HURRICANE HENRI PREP

 It's been almost 36 years since Long Island suffered a direct hit from a Hurricane. So I spent the the morning on BIANKA doing storm preparation as hurricane Henri approaches.

Added a second line to the mooring.

Removed anchor from the bow roller to prevent it from cutting through the mooring lines.

Finally dropped the sail and cover on deck to reduce windage.

I took a photo as I headed for shore. Hope it's not the last photo I take of BIANKA. Now I can only hope for the best.

HURRY UP AND WAIT

Just made a call to the marina thanks to be COVID 19 virus they are shut down and 
not launching boats. Governor Cuomo just yesterday announced that businesses will stay shut
until at least May 15th and it could be extended after that. Looks like BIANKA might get splashed
in early June in the most optimistic scenario. Meantime I’ll be working on a new sail cover for the boat
while sheltering at home.

LONG ISLAND SOUND A FIELD GUIDE TO IT'S NATURE AND HISTORY

One of the great pleasures of being on board is to climb into the bunk on BIANKA with a good book. Usually it pertains to sailing or nature. My current read is a recently published book called A FIELD GUIDE TO LONG ISLAND SOUND by Patrick J. Lynch

It is a very informative book that encompasses all types of interesting information regarding the waters and shoreline of Long Island Sound. The book delves into the geological history of how the sound was formed. The various types of shorelines that borders the waters as well as the plants and animals that are part of it's ecology. It's a fascinating book and nicely illustrated with photos and maps. If you sail Long Island Sound as I do or are planning a visit to the area it is a great companion to many of the things you will see and places that you will visit. I recommend it.

TOO LONG ON THE SHORE

I spent the last week out on the east end of Long Island. Where my girlfriend likes to take a beach vacation now and then. It was a nice week full of chowders, wine, lobsters and such. But, I also was reminded it's time to get BIANKA in the water. Reminders were everywhere I looked. We would be dining at one of the local restaurants at the Inlet to Lake Montauk and my eyes would be fixated on a sailboat a few miles out after rounding the nearby point. It got me wishing I was out there on BIANKA. A walk along the beach had me looking out to sea and once again thinking of doing a solo around Long Island cruise.  Well the vacation is over and the prop is polished. I have my 2017 copy of the Eldridge Tide and Pilot Book already on board. The boatyard should have painted the bottom this past week. All that remains is to put on the new zinc on the prop shaft. So I expect to have BIANKA floating at her mooring this week. Both of us have been too long on the shore.

HURRICANE JOAQUIN

BLOG UPDATE 10/2/15 10:46 PM

On board and waiting for the winds to stop. Thankful that Joaquin looks like it will be heading out to sea and not hitting this area.  The current Gale warnings are exciting enough. Clocked a 30 knot gust on the mooring today. Winds have been relentless since yesterday afternoon:

"..STRONG WINDS AND ROUGH SEAS INTO THIS WEEKEND...

ANZ335-031000-
/O.CON.KOKX.GL.W.0022.000000T0000Z-151004T2200Z/
LONG ISLAND SOUND WEST OF NEW HAVEN CT/PORT JEFFERSON NY-
339 PM EDT FRI OCT 2 2015

...GALE WARNING REMAINS IN EFFECT UNTIL 6 PM EDT SUNDAY...

* WINDS AND WAVES...NORTHEAST 15 TO 25 KT WITH GUSTS UP TO 40 KT.
  WAVES 3 TO 5 FT.

PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS...

A GALE WARNING MEANS SUSTAINED WINDS OR FREQUENT GUSTS OF 34 TO
47 KT ARE EXPECTED OR OCCURRING. OPERATING A VESSEL IN GALE
CONDITIONS REQUIRES EXPERIENCE AND PROPERLY EQUIPPED VESSELS. IT
IS HIGHLY RECOMMENDED THAT MARINERS WITHOUT THE PROPER EXPERIENCE
SEEK SAFE HARBOR PRIOR TO THE ONSET OF GALE CONDITIONS."

