I think that throughout the brainwashing of life one becomes programmed and totally unequipped to cope with the raw material of life, in fact life totally. I was reminded while watching a documentary film that if we all lived next door to a power plant, a coal mine, an oil refinery, I could go on, we would all have a much better handle on the necessity to conserve and to protect, to become much more green. I certainly will be paying penance and doing my bit to help; throughout life I just haven’t thought enough about the over indulgence that I have exhibited and the total disregard I have had for the destruction of our planet which is continually being done. Instead we live far removed from the man made scars on our planet. Imagine being a farmer and being told that the river that flowed through your land was going to be dammed as a new hydro electric plant was needed to supply electricity to the expanding metropolis some hundreds of miles away and that the government was to compulsorily purchase his farm, a farm that possibly may have been in his family for many generations which the farmer had visions of remaining in his family for many future generations. We never see the effects of these scars and the destruction to life that it causes, often in the most beautiful rural areas of our planet. As we cruise one cannot help but think about these things…we are participating in and have reconnected with what we think are the more important thing in and to life. The power of corporate greed, their money that can buy the destruction of nature, it is a pitiful crime. So much of this takes place in under populated parts of the globe where the people, land dwellers, simple people living off the land cannot defend themselves and their land from the agreements that have been made by greedy prosperous corporations and in some cases corrupt governments. Material things are the clutter of your life, discard some of them and free yourself to the joy of a life of freedom and days of exploration and amazement…long range cruisers in general, sail boaters or power tend to seek out the quieter unpopulated parts of the world, the self sufficiency skills which come with this lifestyle encourage most of us to find the deserted cove, the empty bay, the small village at the end of the creek, the places that are definitely off the beaten path, the places that are simply a name on the map and would most certainly not be in the tourist guide. Just a thought for you…I know it is a bit ‘heavy’ but this my latest awareness and I guess it really grabbed me… 

September 7^th  

Guess what…if you have been listening to the weather broadcasts lately you’ll know, the storm ‘Isaac’ that travelled from the Gulf of Mexico and up the Mississippi to the Midwest has come back down to the Gulf of Mexico and now may form back into an organized storm! It is going to sit in the NE corner of the Gulf for a few day just like ‘Debby’ did and then follow the same course as ‘Debby’ across North Florida and out into the Atlantic. North Florida does not need more rain but it looks like there is some on the way for the weekend. On the Sun Coast here, where we are, we will feel the effects with some rain and wind and heightened surf. The Tropics are active with two full blown hurricanes in the Atlantic, ‘Leslie’ and ‘Michael’ both, fortunately, east of Bermuda and traveling north harmlessly to their extinction.  

‘Partners’ last had her bottom painted with antifouling last October and we are now having to have a diver go down once a month to clean off the growth and any barnacles which have started to grow. Our water temperature is 90° F (32° C) so everything is growing like mad. It is also important to ensure that the through hull orifices are clear too. I am hoping that I can keep the bottom in a satisfactory condition with the diver until late spring next year and then have her re-painted just before summer when we leave to begin our cruising adventure. I want the paint fresh as summer is the growth time when the water is warmest and to have the paint fresh and at its most active is desirable.  

Our new Viking life Raft arrived yesterday at our friends John & Carols house it is in a weather proof canister with an automatic hydrostatic release. It will sit on our boat deck in the starboard aft corner. FOJ has agreed to give me a hand to install it. The installation is easy, however, the canister itself is both awkward and heavy to manhandle around the boat as it is too wide to be brought aboard so will have to be passed up onto the boat deck from the foredeck. In other words it is a two man job. Slowly but surely we are getting our cruising essentials together. I say ours as each person may put a priority on a different piece of equipment; for example some owners insist on redundant radar considering it to be very important to their navigation needs. I in contrast value the radar immensely and have one but I value, as a long distance cruiser, my autopilot more so will be having a second fully independent unit installed soon. My worst fear it to have to steer ‘Partners’ for any length of time plus ‘George’ (see glossary) can do a better job than any human and he can do it non-stop day after day indefinitely without complaining! So, you see everyone has a slightly different approach to equipping their boats with what they consider ‘the essentials’.  

Until next time…