Bill’s day in town.....!
24 August 2009
• RNSYS, Halifax, NS
by Mike
We awoke at 0600 for a breakfast and final check. The air was still and sea calm with no portent of what was coming other than what we received on the satellite download which told us that we would be getting winds of up to 35 knots at RNSYS as long as the system passed us 70 miles to sea. I have walked Peri and offered to the yard crew here that if they needed any help, they should knock on the hull and I'll come out to give them a hand.
0915: Well, it has started or at least the leading edge has arrived. The barometer dropped like a thud about 15 minutes ago and the winds picked up and the rain started to fall. This is the leading edge of the storm so the winds are from the south, but I expect that as the main body passes to the east of us the winds will back around to NE and after it passes, to the NW.
If you look at the comments on our blog you will see one from our friend Duane in Punta Gorda. He and his wife Dianne were our hosts there when we sort of went into an involuntary imposition at their dock while we were waiting for the high tide level enough to let us out of their community canal system. Their home had two empty lots on their street which had been homes until a Cat 4 hurricane came through there. They told us of their adventures which began with them not being really sure where the 'cane was going. T first it was thought that it was going to come ashore further north near Tampa and they were watching the TV broadcast when the announcer suddenly said, "Anyone listening to this in Punta Gorda, get under your beds or undercover right now!" They did so seconds before the front hit their community and totally demolished the adjacent homes and broke through the front of theirs and blew furniture and other belongings about. I am telling this story to reflect on the fact that Bill is a Cat 1 and we won't even be near the worst of it. Compared to Duane and Dianne, we are really quite well off!
1800: Dinner time and the wind has picked up again! Odd. It is actually stronger in the aftermath that it was during the initial front passage, but still nothing too huge. Nelleke was quivering in her cradle and stands but there was no rain.
0800, next day: The storm has passed and Willie has gone on to bother Newfoundland and points east. The British boat that decided to stay here definitely made the right decision as they rode out the storm easily which would not have been the case if they had been at sea. No boats were damaged and we're all looking at each other reminding ourselves at how lucky we are.
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