It’s a bit of work getting the sails off and pulling halyards for winter mode but we are always happy that we’ve done it when storms arrive.
The Sunday after Christmas things were ramping up with wind and rain. The marina sent a weather warning out saying we may see 60 knot gusts over the following 3 days. It got to the mid 50’s with sustained 48 knots but there was no fetch and the boat did fine.
The big boats on the south side got the brunt of it. Waves and sea spray were crashing off the sea wall behind them and all over the parking lot.
Down by the cafes and restaurants, the surge had knocked several of the granite cap stones off the sea wall, which you could see in the water. We have had to drain the rain water out of the dinghy every other day, and periodically adjust the lines which stretch a bit.
In addition, we’ve had intermittent and impressive thunder, lightning, hail, and sudden calm stretches. During the calms we take walks, air the boat, and tackle a boat job. Todd rewired the new Harken brain on the main winch that was replaced under warranty by Harken, and arrived just before Christmas. More recently we added wiring for red courtesy lights on the lower outside corners of the cockpit, to illuminate the step up to the helms and down to the transoms. This area had been a bit dark and dodgy on night passages.
Two days ago we had a decent stretch of calm and got a good walk in before the rain returned (and got some pictures of the Black Pearl). The job of the day was adding more light in the galley which involved removing a ceiling panel. Problems weren’t anticipated as the panel we were working on was screwed into position, thus making it accessible. It was a bit disappointing to discover one section had been caulked into position. It took a little longer than planned, but the result was a good bright light over the stove and counter. I definitely appreciate any help with vision these days!