All Mariners Seek Refuge Immediately

Mattawoman Creek, Potomac River, MD
N 38 33.867 W 077 11.827

Yesterday we got a phone call from our friend Ken. Ken is a friend of Dean. Both Dean and Ken are fans of this blog. Way back when we were in Florida, Ken contacted us and said that he would like to meet when we get to North Carolina. We said sure. Poor Ken, it never worked out. We tried Beaufort, NC. We tried Oriental and New Bern and Elizabeth City as meeting points. No dice. Finally Ken read the blog and went to the Gangplank Marina in Washington hoping to meet us there. Alas, he got
there on Friday and we're not going to arrive until Sunday.

Last night's anchorage and tonight's are both afflicted with local varmints. I'm referring to Marines from the Quantico, VA marine base near here. These marines all have very small, very powerful, and very fast speed boats. They never seem to move at less than full throttle. They must get only 5 miles per gallon of testosterone. As long as they don't run into us I don't mind, but their close passes keep making us jump.

Our friend Les Pendleton said, "If you listen to NOAA weather reports, you'll never ever leave the dock with any boat." There's a lot of truth in that. Today a cold front is approaching. The weather radio says that there will be some thunderstorms. Some of the storms may be severe with damaging hail, damaging winds and risk of tornadoes. All mariners are warned to seek refuge immediately. So here we sit, at anchor in a refuge, waiting with anxiety for this end of the world event.

The truth is that almost none of those warnings are ever true. The storms are widely scattered, almost always less severe than they say, and not bad for Tarwathie to ride out. One thing -- Tarwathie is not a small craft. Another thing, severe thunderstorms tend to be over in 15 minutes, they are less than a threat than storms with sustained winds. Still $another thing, the weather alert always uses the word "may". Psychology dictates that we hear "will" when they say "may." They could also
say that an asteroid *may* strike the earth and destroy it. That would not be totally incorrect.

Our drill to prepare for severe thunderstorms is:
1) Take the sails down and tie them.
2) Find a place to anchor
3) Anchor securely
4) Take below anything that might blow away
5) Put all easily accessible electronics (computer, phone, radio, GPS) in the oven.
6) Close doors and hatches.
7) Stand by to do anchor watch.

The one thing we can't do, is the one thing that most land lubbers want most to do -- get off the water.