Waiting for Earl

There was no wind; the calm was eerie.  All craft were nosing south expectantly.  To our front, the largest sailboat in the anchorage had both masts up-lit and looked like some medieval warhorse.  A dense New England fog settled into the small harbour just on dusk and a few boat owners fidgeted with last-minute mooring or anchor line adjustments.  It seemed like, and was indeed, the calm before battle.  An advance party of strong winds, gusting 45 to 60kts was expected at midnight. We were waiting for Earl... 

Somes Harbor

We had been following, as best we could, reports on Earl as he whirled his way up the east coast.  The Cap’n had pinpointed the destructive eye on our charts and had spent almost two days preparing for the worst.  Earl was forecast to hit Cape Cod and then move down east (NE) to the Maine coast.  That’s exactly where we were.  Isn’t it odd that we’ve been dodging hurricanes for 2 seasons in the Caribbean now and finally, when we pop out of that acknowledged hurricane box*, one comes to find us.  Aagggghh!

We had arrived in Southwest Harbour, Mt Desert Island in Maine and the news of Earl’s progress stunned us.  Our friendly Harbourmaster advised us to seek better shelter, in Northeast Harbor if we could.  But all moorings were taken. (It was Labor Day weekend after all.)  Kindly, Dickie Beal (of Beal’s Lobsters) recommended, when we re-fuelled and re-watered at his lobster dock, staging ourselves up Somes Sound in better protected (& muddy bottomed) Somes Harbor.  Off we went, then and there.  Lucky because we were in and set (on two tandem anchors and 200 feet of chain) before stragglers and late-comers tried to snuggle into this tiny protected harbor. 

Same view (as above) with fog as Earl approached

The Cap’n went off to get a few supplies and an internet connection.  Bad luck, Somesville is little more than a few pretty cottages.  He then set about taking down sails and clearing the decks, taking the motor off Bruce and other measures to “hurricane-proof” as best we could.  At worst, Earl’s eye was currently reading 90kts, gusting 110kts (say that slowly) and at best, we could look forward to 60kt gusts.  Thank goodness for Skymate.  We were able to download regular (12hr) NOAA weather reports for this specific area and data on Earl’s progress.  To add to the drama, GS had twisted her ankle at the fuel dock and was now incapacitated.  Surely her bad temper was enough to scare Earl away?  The Cap’n wanted to leave home too – except he’d probably either starve or face a diet of 2 minute noodles & canned corned beef.  Facing Earl seemed a far brighter proposition…

Cold Water Swim

Our after-dinner weather update brought us better news – well, sort of.  Earl was slowly running out of puff and our Tropical Storm Warning, though still in effect, had forecast winds 40 – 45kts.  Thankfully too, our hurricane hole proved perfect.  Around midnight, winds tore over us; we could hear roaring as the wind rushed through high pine forests, sounding for all the world like a giant steam train.  Those marvellous mountains of Mt Desert Island directed the flow of winds over and above us.  Rain beat in but we stayed quite dry, only a couple of hatches leaked.  Bruce filled to the gunnels with fresh water – and our house-proud Cap’n is now using it to swab the decks, making WJ3 and Bruce shine.  We’re grateful Earl amounted to little more than a storm in our locale but both agreed preparations were well worth the effort.

* The hurricane box is reputed, for insurance purposes, to be below Grenada (since Ivan 2004) at 12N and above 35N (Cape Hatteras & Cape Lookout, NC).   Deltaville VA where we stored WJ3 is at 37N.  Maine (where we are now) is 44N.  Since 1851, only 15 major hurricanes (about one every ten years) have leapt outside this box to damage areas above the North Carolina/Virginia border.  The last one was Alex in 2004.  It seems that record high temperatures and unseasonably warm waters beckoned storms further north this year.

From: Southwest Harbor, ME  Lat/Long: 44 16N  68 18W  Date/Time: 2/9/10: 1100

To: Somes Harbor, ME  Lat/Long: 44 21N  68 19W  Date/Time: 2/9/10: 1220

Time Taken: 6nm (1.5hrs)  Distance (this year): 818nm (155.5hrs)

Distance Total (since 2008): 4458nm  (854.5hrs)   Fastest Speed: See Note**

Weather: Winds SE 5-10kts; Seas 3ft; seas followed by a quick tropical storm to drench us

(** Motored up Somes Sound on a mission!)