Hunkering Plans

Valcour Island, New York
44 38 49 N 073 24.42 W 

Yesterday I sent an email to my friend Dave in Melbourne, FL. “Time to hunker down for the hurricane,” I said. He replied, “You may see more wind up there in New York than we do here.” Listening to today's forecast, he may be right.

First, family news. Over the weekend at Jenny's house, we had a visit from my son Dave from North Carolina, and from our granddaughter Sara. We had lots of fun. It made a great weekend. Sara rode back to North Carolina for a visit with Dave and Cathy. That puts all three of them in the path of Irene. That is only a slight worry for them however, Zebulon NC is far enough away from the coast that they should not get much more than heavy rain.

Then, Irene may come to land again at New York City and head for Vermont. That's us. Time for us to think about a hurricane hole.

So what is an appropriate hurricane hole for us as opposed to just ducking heavy weather. We are on a lake, so storm surge is not a factor. The main, and telling difference is that if we get a direct hit, the winds may clock around from all directions.

Right now, we are in a marvelously secure place on Valcour Island. What a nice place to be. I've used the phrase “marooned in paradise” too often on this blog, but it applies. We are well sheltered from wind and waves from the South, West and North, but exposed to the East. I think we'll move. Move where? Deep Bay, The Gut, Willsboro Bay, and Porter Bay are my best candidates. Otter Creek offers great shelter from wind and waves, but it will be subject to flash flooding.

Proximity to other boats is also a factor. In tough conditions I worry more about the other boat breaking loose than our boat doing the same. In that respect, Porter Bay is best.

Don't get me wrong, I'm thinking precautions, not panic. We are 200 miles from the coast. Any storm will be greatly diminished in strength before arriving here. Also, chances are that it will go up the coast rather than coming here. In 2005, we sat behind the Statue of Liberty waiting for Hurricane Wilma to hit us. It passed well to the east and we did fine.

We have several friends in Maine this summer including the vessels Carpe Diem and Robin. I expect them to do fine. Maine has numerous hurricane holes, so I'm not worried about them either.

However, I am spooked in one respect. Hurricane Hugo hit South Carolina on September 10, 1989. I do not want to arrive in the Carolinas before the 20th or in the Chesapeake before the 12th of September, just to avoid the peak hurricane weeks. We would like to go to a Westsail rendezvous near Annapolis on the 16th. That makes for a narrow window. We'll see how things turn out.