BLOG UPDATE 10/1/15 12:14PM

Just got this email from the Town:

"Dear Mooring Holder,

The National Weather Service is forecasting heavy rains, high winds and coastal flooding over the next several days, with the possibility of Tropical Storm Joaquin making landfall in the area early next week.

 Because of this, we strongly recommend that all boat owners take necessary precautions to secure their vessels or remove them from the harbor in advance of this severe weather."

This is not shaping up to be fun weekend on the waters here on the Isle of Long. Hurricane Joaquin may be making it's way up the coast. But, before it even may even arrive we will have gale conditions on Friday into Saturday and coastal flood warnings are already in effect.  Time to prepare and hope BIANKA's luck holds out through another storm.

BLOG UPDATE 10/1/15 : 

I went down to the boatyard to see went to the boat yard to see what the scuttlebutt was about the weather and Hurricane Joaquin. Though the persistent northeasterly winds have kept piling up the water in Long Island Sound. So much so that coastal flooding is already occurring. I had to make a detour to reach my destination because of the flooding. This even before Hurricane Joaquin influences the area.

AND IT SURE BEEN A COLD COLD WINTER

And it sure been a cold, cold winter

And the wind ain't been blowin' from the south

It's sure been a cold, cold winter

And a lotta love is all burned out

It sure been a hard, hard winter

My feet been draggin' 'cross the ground

And I hope it's gonna be a long hot summer

And a lotta love will be burnin' bright

Winter - Rolling Stones

Yep, that Rolling Stone song has captured this winter feeling for me. The bright spot of hope came in the mail when my mooring permit application came in for the upcoming season. Unfortunately, this required another trip to the boatyard to get some information off of the boat. I picked the warmest day when the high temperature was to be only 29 degrees F to slip slide my way to the boat. There was no wind this time which made it feel better than the visit last week. But, unlike last week I found the harbor had completely frozen over which does not happen too often:

Even the floating docks are frozen in place

The Harbor Master is not going anywhere these days:

The same for the Commercial Fishermen as the fleet is also frozen in place:

Hard to believe that spring is only a month away when I look out from the snow filled cockpit of the boat at the ice covered habor. But, I got the info I needed and put the mooring permit in the mail because the sailing season will arrive at some point. At least I hope so.

BIG MAMMALS AND THE BIG APPLE

I've been thinking about doing another around Long Island cruise recently. I did one a number of years ago back in the days when I still had a diesel engine on board. It was somewhat of an adventure with the engine exhaust elbow developing a hole the first day requiring some jury rigged repairs. I also lost my crew when he had to leave the boat because of the death of a friend. I ended up heading into Shinecock Inlet for the first time at night by myself in those pre GPS days. Like I said it was a little bit of an adventure but, I got in despite the conditions.
I've been thinking about doing another similar cruise now that I have electric propulsion. There is a lot of traffic in the area from freighters, cruise ships, tugs and barges and a lot of fishing boats. So one needs to be alert. Then there was this kind of a good news/bad news story that is making people stand up and take notice:

"Humpback whales, the gigantic, endangered mammals known for their haunting underwater songs, have been approaching New York City in greater numbers than even old salts can remember. Naturalists aboard whale-watching boats have seen humpbacks in the Atlantic Ocean within a mile of the Rockaway peninsula, part of New York's borough of Queens, within sight of Manhattan's skyscrapers.
"It is truly remarkable, within miles of the Empire State Building, to have one of the largest and most charismatic species ever to be on this planet," said Howard Rosenbaum, director of the Ocean Giants program at the Wildlife Conservation Society.
Humpbacks were spotted 87 times from the boats this year, and by cataloging the whales' markings, at least 19 different humpbacks have been identified in the waters off the city."- ABC News

As I said it's a good news bad news story as far as my plans go. While it's nice that the whales are returning to the local waters here. It does add a little more apprehension when cruising the ocean waters in a 30 foot fiberglass boat. Namely that one of them might perceive BIANKA sailing along in the middle of the night as a threat. I know the risk is probably low but, it's just another thing one has to think about and prepare for these days.

