RED SKY IN MORNING   –   HURRICANE IRENE 

On Tuesday, August 23^rd Sea Star sat anchored out in Cambridge’s town harbour.   I stayed on board alone as my husband, Barry, left to return to Green Cove Springs, Florida to retrieve our car.  At that time the  weather   forecast was for fairly calm conditions; winds – south 10-15 gusting to 20 knots.  NOAA was forecasting that hurricane Irene would cross the Dominican Republic that day then proceed through the Turks and Caicos, the south-eastern Bahamas and arrive in the central Bahamas by Wednesday.  She was already a BIG storm with tropical storm conditions stretching 205 miles out from the eye.  She was expected to increase in strength and move in a north-west direction. 

Barry’s route south to Florida from our location in Cambridge, Maryland was by public transit to the Hyatt Regency Hotel on Hwy. 50 where he would meet a pre-arranged shuttle to Baltimore.  From there he would board an Amtrak train to Palatka, Florida to be met by a privately owned car and taken to the marina in Green Cove Springs.   Once there he faced an 812 mile drive back to Maryland.

He no sooner left when problems started to develop.  He reached the Hyatt Regency Hotel just in time to see the chandelier in their lobby swinging back and forth as a 5.8 magnitude earthquake was occurring, centered in nearby Richmond, Virginia.  The earthquake would not affect his shuttle ride to Baltimore but once he boarded the train his travel time would be greatly extended as the train spent many hours travelling at 20 mph for fear of aftershocks. 

By Wednesday NOAA forecasted a small craft advisory with south winds increasing to 25 knots.  As well, they advised that hurricane Irene, now a Category 3, would affect the mid-Atlantic coast (our location) by the week-end.  By mid-afternoon I was certain the increased winds had Sea Star dragging.  I solicited the assistance of the skipper on a nearby boat and with his help I lifted anchor and tied Sea Star alongside the harbour wall. 

By Thursday hurricane Irene crossed the northwest Bahamas with sustained winds of 115 mph with strengthening expected.  She was huge; registering hurricane force winds 70 miles out from her eye and tropical storm force winds 255 miles out.  Where I sat on board in Maryland, the small craft advisory continued as did the forecast of thunderstorms.  Irene was expected to cross our location on Saturday and Sunday.  Already I was starting to experience her fury.

I was very concerned as to when Barry would return as I knew we had to enter the marina to be hauled out, on a rising tide.  The opportunities of such before the hurricane hit were becoming very limited.   I decided if Barry didn’t arrive by Friday morning I would take Sea Star, by myself, across the river to the marina to catch the high tide as that would be the last opportunity before the hurricane’s arrival. 

As if by answer to my prayer, with great relief I welcomed Barry’s return Thursday afternoon at 2 o’clock.  Although he was very tired, with the hurricane’s approach we were extremely anxious to get hauled out.  We immediately headed Sea Star the 2 miles across the Choptank River to Gateway marina.  Since high tide had been just 1 hour prior to our arrival we thought there should still be enough depth to float us in and up to the travel-lift; well, we hoped so anyway.  Sadly, we found out you can’t float a sailboat on hopes as we went soundly aground.  Not only were we aground, but we were aground on a falling tide.  A few hours later Sea Star lay on her side in the muddy bottom.

The marina owner advised us that should we be able to get afloat and up to the dock on the next high tide, which was at l a.m., they would get us lifted out first thing in the morning.

It was a disturbing day all round.  As we waited on the tide we watched the activity around us as panic grew.  Local crab fishing boats joined the queue of yachts awaiting haul out in the line that stretched from the travel-lift all the way out the channel.  In the marina office I viewed photos of the devastation hurricane Isabel brought to the area in 2003.  As a result, the marina is now uninsurable.   The office phone was ringing non-stop.  Calls were from boaters south of the area who could find no place available to haul out.  They were running against time to seek shelter. 

While awaiting the high tide we spent the day dismantling, packing-up and winterizing the boat as we expected to return home once she was hauled out.  Unlike the others who were simply seeking shelter from the storm and would re-launch we were closing up for long-term storage. 

 Friday, on the 1 a.m. high tide, Barry very skilfully worked Sea Star free of the mud and floated her up to the dock.  We left her sitting second in line for the travel-lift and headed to a hotel to watch Irene’s approach on the weather channel and catch a few hours sleep.  We returned to the marina at 9 a.m. fully expecting to find Sea Star on land but sadly that was not the case.  The travel-lift crew had been unable to float her forward and chose to wait on the tide again as they brought shallower draft vessels in front of us to lift.  As well, a tragic event was unfolding in the marina.  One of the workers had attempted to move a heavy tool box, in the hopes of saving it from the expected storm surge, and it had fallen on him, severely breaking his leg.  As the ambulance whisked the injured worker away we wondered who would pay for his recovery, as we knew the marina had no insurance.   It was an ominous start to the day.  The calm air hung heavy with a feeling of foreboding. 

As the morning ticked away, the tide rose and finally 20 hours before Irene’s arrival we saw Sea Star hanging in the travel-lift slings as she was lifted to land.  It was a bittersweet moment.  We knew we would drive away to safety but our thoughts were with the locals we would leave behind who could only hope and pray the hurricane would spare them. 

Feeling we had done all that we could we left Sea Star with regret and trepidation on Friday, August 27^th.  She was sitting on four boat stands on land no more than 2 to 3 feet above sea level.  The weather forecast was for 80 mph sustained winds, gusting to 115 mph, a 50% chance of tornados and a storm surge of 5-7 feet.  We felt that even though Sea Star was hauled out on land she would re-float!  The marina’s photos of hurricane Isabel in 2003 certainly gave us reason to believe this to be the case as they showed the marina office submerged by at least 4 feet of water.   What a strange predicament. 

As if this wasn’t enough to worry us, Sea Star was positioned right beside the 2 mile span bridge that crosses the Choptank River.  Posted along the bridge are warning signs regarding wind shear in high gusts.  Could we be situated in a worse place to face a hurricane?  Almost as if the pieces were falling into place for the perfect storm, the timing of when the hurricane would pass our location would coincide with the new moon and add an additional 2 feet of spring tide to the usual 4 feet along with the forecasted 5 – 7 foot storm surge.

We found it disquieting to hear news that areas of New York City were evacuating for the first time ever.

With a feeling of anxious despair we joined the gridlock of traffic exiting the area by way of the evacuation route and started on our way home.  We arrived in London at 9 p.m. Saturday night, just in time to watch on the weather channel as the eye of Irene (now a category 1 hurricane) passed just to the east of Sea Star’s location.

A later call to our marina in Maryland gave us the welcomed news that they’d “dodged a bullet” with Irene.  We won’t be returning to Sea Star until next summer, but we have been told she sustained no damage.  Since the hurricane passed just east of the bay, the storm’s counter-clockwise wind direction helped to push the water out of the Chesapeake Bay rather than the expected storm surge flowing in.

Sailing is all about adventure.   We can’t help but wonder what next summer will bring?