The winds really kicked up last night and woke me up as they came howling through the hatches and ports at 1:00am. I got up, turned on the instruments, and went topside for a look-see and stood there for 15-20 minutes watching the clouds roll in. The winds were steady at 13-18 knots from the NW and the clouds were well lit by the moon. The ore boat pulled out between 2:30 and 3:00 so it was a busy evening/morning for them. It was interesting to see how they worked through the night emptying the freighter. The operation was lit up most of the night and you could watch the big ore carrier getting higher and higher as his load lightened.

Got back up at 6 and put the attachment on to the bimini and dodger in the semi-dark after tearing down spider webs. I kept running into them and smacking spiders out of the way. The winds have clocked around to the NNE and optimist that I am, I'm going to try and charge my other computer on the cockpit 12volt that Wayne installed last evening. It won't charge my dell, but it might charge the H. Packard. That was the one I used last year and it charged then, so, we'll see. The 12volt in the dining area won't work - keeps kicking it off.

Closed all the ports - it's sprinkling (6:45am). Still waiting on my coffee to perk, the alcohol on that burner is running out so it's a bit slow this morning. We hung out here today on the boat (the weather). The waves are really slamming the stone harbor walls but we're nice and snug. This is really an excellent harbor to anchor in during heavy weather. It's funny but you can still see the plumes from the Perry cooling tower at the power plant and it's about 20 miles away from here. It looks like it's a commercial shipping lane in the central and west ends but there's excellent anchoring with a mud bottom in the southeast end. A sail kite came whizzing past a couple times to take a peek at us this afternoon after the rain cleared. Good winds for that - he really came zooming by on his ski but I never saw him go airborne (reminded me of Rob - bet he'd love to do that).

Time to go make spaghetti and some salad for dinner.