SHOWTIME ON THE BEACH

You never know what will happen when you head down to the boatyard to work on the boat. You might get distracted in an extended gam with another boat owner talking about various boat projects or other such boat related items. Sometimes a little local knowledge or scuttlebutt piece of info might come your way. That's what happened recently after I had finished the first phase of my stove conversion project. I was putting the ladder away in the car when another sailor asked me if I was going to head over to the beach to see the seal release. I had not heard about this event but, since it was taken place just across the road from the boatyard I thought why not stop and check it out:



 The seal named Steve was rescued and released by The Riverhead Foundation for Marine Research & Preservation

ANOTHER GOOD REASON FOR HAVING AN AIS TRANSPONDER

I installed an AIS transponder on board BIANKA two years ago. It seemed like a good idea to me. At times when sailing I've been surprised by a tug and barge sneaking up behind my at certain choke points like Execution Rocks on Long Island Sound. Situations that had me wondering now where did he come from?  Having AIS gives you a heads up of where those BIG boats are and what they are doing. Having an AIS transponder lets those other boats know what you are doing or at least your name so they can call it out on the VHF. Instead of saying "white sailboat sailing southwest by buoy X.  Also when navigating places like New York Harbor or the Hudson River it really comes in handy for both boats to make and see the subtle changes in course that eliminate the possibility of a collision. In short it gives everybody some piece of mind.
Recently on a foggy winters day off Long Island another very good reason for having an AIS transponder on board became clear. A tugboat named SEA LION was sinking rapidly off of Long Island coast in a thick fog. Captain Bjoern Kils of NY Media Boat was in the area on the boat APERTURE when he heard:

"MAYDAY. This is the ‘Sea Lion’. We’re sinking. Men in the Water.
Water in the wheelhouse. This is our last transmission. We’re going down." - NYMEDIABOAT

The Coast Guard rebroadcast the Sea Lions coordinates but, somewhere things got broadcast, copied or heard wrong:

"I wrote down the numbers and plotted the coordinates. The location showed close to Lake Champlain in upstate New York, about 180 miles to the north, making it unlikely that I was able to hear the actual radio transmission from the ‘Sea Lion’ so clearly. I deemed the given coordinates as improbable and started working my on-board navigation system pulling up a list of close-by ships. Most commercial vessels are outfitted with an AIS transceiver as part of an automated tracking and collision avoidance system, so chances are that they were still transmitting.
There she was! SEA LION — right on top of that list with a position only about two nautical miles to the south of my location. Putting down the throttle, we made it to the scene in just a few minutes, running 35 knots in 6-foot seas and less than 200 feet visibility."  -NYMEDIABOAT

As Captain Kils said after the rescue:

“I think it's fair to say that the AIS system saved these guys’ lives,” Kils says. “The coordinates broadcasted by the Coast Guard were 180 miles to the north of the sinking vessel — I’m not sure why. By working my AIS system I was able to mark the Sea Lion’s actual location. Realizing I was only 2 nautical miles away from her position enabled me to respond, resulting in a rescue, not a recovery.”- SOUNDINGS

The crew of the Tugboat were very lucky to have been rescued so quickly in those frigid waters. While mistakes can happen when humans try to get out location  coordinates in panicky emergency situations working electronic systems like AIS are dispassionate and will keep broadcasting the GPS coordinates until the power is lost. In this case it saved four lives. Thanks to Captain Kils and another boat in the area and having an AIS transponder on the sinking boat.
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AMEC CAMINO-101 Class B AIS Transponder
Garmin AIS 600 Automatic Identification System Transceiver w/ Programming
Raymarine AIS650 Class B Transceiver - Includes Programming Fee

