Gijima comes through it's first Tropical Storm (Agatha)

Sowell Family's Travels on Gijima
Skipper: Tim Sowell Admiral Tracy Crew Sean & Alex
Sun 30 May 2010 23:58
Saturday night/ Sunday saw the first tropical storm of the season (which we
had seen build off the coast of El Salvador) head north and cross on the
Mexico/ Guatemalan border. Combining with the volcano eruption of Saturday
as well (the same volcano we saw from the boat as we came down the coast to
El Salvador a couple of months ago, it was glowing in the dark at that point
and we were 8 miles off the coast). The storm crossed 180 miles north of the
boat, and quickly became a tropical depression, but it is not the wind that
worried us as much as the rain. (See satellite photo)
I have spoken to Dennis who is on the boat anchored next to Gijima and is
looking after the boat while we are away, and he said the winds only got to
30 knots, but the rain was significant. While we have been through much
stronger winds and storms at Catalina, I was concerned that we had a lot of
windage up with the full boat cover which I thought would take up to 30 to
35knots, Dennis's comment it was still up and tidy this morning. He has also
been on board and the boat is dry down stairs which is good. This storm is
the first of a year which they are predicting to be pretty active, and it
was unusual as it moved North East, as all except one in history have move
west or north west. So last night was a bit restless as we tried to follow
the storm and reports, comments by Dennis is that a lot of rubbish and
vegetation is being washed down the estuary out to sea and that is the
current concern anything major snagging on the mooring chain. But it is nice
to see we came through, certainly from the bigger picture.
Today here was our last day in Bariloche where we have rested, and spent the
day playing soccer and settling the kids in and cleaning up before we move
on in the morning, with the family refreshed and healthy.



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