H Minus 1
August 26, 2011
Fortunately Wilmington and Why Knot may not get the chance to see the full fury of the beast. Even so, she will see much wind and much more water. I have been watching radar from the area and the temperature in Wilmington is in the 70's and rain. Winds are 20 mph at this moment. By midnight, the winds will be tapping 80 miles per hour. At the same time 80 miles east of Why Knot, the winds will be in the 100 plus miles per hour range. Take a place (like Cape Hatteras) that is about 6 feet above sea level measured at mean high tide, add 20 feet waves and a 10 feet storm surge and imagine why in the world anyone would consider staying there. There will be some that do.
If her luck holds, Why Knot will have another hurricane entry in her log rather than a note in the log that she perished in Irene. Perhaps that little pesky leak in our cabin portlight, the one directly over the berth, will not overflow the pan that we left there. Perhaps the lightening in the area will avoid taking out all our instruments. Perhaps the boats in the marina will all stay where they are so there are no minuets in the fairway between a pair. Perhaps the gators in the marina will not climb aboard using our swim deck. Perhaps we may get to use WK again. Only the next 36 hours will tell. Ah yes, don't look at the long range map because there are now three other possible storms in works in the Atlantic behind Irene. This is the part of the season when one wishes one was south of Latitude 16 where the beasts do not tread.
We have the best wishes and thoughts for the sailors and folks in the path of the beast. May your dock lines and docks hold and the water stay on the outside and remember to keep the candles where you can find them in the dark.