Hurricane Dorian and the Carolinas

[Sea Hunt Video]

Best wishes John. I will save a few Guinness for you after Dorian heads out to sea.

[John Stone]

Thanks all. You bet Roberto. Count me in.

Made it out to the FR this morning. Lots of rain and some wind on the way. Alternating rain/wind and calms all day as rain bands pass over head. FR Looked fine though I’d feel better if all the boats were strapped down to anchor points. Lots of boats hauled out. Big expensive sport fishing boats mostly along with a number of mega yachts and commercial fish trawlers and long liners.

Several tornadoes have touched down in the area causing significant damage. No loss of life reported. Just waiting now.

Gayle took a pretty cool picture of the boatyard.

[mgphl52]

Wishing the best for you, Gayle and Far Reach!

[John Stone]

Eye past by offshore about 0300. Lots of wind and rain. Wind maybe 75-90. Have not seen official wind speeds yet. I think eye crossed over Cape Lookout—30 nm ENE of us. Given Dorians track that suggest the edge of the left side of the eye passed about 16-18 NM away from us. I was checking radar around 0430 and the radar picture did not mesh with Windy app. Windy had eye lagging behind and a little further east than radar. I assume radar was the most accurate. I heard in the news we had 13 confirmed tornadoes in NC. Two were within a couple miles of us. The main one in the news seen nationally on TV in Emerald Isle was maybe 5-6 miles away. It came ashore as a waterspout. The power of it surprised the weather hot shots.

We made it through Dorian fine. Never lost power. No shingles lost. No trees down in our yard. Have a friend three miles away that lost power, provided by Duke Energy, at 1430 yesterday. No estimation of return of power. Same problem for them during Florence. They were without power for weeks. We had power back after Florence in three days. We have a different energy company—Jones-Onslow. Interesting.

Text from friend at boatyard indicates the Far Reach is in fine form. We are under curfew till tomorrow morning. I’m anxious to see her.

[Sea Hunt Video]

John S.

BZ I am sure S/V Far Reach is just fine, perhaps a few leafs on her deck for which she would be grateful if you would remove tomorrow morning.

I don't know what it is like to NOT lose power during/after a hurricane.

[mgphl52]

John,

Happy to hear your good news! Just hope all the others faired as well.

[Jim Walsh]

Great news

[John Stone]

Got out to the boat last night. She looked fine. Had not checked the bilge since 23 June I think and there was 10 oz of water in the bilge—not much considering. Nothing wet below so no leaks in deck fittings, portlights or hatches. Might have come in via the main bower chain pipe and hawes pipe for stern anchor. I should have sealed them.

Talked to a guy that lives on his boat on the hard in the same boatyard as the FR about 50’ away. He said the big metal building blocked most of the wind. Not too bad there during the storm he said. He and his girlfriend walked away from the area and almost got blown over. So it turns out the FR continues to live a charmed life.

It’s shocking to see what the people of the Abacos are dealing with now. It’s a serious humanitarian crisis that will only get worse as the days pass.

I’m pretty confident there is a large humanitarian effort underway. It does take some time to fire up the logistics and command and control capabilities and the efforts of the Bahamian government are key. It’s sovereign territory after all. I have participated in a few humanitarian operations over the years and I have seen some strange things. When the media interviews people on the ground it might seem like nothing is happening because they can’t see all the wheels turning. In other words a lot has to happen for something comes out of the spigot. And it takes even longer when the destruction occurs in a hard to read island nation.

I would not be surprised to see some airdrops of water and food to buy some time to get the heavier support ashore.

I hope everyone else made out OK.

[mgphl52]

So it turns out the FR continues to live a charmed life.

I believe her first "charm" was finding YOU!

[Jerry Hammernik]

Was holding my breath for you and the Far Reach. Breathing again.

Good prep pays off again.

Jerry

[John Stone]

So it turns out the FR continues to live a charmed life.

I believe her first "charm" was finding YOU!

What a kind thoughtful thing to say. Thank you. She is my full keeled soul mate. She has made my life richer and more meaningful by being in it. I feel fortunate indeed.

[John Stone]

Was holding my breath for you and the Far Reach. Breathing again.

Good prep pays off again.

Jerry

Thanks Jerry. We dodged a bullet in NC south of the Outer Banks. The folks up in Ocracoke were not so lucky. I’m not sure I have ever looked forward so much for November to arrive.