10th
September 2017
Today I am starting
our unofficial hurricane watch.
I have watched two
major hurricanes come over the Atlantic and hit the Caribbean and USA
mainland. It has been painful to watch from a distance. Checking the
weather this morning I suddenly realised it might not be from a
distance any more. We use four weather models when we are sailing.
Grib files are compressed weather files. Predict Wind has been our
weather Bible while we crossed the Atlantic and old habits die hard
so we still consult the web site on a daily basis. We also use
Passage Weather and Wind Finder. It is very difficult to predict the
weather along the east coast of America. Cape Hatteras seems to act
as an incubator for weather storms and various other points act as
catalysts. Therefore, 48 hours seems to be the longest time in which
weather can be accurately predicted.
Checking the weather
this morning, I realised that three of the four models have hurricane
Jose coming North. Oh dear. So, hence the start of the hurricane
watch on Ruby Tuesday. Hurricane Jose/Jage seems to wander around the
edges of the Caribbean for the next few days then strikes North with
a vengance. First of all I should explain. Hurricane Jose has been
renamed Hurricane Jage by a couple of very young sailors of our
acquaintance. The girls are part of the lovely family who sail
Emerald Bay. Jage is the skipper of a Cat who is part of our Whats
App Group. He sails with his wife and two adorable children. We all
love Jage. He is a plain speaking Scotsman who is always organising a
party or clearing up after a party. He thrives on adventure, doesn’t
understand the meaning of “can’t”, loves meeting people and we
all love him. But, as the girls quite rightly point out he’s a
hurricane so Hurricane Jose is now Hurricane Jage.
Back to my hurricane
watch, three out of the four models we use daily says the hurricane
is coming north. Two of them indicate that it will skirt the USA East
Coast and hit Halifax in Canada. One says it will be a direct hit on
the New York area. As I have already explained it is very difficult
to predict weather here so I am taking the threat seriously.
Hurricanes move slowly, maybe 10 to 15 mph which is good when you are
waiting for one, not so good when you are experiencing it. It gives
you time to prepare, find a hurricane proof anchorage/mooring
ball/marina, take all the canvas off the boat and batten down the
hatches then find a nice hotel room to watch the storm go by. We have
already identified a couple of likely places. The problem is so has
everyone else. Do we hurry along and make sure we get a prime space
then look stupid when the hurricane changes it path and swings back
out to the Atlantic. Or do we take our time and find the place is
over crowded and more dangerous because of that and put Ruby in
danger of being damaged by other boats as well as the winds.
At the moment we are
making our way sedately along Long Island Sound towards Port
Washington or Atlantic Highlands. We have a week to ten days before
the potential winds reach here. I’ll keep you posted if we have
made the correct decision or not.
11th
September
Update of my
Hurricane Jage watch. So far so good. We are about 30 miles from our
“safe” place and should be there by tomorrow or Wednesday
depending if the wind blows. Remember, I’m Scottish and old habits
die hard, why use costly fuel when you can be propelled by free wind.
The weather forecast is saying it will be breezy (30 – 40 mph) next
Monday and Tuesday but that’s the worst scenario. We have seen
worse on the West coast of Scotland but we are still taking no
chances. I think a nice wee rest in Port Washington will do us both
good – get the washing done and stock up with vital food stuff for
the cellar and of course a few more visits into New York. The wind
will bring torrential rain for those two days but Ruby does need a
wash and my sister in law gave me loads of books so we’ll just
hunker down and keep dry.
Everything looks far
more positive tonight. I might get a decent nights sleep.
12th
September 2017
Day 3 of Hurricane
Jage watch. The weather models now have Hurricane Jage wandering
about aimlessly until the weekend then heading North. The most the
New York area will get is about winds of 35mph, which we are used to
coping with. In fact I think the UK will get worse winds than this
area so don’t hang out your washing without checking the weather
forecast in three weeks time. We are still heading for Port
Washington. Another crisis has struck the crew of Ruby Tuesday or
should I say specifically the skipper. Remember the 12+ cases of beer
bought before we left St Augustine? Well the last of them has been
opened. There has been the gnashing of teeth and the rolling of eyes
while he tried to work out where it was most convenient to restock.
Port Washington has a dingy dock across the road from a huge grocery
store. Problem solved, crisis adverted.
The next adventure
we have to plan is an overnight trip from Atlantic Highlands to Cape
May, out in open water. The forecast wind in this area is not high
but Hurricane Jage will be passing off shore which will cause huge
swells along that coastal area, another problem to be solved or do we
have the patience to wait for every thing to calm down?
Are you on tender
hooks for the next thrilling installment of “Life as a Sea Gypsy”?
17th
September 2017
OK, I have been a
little bit complacent about these hurricanes – yes, these
hurricanes, Jage, Lee and Maria. There are now another two developing
and one of them may be more troublesome than Jage has been so far.
Today we made the
decision to move from Port Washington to Atlantic Highlands. Both are
comparatively sheltered but Port Washington will be more comfortable
in the forecasted NE wind. The decision was made partly because the
predicted winds of Jage have dropped in this area and also there is a
U.N. summit in New York this coming week. This means the East River
will be closed off to all traffic between 9am and 9pm. The East River
is the water between Long island and New York. It becomes very narrow
as it approaches the city and just before Roosevelt Island three
bodies of water meet creating the well named Hells Gate. The passage
through Hells Gate has to be timed so that you are moving with the
current or the boat will be going backwards even at full throttle. Do
it right, which we have now done twice she says very smugly, the boat
can get a push of 5 to 6 knots, do it wrong and you stand still for
an eternity.
Back to the U.N.
summit. The U.N. building stands on the shore overlooking East River
therefore that part of the water is closed when the important guys
turn up because of security. We didn’t fancy doing the passage at
midnight and it will be closed during the day so the choice was go
today or wait until next weekend and maybe miss the good winds to
take us down to Delaware. So we went and now we are anchored in
Atlantic Highlands with four other boats who took the plunge.
It was the correct
decision this morning now we are not so sure. The forecast has
totally changed again and hurricane Jage may be edging closer to the
east coast of America. It also may pass then do a sweeping circle and
creep back on us. Not good. Even the Hurricane Centre is not sure
what is going to happen in the next few days so it’s a game of wait
and see. The more interesting thing is hurricane Maria is following
in Jage’s footsteps and could be here next weekend after playing
havoc with the Virgin Islands. If we get strong NE winds there is a
tiny little anchorage a couple of miles away which would have better
shelter than here so we are not completely panicking.
The next decision
will be made on Wednesday afternoon, after the initial pass of
hurricane Jage. Do we go before it might turn back and before Maria
reaches us or do we stay tucked in out of danger? Who said sailing
was all white culottes and cocktails?
