Woke up with the alarm at 7. Had breakfast and headed out soon after. On the way I noticed a FB post from our neighborhood stating that the power was off thru the night. By the time we got there, the power was back on. This power failure had nothing to do with the hurricane. Mark got the hose out and tried to drain out the old hot water tank. However, he had some issues and needed some more tools. Jim was kind enough to bring the needed tools and help Mark get the old tank out. I helped them get it down the stairs. I spent my time wiping down and cleaning all the cupboards in the kitchen.
The new tank was taller than the old one despite it being the same model and company as the old one. This meant buying different connectors plus a few other pieces. We stopped for lunch at the Ale House in Regency. Stopped at Home Depot and found the pieces. Then headed back home. Our realtor sent over a cleaning lady for the afternoon. That was helpful to me. I worked all day cleaning up, including washing the floors and some windows. I still have lots more to do to get the house in shape. Hurricane Dorian was basically not moving this morning and the wind speed dropped to a Cat3. We saw several videos showing the destruction of several Bahama islands. The good news for Jacksonville was the cone moving even further off our coast line. Mark had to return to Home Depot a couple more times to get the rest of the parts needed to complete the hot water tank. Success at last. We were both exhausted when we left for the day. Mark wanted to stop at the beach. As we drove along, the local channel was talking about a beach curfew beginning at 8 pm and ending at 7 am tomorrow. We stopped at the same parking spot as yesterday and took a short walk on Atlantic Beach. There were a lot more people walking on the beach today. The sun was shining. The wind was definitely stronger and well over 20 knots. We did notice that most of the gas stations and other businesses were closed. We spotted a couple of pizza restaurants that were open and stopped at Papa Johns. We were able to order a pizza and take it back to the condo for an early dinner. Could not believe how tired out we were. Decided to run a load of laundry, but not sure how late we will stay up tonight. Our plans are to head over to the house and do some more cleaning. Dorian has reduced to a Category 2, which is good news for all. Movement is NW around 6 mph and maximum sustained winds is down to 110 mph. There should be no stops in Florida. Dorian will stay off Jacksonville by at least 100 miles. We will see the big winds and surf. Not sure if we will see any flooding on our canal. Thanks for the emails and messages. Hope everyone stays safe and out of the path of Dorian.