Dear Readers:
A few days ago I posted a blog about meeting Gail Storm and said I'd rather meet her than Gale Storm. Unfortunately, yesterday we did meet Gale Storm for the first time and I hope it is the last!
As the regular readers of this blog know, my SO and I are staying on our floating RV, located in a section of the country that has been under a high-wind warning and gale warning on the Bay of Green Bay and Lake Michigan. We've had windy conditions before.....no big deal. In the past, Capt. SO simply (I can say simply because I don't have to do it!) puts out extra lines with snubbers on them and Das Boot weathers the wind rather smoothly. The snubbers normally prevent jerking and severe 'yanking about'. Not this time.
The wind has now been at a sustained forty-five-and-higher mile per hour rate for over twenty-four hours. We've had frequent wind gusts of over sixty miles per hour, plus a fair amount of rain. To be out on the docks, which Capt. SO was most of the time, meant that he was clutching anything he could hang on to in order to remain stationary and he had to crouch way down when out on the finger docks while adjusting or adding lines. Waves were breaking over our pier and fully doused him on a regular basis. We had a fender 'pop' from being wedged between the swim platform and the dock, plus the end of the fresh-water hose was crushed from the same movement. He replaced the smaller fender with a much larger one which, thus far, has been able to withstand the crush of the boat's movement constantly against the dock. The water hose will get replaced today.
Yesterday I weathered (pun intended) the wind just fine......as long as I was out on the upper deck. There I am well protected from the elements, have a good view of what is happening meterologically speaking, can help Capt. SO on the docks and can read and otherwise amuse myself - which is what I did until mid-afternoon. At that point, I tried going below from time to time but found, disappointingly so, that my stomach was not reacting to the boat's pitching and yawing very well. By late afternoon I realized I was 'in trouble' but was reluctant to admit it to Capt. SO.
By dinner time, I felt like the song about the Edmund Fitzgerald, where the cook says to the crew "its been good to know ya". There was no way that cooking was going to take place because the thought of eating was nowhere present in my brain. All I could do was lay on the bed with my eyes closed and try to prevent the inevitable. Even then, each time the boat jerked, which was about every twenty seconds, my stomach jerked with the boat. Capt. SO declared that we were 'abandoning ship' and finding a hotel room for the night. Although my ego as First Mate was sorely bruised, I realized that it was the best move. We hastily threw together an overnight bag and "Got the #$@ out of Dodge".
My stomach just returned to normal about an hour ago.
Capt. SO has been to Das Boot this morning and she is still floating, seemly no worse for the wear. He collected a few important things - like my toothbrush - that were left behind in our haste to pack up last evening. The wind is still howling and is predicted to remain as such until later this afternoon. We'll amuse ourselves 'off boat' until then and hope that the waters in the marina as quiet enough to allow my gastrointestinal state to remain calm.
For now, its back to the hotel room and a visit with my paperback book.
I hope that your world is cool, calm, and collected.
Ancora imparo
