HURRICANE IRENE, Castine , Maine.

A Lady
Stephen Hyde
Sun 28 Aug 2011 17:02
SUNDAY  28th   AUGUST  2011
 
This morning was wet, real wet, it had rained all night, but no leaks,
The number of boats keeps increasing in the Cove and skipper let out anothe 10m on chain , to be sure , to be sure,
 
Skipper readjusted the actuator settings on the generator and she sounds much better now, running
much more smoothly and quitely, skipper loves fiddling with the engines,
 
Yesterday,  later in the afternoon, approx, 3.45 pm, we hopped into the dingy and motored over to Castine where we
got 4pm Mass, the priest was young enough but had zero personality,  
On our way back to the town, we stopped and went for a gawlk in the " Trinity Episcopal Church " a real classical stone chapel
with a steep roof, The exposed stone internally and open rafters were an Architectural gem.
There we met the Rev. Peg Thomas, whose great, great granfather lived in cork ( around 1860 she thinks )  His name was Reeve's
We were wondering if they were related to Gordan & Penny Reeve's ..... 
Anyway, it seems that Mr Reeve's daughter left Cork and emigrated to the U.S. or Canada, and our Reverned friend Peg is
her decendent.  
 
Later , we had dinner in a fantastic Inn, called the " Pentagoet Inn  "  the reception room was covered wall to wall,
and floor to ceiling with pictures and photo's of world leaders, like Castro, and all that stuff,
The food was excellent, skipper had Scollops and Aileen had Short ribs, like a stew, all just great,
 
Later again, we had to use a hand held compass to navigate the 2 miles  back to the boat in heavy fog, but the wind was light,
the calm before the storm, and we arrived safe and sound, we immidiatly lifted the dingy onto the derricks in anticipation of "Irine"
comming during the night.
Then the rain came as we hit the scratcher,   zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz
 
 
Back to Today,  as we sit here, having had some food and coffee, and the barrys tea we got from Shane Flynn, we listen
to the wind increasing, 2 hours ago, we had 15knots, now we have 35 nkots wind and steadily increasing,
" A Lady" is careering around and straining hard on the 60m of anchor chain , mind you, sooooo are all the other 86 boats
in the harbor  ( the number of boats is increasing all the time, )
Are we happy we have a spade anchor and not the CQR that was originally with the boat,  Touch wood, we have never dragged
this anchor , soooooooo this will be a real test,
So far, the strongest winds when we were anchored was 40 knots, but this could be a lot more,  
 
Skipper must sign off now and go check the equipment as the wind is begining to scream through the rigging,,
We are like a bunch of lambs waiting for the slaughter to take place,
 
Signed :--   Stephen Hyde  ( skipper )