DESTINATION: THE OYSTER BAY OYSTER FESTIVAL; Part Three

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I woke up and did not make breakfast and just had my usual early morning coffee in the cockpit there would be plenty of food at the Oyster Festival and I did not want to destroy my appetite for it by filling up before hand. At least that was my plan. I took the launch into shore for a quick shower and returned to the boat just long enough to thrown the shower bag into the cockpit and rode the launch back to the docks to start my first day at the Oyster Festival. The sleepy tree lined street Audrey Ave I toured the day before:

Was now devoid of parked cars and filled with people and booths for the Oyster Bay Oyster Festival. Below is a shot on Audrey Ave on Friday afternoon the day before the festival:

Here is that same view on Saturday morning the first day of the festival:

Audrey Ave was lined with booths selling all kinds of stuff from posters and crafts to LP record albums. But, I was there strictly for the food. I personally did not need any more "stuff" on my boat as it is.
Though there was one item I did take back with me.  Some might look at this item given out by a New York State education program as free back pack for kids:

 I on the other hand looked at it as Ditch Bag that I can fill with items I needed to take should I ever have to abandon the boat. The yellow color also makes highly visible. Which is a good thing. I love free souvenirs that also have a useful purpose on board the boat.

Though the food choices were varied and tempting such as this booth specializing in pickles:

 My plan this morning was to look for seafood I was not going to be distracted by pickles, fried Oreos, hot dogs, burgers etc... Though there were plenty of seafood booths available:

My first goal was to have some raw Oysters for breakfast. It was not long before I found what I was looking for:

A booth where they were shucking Oysters and selling them as fast as they were opening them. 

Mission accomplished! I tried my breakfast Oysters with various accompaniments. Lemon, cocktail sauce and hot sauce all were quite good. Hard to imagine now but, as I read in the book The Big Oyster: History on the Half Shell  New York City use to have booths all over where people could grab a few fresh shucked Oysters as they easily as they find Hot Dog stands today.

  

Having had my breakfast Oysters I went in search of the second of my second cuisine goal of the day fried Oysters:

Again this did not require to much effort on my part and was also very tasty. With my primary food goals met I followed that up with a whimsical choice of Seafood Gumbo from another booth. By now I was full though somethings were still tempting. Like this booth selling a selection premium soda flavors:

 including a pewter mug with free refills. But, I resisted though I thought the pewter mug might come in hand on board BIANKA holding the contents of an ice filled rum concoction on a hot summer day. But, too late for that now maybe next year.

 After several hours of walking around I began to get tired and so I started to make my way back to the marina. The nice thing about attending the Oyster Festival by boat is one can easily head back for a nice afternoon nap. Though I was done with the Oyster festival for today the Festival was not done with me. For a few hours later I was treated to a wonderful fireworks show that was especially nice to see from BIANKA's location in the harbor:

That was a nice way to cap my first day at the Oyster Festival. But, I still had other plans for the second day which I will post about next.

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CLICK HERE FOR THE OYSTER BAY OYSTER FESTIVAL:Part Two

CLICK HERE FOR THE OYSTER BAY OYSTER FESTIVAL: Part Four

  

BARS AND BOATS

Bars and boats just seem to go together. Especially as gathering places for sailors to get together. Last week I was out on the eastern end of Long Island enjoying a few days on the beach and stopped into the East Hampton Point restaurant overlooking Three Mile Harbor for lunch which has taken that boat and bar concept to the extreme:

With a 5.5 meter former Olympic sailing yacht named Jade located right inside the bar.

BUH BYE SANDY!

"Sandy has been retired from the official list of Atlantic Basin tropical cyclone names by the World Meteorological Organization’s hurricane committee because of the extreme impacts it caused from Jamaica and Cuba to the Mid-Atlantic United States in October 2012. "- NOAA

No complaints from me. Even though I was one of the lucky ones. The day after Sandy hit I found BIANKA over a thousand feet away from where I last saw her the morning before. She was still attached to the mooring just not where I left her.  Here is some video I took of Long Island Sound in the morning before Sandy hit. Already Long Island Sound waters had covered the beach and were starting to crash onto the parking lot:


