Rita No.10

16:33 CST, near Dayton, Texas

Communicatons Advisory.

Well before Rita's formal introduction, her enterouge sallies forth, announcing her immenent arrival via the usual litany of problems which accompany a major storm.

Having helped to prepare my host's home with plenty of duct tape on the glass, the removal of loose items from the yard and the securing of some seriously pissed-off outside cats in to carriers in the garage, we decided to see what it looked like in town.

A ten mile drive later, Dayton lay bare, evoking images of a ghost town from the big screen.  But this was no fantasy.  This is the reality of a population laying low, wary, ready.  But still, some pockets of life were to be seen.  The two police cars parked left side to left side, the officer's doors exactly opposite, so they could converse easily, neither having to unsaddle from their crusers.  A small cluster of people operating the Coke machines and the herd of cars at the three open-for-business bars we passed.

You can always count on a Texas bar to host a good hurricane party.  Might be dumb as a box of rocks to go out into the teeth of the gale for a drink, but this is Texas, dammit.  Ain't no wind gonna stop the party...hell, the wind makes the party!

These crowds ought to be pretty safe, eighty miles inland.  But many a reveler, from the Carolinas, round Florida and through the whole Gulf Coast have sacraficed themselves on the altar of reckless abondon, chewed thouroughly by the teeth of the storm as wind and wave succeed in the application of Darwinian theory.

Returning to the strong brick house which is their home, and my shelter, the fortelling of what is to come can be seen in the sky.  Clouds scudding low across the sky at dazzling speed, yet the wind on the ground is at most, twenty miles per hour or so. 

Like the misleading caress of a lover who who is destined to betray, Rita gently touches the trees and overhead lines; ordinarily a most soothing and mellow kind of day. 

Behind that gentleness though, roars the mouth of the dragon, and this way she soon flies.

About those swaying power lines.  The local telephone lines are there as well.  Given I'm online via dialup on those very wires, I expect that local telephone service will fail in the next few hours.  The cable TV has already vanished.  How long it will take crews to effect a restoration of phone service would require a crystal ball.  Mine broke a long time ago, so I'll venture no guesses there.

Even now, down in Houston, the radio reports losses of power in the Katy area, about fifty minutes West of town.  I'm sure it won't take terribly long for Rita to work her way this short distance North.

But I do want to state this:  I am in a very strong, very well built brick house.  There is ample food and water, and the propane tank outside will allow for weeks of steady cooking on the gas stove.  Which of course, can boil a vast amount of water, if need be.  And yes, there's water aplenty on the shelves here.

So, please DO NOT WORRY if you don't hear from me for a while.  Especially while Rita passes by, and perhaps for a few days thereafter.  I will find the means to communicate my wellness to the outside world, and in such a way that Rivrdog will get word, and be able to report such. 

As I think that cellular communications will be the least affected by the storm, should I not find internet access to be readily available, I'll call Rivrdog and give him that situation report to be posted.

So, no matter what breathless, "If it Bleeds it Leads" reports you get from the Chicken Little Media, kindly trust in my ability to survive, and that I give a damn enough to report that survival to you, just as soon as I can.

Considering all the availabe reports, I expect winds at about 80 to 90 mph in this area.  We get thunderstorms that hit that hard, albiet for mere moments instead of hours of howling gale.  But still, 90 mph is a hell of a lot more tolerable than 155+ miles per hour, both for building and beast.

Obviously, reporting from ashore makes this just another storm-blog, and there's plenty of damned good ones out there to be read.  But, my neighbor John has decided to remain aboard his gorgeous 44' ketch, which he built by himself from the keel up.  Only took sixteen years or so, and it's very obviously worth every minute and drop of sweat he's put into her.

He'll surely tell me a sea story of the storm from his vantage aboard a ship only a two-hundred feet distant from the New Dawn

And I'll surely realte that tale to you here.  I'm truly looking forward to hearing it, first hand.

If all is well, he'll be relating that experince over cold beers, as we sit aboard the Sloop New Dawn.

I'm looking forward to that.  I truly am.

Comments

[Caim]

Jim (or Mr. Rvrdog),

Does this sloop (I think it's a sloop, I'll admit I don't know much about ship classification) look familiar to you, or is that just (at this point) wishful thinking on my part? It looks pretty well secured.

[PromptCritical]

Basic Sailboat classification:

Cat Rig: Mainsail only
Sloop: Mainsail and Jib(Headsail attached between Main mast and bow)
Cutter: Like sloop, except area of headsail greater than area of mainsail
Ketch: Has another mast (mizzen) located between rudder post and main mast.
Yawl: (not redneck "y'all") mizzen mast located aft of rudder post.
Schooner: Looks like ketch, but forward mast (fore mast) is shorter than after mast (main mast), and can have up to seven masts.

[Rivrdog]

She looks to be well secured, but those long bow lines could be problematic, as they will have a huge amount of stretch, which will allow the stern quarter lins to go slack, and so the sloop may set up an oscillation that could break lines or cleats.

Were she my boat, those bow lines would have been replaced by chain anchor rode, which I would have cut and used splicing links to make of the right length. Chain has the advantage of weight, probably at least 100# per bow line, but no stretch at it's limit.

The chain would have held. Also, I would have rigged a bridle around the bow pulpit, taking advantage of the strength of the stem member, to hold that chain (not depending on cleats or fairleads which can break). since the stern will take only 15-20% of the strain of the bow, the cleats/fairleads can be used there.

All this advice depends on the skipper correctly guessing the direction of the worst wind gust and orienting the bow in that direction. You can't stand much side loading on a moored vessel in a hurricane.

[Rivrdog]

But, the worst thing I've navigated in was an 85 mph blow, so what do I know? That was in the Windstorm of November '95, in a Sea Sport 2400, a doughty little cabin cruiser (marine patrol craft) that I've also taken 2 hours of continuous green-water Columbia wind-swells of 7-9 feet in. As long as at least one of the two engines had rpm's, I was safer in that boat than on the beach.

Riverdog, listening, out.

[Darth Misha I]

Good to hear you're OK, brother Jim!

I was getting a bit worried here since I hadn't heard from or about you for so long.

Also, I was thrilled beyond belief when Rita turned and it looked like she might not hit New Dawn as hard as I'd feared.

Take care, hunker down, batten the hatches and I'll see ya on the other side :-)

[Tammy]

Good to here your even prepared where you are at Jim , you and your friends be safe!!

[Anne]

Glad to hear that you are okay, and that the storm calmed before it actually hit.

Take care!

[Thomas]

We can bring y'all some gas from Austin after all this.

[georgia]

Glad you're OK The other Ga stayed in the Alvin area found gas and everything the local Eagles stayed open as a shelter fun was had by all they never lost electricty. So I think the boat's OK

[MDL]

Good to know your safe Jim.