'Tis the Season again...the Atlantic Hurricane Season that is and we have been very lucky so far! Tropical depression number nine came off the coast of Africa and soon developed into tropical storm Isaac, which was forecast to become a hurricane sometime during its journey. The track came pretty close to the south coast of Puerto Rico and any slight adjustment to the north would get us into big trouble...so we decided to move Orion to the safe mangrove area near Salinas and wait out the storm there. We have done this in past hurricane seasons and know what to do now.
Here we are all tucked in into one of the mangrove channels :) To wait out a storm in the mangroves we set both a front anchor and a stern (back) anchor and also tie several lines from both sides of the boat to the mangrove roots...it's kind of like a spider web with Orion in the middle of the net :) The mangrove roots act like a big suspension coil, keeping the boat safe during hurricane force winds...well...at least that's what we hope and pray for. Luckily we have not had to experience the real thing and don't mind if it stays that way :)
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| The graphics are courtesy of NOOA |
Tropical storm Isaac thankfully turned slightly to the south when it passed beneath us, sparing us from the brunt of the storm...heavy winds and rain squalls hammered us for a few hours, but it could have been so much worse (!). Best of all...our newly fixed cockpit enclosure worked like a charm, giving us the added comfort of an "additional room"...waterproof and mosquitoproof :) Our stay in the mangroves was as comfortable as could be...we waited for Isaac's outer bands to diminish and emerged after three days to motor back to the marina. Good thing we are not on a schedule :)
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| Orion back at her slip at Marina de Salinas |
Back at Marina de Salinas we docked Orion in her slip, cleaned her up, and washed all the lines we used in the mangroves...here she is spic and span...ready for new adventures :) We pray that everybody in Isaac's path will fare as well as we did! God bless!