Here is a short video of me just barely making it off the spit area as the rising waters covered the roadway leading away from the harbor:

500 FEET OF SEPARATION

With BIANKA stored safely away for the winter I've been wondering what was going on around BIANKA as Sandy hit the area. I wish I knew when she made her move across the harbor.  I know she was still at the same location at 11 AM Monday October 29th the day the storm hit. On Tuesday morning she was located over one thousand feet to the southwest still attached to her mooring and floating thankfully. Looking around on You Tube I found footage of what was going on just two miles down the coast from were BIANKA was moored and what the conditions were like on Long Island Sound which was just across the road from where BIANKA was located:






Watching this footage reminds me how lucky BIANKA was. Just 500 feet of a low lying spit of land separated the mooring field where BIANKA was from these conditions. She was protected from the brute force of Sandy but, could not hold on when the storm surge became too great with the the northeast winds of Sandy continually flooding water into the harbor.  I was thinking that maybe a well protected cove located inside of Port Jefferson Harbor might have been a better place to be as it was protected by high bluffs from the north, east and south as shown here:

But, after looking at this video that might not have be such a good idea after all:



No doubt the coastline has changed and there has been a lot of erosion but, to see what the Sound is like in more normal conditions this flyover video of the area shows how the normally rocky beaches (those that are still there)  have ironically become rather "Sandy". While the video below shows how some areas have no beach at all anymore:

  

Now we wait to see if the winter storms will create further changes.

THE UNOFFICIAL END OF ?

As I mentioned I had to leave BIANKA back in late August just before Hurricane Irene hit. I returned two weeks later.  I spent a day removing all the preparations I had put in place for the storm and also reinstalled the anchor it it's proper place in the bow. All this in order to head out on a late summer cruise to New York.  I left early one morning escorted out the harbor by some of the local lobster boats heading out to check their traps. I sailed all day toward Oyster Bay. I arrived in late afternoon. It was a gorgeous summer evening. But, something felt different as I sailed into the entrance to Cold Spring Harbor.  There were no boats around. It  first struck me as odd that none were sailing on such a nice evening. Then I remembered it's after Labor Day. The "unofficial end of summer". That is if your listen to the mainstream media. I felt sad for those who take their word for it and put away their sailing shoes for the season. But, I  rejoiced as I saw one sailboat suddenly appear to enjoy the sunset scene with me. The solo skipper sailed by the anchored BIANKA and we waved to each other. I called out to him "summers not over yet eh"  I took this photo as he sailed by and headed toward  the sunset:

It's just too bad so many others are not enjoying scenes like this. Just because some electronic talking head has told them summer is over. I checked my calender and it just ain't so.

PURPLE RAIN

Looking at the 50 knot wind speed probabilities this morning showing the Isle of Long with a 100% chance of having 50 knot winds is not pleasant to see but, of course not unexpected.

 

I have the Prince song Purple Rain playing in my head at the moment. I'm not a big Prince fan and I can't really express how I feel about Irene at this point. I've been on in BIANKA sailing in gale conditions and she did well by me. What I don't know is how she will do attached to a mooring in those same conditions. It is going to be a long day.

BLOG UPDATE 9:00 AM : Checking on some buoys in Long Island Sound looks like the winds have mostly been a steady 30 knots with gusts to 45 or so. Looks like tides are about 4.5 feet over prediction.  Not good but, not terrible either. I hope those numbers go down from here as the storm comes ashore. Things seem to be going in the right direction though. My optimism is rising.

BLOG UPDATE 12:46 PM  Checking the buoys shows the winds at Execution Rocks out of the north and only gusting to 35 knots. While further east the buoys are still gusting to 50 knots and out of the south. So it looks like Irene is moving on. My cell phone has not rang and that's good news too. Though I'll probably have to wait until tomorrow morning to find out how BIANKA fared before I start doing the happy dance.

