We spent all day getting the boat ready, as did 95% of the people we saw at the marina and in the mooring field next door. Everyone gathered things that could fly away, flap and beat the gel coat off of the boat (the finish), tied up, taped up, strapped down things that could not be put away. Our boat is tied up with lines going everywhere, crisscrossing here and there, til the Marina was happy we were secure. Guess they didn't want what just happened in Fort Worth to happen here but with loose boats banging into each other til docks broke away. Can you imagine? A whole dock of expensive boats floating away in a tropical storm with 80% of them with people sleeping aboard. It would likely be video tapped for our enjoyment of others misery. Let's hope it doesn't happen.

Jettie worked for an hour tying the left over red line that was attached to the mast around` the boom to keep the main sail and it's cover / pack safely tied up and then added a green one at the end as she needed more line. Then this guy came over and asked if we needed help taking down our head sail or jib (the one in the front of the boat that is wound up on a furler). Given we did not know this fella, we thought we had best ask our friend Kevin what he thought about taking the furled sail down. He said “Yes, you should take it down as they like to come unfurled in high winds. I'll be over to help you get her down in a little while.” “Great!” What a nice guy.

We set out nearly every dock line and every fender (air filled tubes or balls with holes end the ends to attach lines to and hang from where ever you can find a spot, on the dock or on the boat) we had on the side of the boat next to the dock. The boat next to us had already put out two huge round fenders to make sure we did not hit them on our difficult attempt at putting the boat in the slip, so that side is covered. Plus the lines to the dock and the pilings (big telephone poles pounded into the ground that hold the boat in the slip should keep us off of them, unless a line or cleat breaks. Pics with captions
Lines tied to mast with other lines = knotmare!
Port Piling and other boat's fender
Starboard piling
Starboard fenders from front
Starboard fenders from back with great pic of splash




Jettie was off buying a few more fenders and while she was gone, Kevin and I figured out that the line we needed to take the sail down happened to be red. The red one Jettie spent an hour tying on to the boom. We took down everything she did and took down the sail. As it was unfurling, the wind had begun to pick up a little and had the sail flogging (beating back and forth violently) quite a bit. Kevin was still hanging on to it trying to get the last bit to unfurl, when a big gust of wind snatched him off of the deck, sent him to the left. Thank goodness I had a hold of the line when that all started and put a wrap on the wench to hold him. The sail then snapped back to the right and had Kevin at least five feet off the ground, which is not bad when you have something nice to land on. I thought it was going to flick him off on to the dock next to the boat, or worse between the dock and the bouncing boat or on the lifelines, but nicely the sail snapped right over the mostly flat surface of the boat. He let go and dropped safely on the deck. Whew! Ambulance ride averted! I was so glad I had a hold of that line and that it was not let out further. It was perfect! This reminds me that I need to get a picture of Kevin!
Pic of sail on furler
No sail on furler, lower pic
No sail on furler, top pic


Jettie came back not too pleased that her beautiful job had been taken down, but we had not choice. We got the sail pulled down and found there were no seizing on the thumb nuts (seizing is a stainless ring, cotter pin, or plastic ziptie that keeps the pin from unwinding itself. That means the sail could have fallen down, the furler come apart, or the bottom of the sail to come unhooked, all of which could have had bad results. Geez, those Moorings folks do lousy work in the safety department. We got the sail folded up and stored in the boat til these storms pass. Then the boom had to be tied up with the sheets (control lines) from the sail we just took down. Perfect. I had been wondering where I was going to put them so they would not unwind out of the little open cubbyhole the lines are supposed to go in.
Mainsail wrapped up



We hoisted up the dingy, tied lines to and above it, hopefully that will not rub off the material covering the handles this time. Some of these lessons we learn are damaging and it sucks! :O( We took the BBQ down to keep it from smacking the edge of the dingy.... this is a lesson we will not have to learn! I watched a boat push it's dingy toward a dock and pop goes the dingy!
Duke hoisted and bbq down

We sat in the cockpit where it was comfortable as there was a good stiff breeze at time. With the humidity as high as it is and without all of the windows and hatches open, it is miserable inside the boat. I can see St. John from where I sit if I turn around and look out the windows in back and through the saloon (kind of a living room / eating area name on a boat, not an old western bar). So I would take a peak every so often when it would start to sprinkle. If I couldn't see St. John anymore we high tailed it back inside, usually just in time for a down pour. The other island is only two or three miles away at the most so with visibility of that poor, you know you are in for a drenching usually. Usually has been the key word... After nearly killing myself to get inside, I started waiting and letting the fine sprinkles make their way between the bimini (top over cockpit) and what would kind of be the dashboard or the hood of a car, so the space is small and you might not get too much rain on you when it is a rain storm that lasts 1 or 2 minutes and is gone. It is those little storms you see on the radar on the outer edges of the tropical storm. They appear quickly and then are gone. Kinda strange little rain showers. I have only had to run in twice for legitimate rain storms that would have soaked me. There is a 8 inch tall and 8 inch wide step (yes, I measured it) that you have to clear to get inside and my poor knees and toes have not re-acclimated to the height and width for which one must clear or else the toes get scraped along a metal door track. So my ulterior motive was to not have to jump up (okay, pry myself up) and try to be an Olympic hurdler (okay, try not to fall over the 8 X 8 threshold), and get over that toe buster instead of hurrying in from the rain. Ask Jettie, she hits it more often that I do.

We have a storage compartment on the port (left) side of the boat forward that always has stuff that leaks. Usually it is gallon jugs of water if you can believe that. We usually take the empties back to the store and for sixty cents to a dollar we can refill them instead of $1.65 to $2 for them at the store. So at one point I thought it was always the refilled ones that leaked and that is not so as some of the new ones made a mess. Well, if you do not find the leak right away, it will mildew EVERYTHING in that water tight compartment IN 24 HOURS OR LESS. We are not sure about the less part, but we have been in the compartment to get something and then a day later came back to that mess. Well, we left a case of Diet Coke, a case of Sprite and a 12 pack of Orange Sunkist and apparently the 89 degrees with 95% humidity, mixed with a bunch of rocking and rolling in the boat and 2 of the Sprites blew the pop tops out backward and 3 had slow leaks somewhere in the can along with 1 Orange Sunkist did a slow leak but none of the Diet Cokes imploded. So it was a black mildew mess that was unbelievable. NO pictures were taken....ewww, didn't think about it at the time as I bathed what seemed like 1000 cans, top, bottom and sides, having to scrub the tops to get it out of the groves while the boat jostled around with winds gusting to 35 mph and steady at 20 mph. Another one of those lessons, don't leave sodas on the boat while you are gone for a month or a day apparently.

Well, I think this is it for this post. Hanging on for Issac and calling it a night.
Night all.