There hasn't been much action so far but the rain is constant. Sometimes heavy, but mostly just steadily falling.
The wind has picked up too. Every now and again the boat heels over a few degrees and rocks back. Sometimes it has a bit of a bucking action. This is still mild and we expect far worse.
Up on the ridges we can see the trees are being whipped around, but we are very sheltered here.
The windows in the pilothouse have all misted up because we're warm in here and it's so cold outside.
We were going through the boat making sure all the port holes are screwed down. We have 18 heavy cast bronze ones with 2 wing nuts each. Nobody makes stuff like this these days. Up in the V-berth area I could hear the lines creaking as the boat pulls against them and I had a flashback.
As a kid we used to play pirates and I can remember the imaginary sounds of the ship so clearly. I can't believe how real it was in our minds back then, and how accurate.
Ok, this post could take a little while. Sandy has decided we need some comfort food and has been busy in the galley. A big bowl of popcorn has arrived next to me, but not ordinary popcorn. This popcorn means you have to lick your fingers after every mouthfull. It's got crushed cookies and cream, and white chocolate!
The sad news this morning is that Hurricane Sandy has sunk the Bounty. This ship was a replica of Captain Bligh's original Bounty and was built in the 1960s for the filming of Mutiny on the Bounty, with Marlon Brando as Fletcher Christian. She was also used more recently in some of the Pirates of the Caribbean movies. She went down somewhere around the Cape Hatteras/Cape Fear area. They abandoned ship when they were taking water faster than they could pump. Two people are missing, thought to be out there in a liferaft. The rest were picked up from 2 other life rafts by US Coastguard helicopters.
There are going to be some difficult questions for the captain to answer. He headed out knowing they were going to have to contend with Hurricane Sandy. It seems like it may be a case of a corporate owner saying stick to the schedule, whereas the captain should make the call for the safety of the ship and crew. The final decision is always his.
Here are a few pictures of the Bounty, the leaves of autumn that won't be there 36 hours from now, getting the boat ready, and current conditions outside, and in!
Just think how much better life would have been for all mankind if Noah had had a simple fly swatter!
Until next time...