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THE CALM BEFORE THE STORM

Spent most of yesterday on board. It was a beautiful cloudless windless day. A fine summer day in August.  It would be hard to predict what was coming from these conditions. It was a tad humid and hot and as a result I took a few swims in between prepping the boat for the arrival of Hurricane Irene. I got a email from Bob who writes the BOAT BITS blog and who recently had some sundowners on board his boat while the eye of the same Irene passed over St. Criox a few days ago. He mentioned that Jeff Masters at Weather Underground said the eye wall of Irene was weakening. Meaning that the storm was not strengthening. That good news was tempered with my talk with the guys at the boatyard who said that during Hurricane Gloria the last storm to directly hit the Isle of Long there were 100 boats on the beach. I'm trying to make sure that BIANKA is not going to be one of them after this storm.
There were a number of owners out preparing their boats but, not everyone. Some were just wrapping their sails up.  While others like myself and those on the moorings around me where taking them off completely.

Funny how an approaching storm can get one to focus on those little projects that one has not gotten to on board. Like replacing the temporary cable tie that was holding up one of the solar bimini frames.

I had the eye strap on board for over a week and did not get around to installing it. Irene got me focused on making sure it was installed. Cable ties are useful things on a boat. But, trusting them to hold up in Hurricane conditions is asking too much from them.

I also secured some of the wiring for the solar panels that was on my to do list too.
While on board I decided to do add some additional attachment to the mooring beyond the primary and secondary mooring line.  I was worried about my Bruce anchor which hangs over the bowsprit  could catch on an errant boats life lines or pushpit and could drag BIANKA along with it or cause a lot of damage. So I removed the anchor and stowed it below. I then used the anchor chain to act as a the "all hell breaks loose" third pennant to the mooring chain. I shackled it to a different link than the line pennants with a shackle and a swivel. It's always good to have a number of shackles of various sizes on board.

They may cost a few sheckles but, in situations like this they are priceless!  I'm also glad I took the time last year during Hurricane Earl to use some Tef Gel on the shackle threads. This made them able to unscrew easily when I needed them. I also wrapped and secured the chain around the mast. This made sure that the Sampson Post was not the only point on the bow recieving the stress from the storm pull. I feel with the anchor chain now secured to the mooring system BIANKA my drag onto the beach but, it will be taking it's mooring with it. I added some anti chaffing to the existing lines and adjusted the anti sail bow drogue I used last year while riding out Hurricane Earl in three Mile Harbor. I stayed on board until about 10:30 pm exhausted and tired having done everything I could think of to make sure BIANKA would still be floating come Monday. Now I only have to watch and wait for the storm to arrive.

AND IT GET'S SUCKIER!

This latest track shows Irene moving a little toward the west putting most of the Isle of Long and my location on the nastier side of the storm. Spent this morning adding an additional line to the mooring. I'll be back on board tomorrow to finish up. I took some tools off the boat and some electronics.  I'm also facing the reality there is a chance I may lose the boat with this storm. When I rode out Hurricane Earl last year at anchor I was more confident in the situation. I had plan A, B, C & D ready. But, back on the mooring I only have one shot with plan A. Even if that works there are hundreds of other boats in the harbor whose owners may have no plan at all.  Which could make all my plans moot if they drag into the BIANKA. I am optimistic but, also resigned that nature also has it's plan A.

WELL, THIS KIND OF SUCKS!

This is one of those times when I hope the NOAA people get it wrong. Expecting tropical storm conditions on the Isle of Long for the weekend. I guess the good news is they are not calling for Hurricane conditions. At least not yet.

