Hurricane Sandy!

Nimue
Mon 29 Oct 2012 22:00
Do you ever get that ’deja-vu’ feeling?  We most certainly are at the moment!  We are currently in similar conditions to those  experienced when we were out of the water in Herrington Harbour North during August 2011 when Hurricane Irene hit us.
 
Following Michael’s left hip replacement and subsequent long stint in the UK, we are now back at Zimmerman Marine, Deltaville, VA, USA.  We needed to have some work undertaken on NImue,  so delayed our re-launch until Friday 26th October 2012.
 
We became aware of Sandy over a week ago, when some of the locals were saying that forecasters were getting excited about Hurricane Sandy, which at that time was a few days away from Jamaica.
 
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Predicted path of Sandy made on Friday 26th Oct
 
Hurricane Sandy H  Hurricane Sandy TS
NOAA Hurricane and Tropical Storm Force winds speed probabilities made on Friday 26th Oct.
 
As the week progressed and with Sandy’s imminent progression up the US East Coast, we had no hesitation in delaying our re-launch and decided to leave Nimue tucked up behind Zimmerman’s Marine main building.  This was a good move.
 
Friday was manic in the yard, as all the workers were roped in to haul boats out of the water.  The main concern is the tidal surge, and with the week-end being a full moon, this could be a reality and cause havoc.
 
The yard kindly loans us the use of their works truck, which we both need a chair lift to get into!  This was put to good use on Saturday, as we were advised to stock up on supplies, which we did.  The wind and rain started on Saturday evening and by Sunday morning we were experiencing heavy rain and strong winds with 40+ mph gusts.  This weather has been consistent and is due to remain the same until Tuesday afternoon.
 
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The red truck pictured from underneath Nimue’s rain cover and the forward view (the trees really are being blown around!)
 
This morning (Monday 29th Oct), we saw the highest tide and the water levels have risen sufficiently to flood parts of the marina, but we are not affected by this.  Power and water is still available and we’ve been able to get out to stock up on a few more supplies.  We are both chilled and have no issues with Nimue.   Managed to get some laundry done this morning, although quite bizarre getting dressed up in foul weather gear before jumping in the truck to go a few metres down to the laundry room.
 
Temperature has dropped significantly down to 50F, so turned on the heating and barometric pressure has dropped to 990mb.   Sandy is due to make landfall in New Jersey in about 1 hour with hurricane force winds and looks like New York and cities further north will be badly effected.