Plain Jane Plain Talk
Journals from the road, trails and at sea
Category: WoaWeatherGoneBad
-
My next ‘long run’ would be in a new neighborhood. A new city. On the Eastern Shore of Maryland and I was looking forward to running in new territory. But first, we had to ‘get there’. OK. It wasn’t the best weather day for a 35 mile sail from Baltimore to Georgetown Maryland. We were…
-
At daybreak, we were preparing to motor 1.5 hours — to return back to dockside. Back to “juice”. Which translates to heat. It can’t happen soon enough. It has been 41 degrees in our cabin since Monday night – Hurricane Sandy’s landfall. While at anchor – the port side engine ignition switch disintegrated. Just like…
-
The eerie sounds of Hurricane Sandy along with the sensation of a levitating boat at anchor is haunting. At 40-60 knot winds we weren’t even experiencing the full brunt of what Sandy had to offer. Thanks to our hurricane hole on Wilton Creek. By 5AM, the sounds of Sandy winds changed and bands of winds…
-
Sunday evening through Monday morning was spent sleepless.twirling at anchor. When it gets dark and the winds howl muting conversation, the rains resemble waterfalls, and boat groan sounds like the anchor has failed – it’s easy to doubt your sanity. But so far so good here at anchor. I don’t want to jinx anything by…
-
The winds are blowing steady from the North – as Hurricane Sandy works her way up the East Coast. Even though she is still out to sea, we are feeling her wide reach. The navigation buoys 15 miles east of us record the wind speeds – and show the winds are registering 40+ knots.…
-
Still dockside at Deltaville, and by 3AM the winds are starting to howl. Not steady howling, but enough to wake up Soxy…who in turn makes sure we are listening to the winds. Getting up at 4AM has it’s advantages. We can: – recheck the latest hurricane tracking for the umteenth time, – charge up…
-
Thursday 10/25/2012 We had PLANNED to do some sailing – and when we departed for Deltaville VA – this little blip in the news called Sandy was just some storm in the Caribbean. Nothing for us to worry about here in the South Chesapeake Bay. But no. Suddenly Sandy is predicted to take on the…
-
It was 1:34 AM, inside a deep sleep when Soxy and I bolted to a wide-eyed upright position. The noise was deafening and I shook Paddy to wake him. Paddy sleeps thru any weather condition, and I didn’t want him to miss out. It sounded like a freight train. The same sound we’ve experienced before…
-
Now that the rainy portion of Tropical Storm Nicole has moved north of Baltimore – we are left with her gale force tailwinds. Strangely I was game for a sail to Annapolis. We waited til noon – giving me ONE LAST EXERCISE OP and the gale winds a chance to subside based on professional weather…
-
At some point, you realize you’ve become acclimated to extreme weather. Floridians do this all the time during hurricane season. When they are not lined up 100 deep in checkout lines at Home Depot, gas stations and stores that sell ice. OK…maybe Floridians are not as acclimated as I think. Today’s forecast – called for…
-
After studying the weather for hours, we came to the conclusion that it was anybody’s guess. All week, the forecast for each day couldn’t be further from accurate. We assumed when the forecast called for light air….then it would probably be a nice windy day to sail to Key Largo. Key Largo is 35 miles…
-
70 MPH of wind is a TAD above GALE Yet, the weather forecast images took on a rainbow of colors, and a range of numbers we had not seen before from our unprotected anchorage on Biscayne Bay. Surely the “70” listed on Weather.com website was a typo. Just to be safe, we removed anything from…
-
Apparently Canada is MAD at the US. I’m guessing it’s something we said. All of the cold air that normally stays in Canada for the winter — is now on permanent loan to Florida. With no end in sight for the frigid temperatures in central and southern Florida – we decide to depart Cape Canaveral,…
-
Notes from dockside: Friday, Oct 16, 2009 9AM:On an unusually COLD (40 degree) and drenching rain day in Baltimore, Cat Maudy departs the docks at Anchorage Marina…to head south to Charleston SC. Captain Pat heads up a very capable 4 man crew of John Martin and Frank Rubright from Michigan, and Bill Edwards from Baltimore…
-
When the local weather forecast began predicting 60 mph winds for the last day of 2008, I was somewhat skeptical. The weather weasels were mostly wrong about their forecasts. Whenever the forecasts were for severe winds, we might get 15 knot wind gusts at best. Alternately, when the forecasts call for calm skies — it…
-
Waiting on Weather – in Beaufort, NC4/14/08-04/16/08 The quaint and historic town of Beaufort (pronounced “Bo furt”) became home for the next 3 days – while Cat Maudy and crew relaxed at dockside. Gale force winds out of the north – prevented any further northbound attempts. Our plan was to take the Intracoastal Waterway (the…
-
Wrightsville Beach to Beaufort NC4/13/2008 “without fear. . . there would be no courage.” — Captain Blackburn infamous Pirate on Sailing Vessel Queen Anne Revenge run aground in Beaufort NC Inlet in1718 All weather forecasts were calling on 10-15 knot winds from the west-southwest. The only area of the forecast that wasn’t to my liking…
-
We have managed to experience some violent weather while dockside in Charleston. Let’s start with the tornado on Saturday, 3/15. Just prior, tornadoes had done some hefty damage further inland to Atlanta GA — but Atlanta seemed so far away from us. It just wasn’t on my radar. Born-n-raised in upstate NY — we don’t…
-
The instruments were really reading up to 40 knots….Visualize how 40 knots feels. The boat shakes. It is very windy here — average winds in the mid 20’s, with gusts to 40! The winds are from the East – so they push the water up from the Atlantic Ocean…into the Charleston Harbor…and up the Ashley…
-
Following the advice of Commander’s Weather, Cat Maudy and crew waited until Sunday morning for the offshore seas to settle. Unfortunately the projected weather of 15-20 knot northerly winds….turned out to be a wimpy 2 knot wind. Cat Maudy only holds 90 gallons of fuel. Not enough to motor to the next inlet at Beaufort…
-
Norfolk VA and offshore Pat calls around noon. Cat Maudy’s current position is the mouth of the Rhappannock River, with following seas growing to 6-7 feet….and rollers coming in around 10 feet. The GPS showed they were sailing at 18 knots. A line had become loose over the starboard beam, and became entangled with “something”…
Plain Jane Plain Talk 