LESSON LEARNED: Fear and Panic in East Hampton

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"I understand that fear is my friend, but not always. Never turn your back on fear. It should always be in front of you, like a thing that might have to be killed."-Hunter S.Thompson

I was thinking about a situation that occurred last year after I rode out Hurricane Earl in East Hampton's Three Mile Harbor . A few days later I decided to leave and head back to BIANKA's home port before the winds shifted in a few days. Looking at the Eldridge Tide and Pilot  book I knew I would have to get an early start to make sure I would make it through Plum Gut with a favoring current. So I awoke at 3:45 am and got ready to head out.  Normally I would start my Honda 2000 generator to power the 12 volt  battery charger. This helps lighten the load on the 12 volt battery bank when using the electric windlass. But, since it was the middle of the night and I did not want to disturb the other boats around me I just used the battery bank and windlass alone to raise the anchor.  After that was done I silently used my electric propulsion system to move the boat to the channel that lead to Gardiners Bay. When I was in the channel I fired up the Honda and  plugged in the 48 volt Zivan charger for the propulsion bank. I watched as the lights  came on that told me it was putting out some amps into the bank. I then turned on my Pro Mariner 12 volt 30 amp charger to help replenish the amps lost from raising the anchor. Everything was fine for a few minutes when all of a sudden I heard the Honda sputter and then rev just a little, It was still running but, I glanced at the indicator light for the 48 volt Zivan charger and it was out. Panic spread over me. I though the charger had died or at the very least a fuse had blown inside. What should I do? Do I continue in the hope that I don't need the charger to help provide the extra power for the propulsion bank. I do have a back up charger that I can use to charge the bank but, it can't be used  to help propel the bank like the ZIVAN NG-1 can. Do I turn around and go back and anchor to work on the problem? If I do I will probably miss the favoring current at Plum Gut.  I had a few fearful moments as I pondered what I should do.  I hated the idea of missing the current at Plum Gut because it might mean I would have to wait out several days until the wind shifted again. On the other hand having a fully operational auxiliary propulsion system was important too and since I was sailing alone it would be hard to work on it while underway. It turns out that my initial fears were entirely misplaced. There was nothing wrong with the 48 volt Zivan Power supply at all. In fact all systems were working fine. It took me a few minutes after my initial panic to figure out what had happened. What had actually happened is the circuit breaker on the Honda Generator had tripped. When that happens the generator does not stop running. The breaker just trips and stops supply power to the outlets. So in my mind when I heard the generator still running and saw that the lights for the 48 volt Zivan power supply were out I assumed there was something wrong with the charger. But, why did the breaker trip? Because I only used battery power to the windlass when raising the anchor I had drawn down the 12 volt battery bank a little more than usual. So when I was using the generator to charge that bank and then also plugged in the 48 volt Zivan charger it was too much current draw for the generator so the breaker tripped. The solution was to reset the breaker and just either charge the 12 volt bank or use the 48 volt Zivan charger but, not both. Which is what I did and happily I made it through Plum Gut before the current change and learned a lesson once again about not panicking when something goes wrong because it may not be as bad as you first think it is.
 

 "Everthings gonna be alright."- Bob Marley
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GOODBYE EARL!

Goodbye Earl by the Dixie Chicks is a rather annoying yet disturbing pop song that probably should only be listened to once. Likewise Hurricane Earl was an annoying yet disturbing weather system that should also only be experienced once if you are lucky. BIANKA and I were. Though I think my being pro-active in preparations for the storm did help too. Unlike the Dixie Chicks song which seems to condone murder as a solution to ones problems. I choose fight Earl enlisting the services of Bruce the 33 lb Bruce anchor who along with 100 feet of chain held Earl off very well all day and into the night. Even so I had the two Danforth Bros lying on each side of the deck waiting to join the fray if Bruce was not able to handle Earl by himself.

I was also pleased with the performance of the new and improved solar dodger as it made sitting in the cockpit a little more comfortable  on anchor watch at the height of the storm and did not threaten to fly away in the stronger gusts of wind. The fender in front of the hatch also kept driving rain from flooding down the main hatch when entering and leaving the cockpit. It was also handy to have in that location in case another boat started dragging too close to BIANKA and I could use it to fend off another boat. I am glad to say it was not needed for this function.

I was up until 1 AM before I felt comfortable enough to go to sleep. Throughout it all I did not ever think things were getting dangerous or that something would fail. My plan A worked though I did have a plan B and C and if all hell broke loose plan D. Still, I'm very happy this sun shiny morning to be able to say goodbye Earl.