Wednesday 9 October 2019

Yesterday I sat on deck as a matter of principle drinking a Sundowner in the windy cold. I don't believe that I have ever downed one quite that quickly in my rush to get back below and out of the wind.

This morning I got up at my regular-not-moving time and sat in the cabin as Nelleke fretted at her mooring and thought to myself, yep, we made the right decision. The winds are at 30kts and climbing, forecast to get to 50 by tomorrow evening and we would have still been thrashing along towards Port Washington if we had continued. It would not have contributed to an enjoyable trip. In fact, as I was thumbing this piece I was listening to the marine weather forecast and it's now official. They have issued gale warnings. I am really glad we got in here when we did. We decided to be going into town today since tomorrow is when the worst will hit and it is unlikely that the launch will be running. As it is we have the propane heaters on to ward off the damp and cool.

Our walk in town was reminiscent of the couple of other times that we were here except for the weather. The first thing that the launch coxswain told us was that they might be shutting down operations sometime this afternoon and that as of tomorrow we should consult their website.

There have been a few changes downtown including business changes and new buildings but the old standbys are still there - mostly tourist shops and restaurants but all with a sailor's or at least a seaman's slant. We bought a few expensive groceries at one of those fresh market stores, checked things out and came back to the boat where we will be spending the afternoon. We have also committed to being here until Saturday given the weather synopsis. The worst of the storm will be Thursday and into Friday so we sure ain't planning on going anywhere until this nonsense dies down.

By the way, the photo on the blog is the of Mr. Heater the propane heater that we happened to buy on our last visit to Newport. It is our fireplace when we are at anchor or not moving.

I won't be doing any of the outdoor tasks but there are a couple on the list for in the cabin. We have lots to read and, of course, we can blog. Meanwhile the wind generator is doing her best to lift Nelleke airborne. The meter is alternating from 2 to 10A depending upon the gusts. Considering it's a 300Watt generator and it's producing 24V I would say that it is approaching its maximum output. I had thought that I would do our steak on the BBQ tonight, but in this wind? I don't think so!