Thank you ALL for your concern. We can gratefully report that, at least for us, Irene ended up being pretty mild. I know that for millions of people who lost power, she was at Her least an inconvenience and at Her worst... well let's not go there, but we are all thankfully fine.

Here in Cambridge with Katie, I took a walk early yesterday to "beat the storm" only to find I probably picked the wettest hour for my stroll through Harvard and Radcliffe. We experienced some gusty winds that, actually, served to nicely refresh her apartment which runs warm. Never losing power, we snuggled in and followed storm coverage on and off. All in all, basically a pretty good "snow day" experience.

As for the Captain, I spoke with David a couple times throughout the day as cell phone coverage was never interrupted. He was pleased with his choice to head to The Basin - very protected, not too many boats, good holding, and relatively shallow water (not a problem for our catamaran) allowing good scope for his two anchors. Dutifully prepared, he harnessed that edgy anticipation doing, of all things, laundry on board. {Gotta love this man - one, for buying the Splendide at my nagging request, two, for cleverly installing it in our limited space and three, for assuming this mundane task.}

Checking his Garmin weather system, he could see Irene had tracked through New Jersey, NYC and Narragansett, but then was pretty much on a northern path which would bring her well west of Andiamo anchored in southern coastal Maine. He did experience gusts of up to 30mph but we had such winds a few days ago sailing from Southwest Harbor to North Haven (the guys typically call this a great sailing day). Once the wind turned south, David knew Irene had passed inland and west. With not even a white cap in this tiny hurricane hole, the Captain reported he was almost "disappointed" {in the dressed-up-with-nowhere-to-go way, not in the tempting fate way}. Of course, perspective is everything and the experience would have been completely different had we found ourselves offshore. {We are also grateful to hear that Valiant, Mike Weiss's vessel, much more perilously docked in Virginia Beach, also fared Irene well - phew, amazing}.

In hindsight, I wonder if I should have stayed on board, but better safe than sorry, right? Or is it better lucky than good?.... Had it not been so easy and obvious to hang out with Katie, perhaps I would have risked it. But last night, my Captain, now knowing he was safe, reminded me that: "It's always clear in retrospect and it could (equally) have been awful; I was ready for the experience and I didn't want to put you into a terrifying situation". {Gotta love this man!}

We will now let the seas quiet another day or so and I will probably rejoin my Captain and Andiamo somewhere north of Boston, maybe Marblehead. In the mean time, what's a mother to do "stuck" in Beantown with her daughter as I am? Side-by-side pedicures and dinner later in Beacon Hill sound like perfect "shore excursions". Boat-Bound Captain Dave, this morning still doing laundry, texted me that the lobster fisherman moored next to him is drinking a beer - it is 8:20 a.m. Sudsy beer with that laundry anyone?