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| (from a couple of years ago) |
But we were not spared. Instead, it seems that the storms were only delayed, until December.
As my physical condition slowly improves, we have been spending the occasional night aboard Eolian - This weekend we had planned to spend two successive nites, Sunday and Monday.
(Now I must digress slightly. When we have strong winds in Anacortes, they almost invariably come in from the southeast. With our slip, this means that Eolian is pushed back and away from the dock. Normally this is a good thing, because we are not grinding the fenders between the hull and the dock.)
When we arrived on Sunday, the winds were in the teens, gusting into the 20s. With some difficulty, we were able to pull Eolian over to the dock so that we could load our stuff and board. But we made it. The nite was windy, but we both slept well, knowing that the boat was safe.
On Monday we planned to drive to Bellingham. But the winds were up even higher, gusting into the low 30s. It was everything I could do to get her over to the dock so we could debark.
We did our thing in Bellingham, as the wind continued to rise.
By the time we got back to the marina in the late afternoon it was literally screaming. Out at the end of the dock, I estimate that it was steadily in the upper 30 kt range, with gusts into well the 40s. The gap between Eolian and the dock was as wide as ever, but there was simply no way that we could have moved her close enough to board, especially given my enfeebled condition.
So with discretion being the better part of valor, we retreated back to our Camano Island home, and left Eolian to fend for herself, alone. We built a fire and enjoyed a glass of wind. And I felt guilty for having left our girl to fend for herself.
The wind laid this morning, and we drove back up to Anacortes. Eolian was fine with no damage. We were able to board, perform our normal shutdown duties, and retrieve our "stuff".
And the weather forecast says another storm is coming this evening...
* Apologies to Gordon Lightfoot