Hunkered down for Bill

Little Burin, Newfoundland

August 23, 2009

The last 36 hours have felt like we've been in a neck and neck America's Cup Race. We've been tweaking sails, kicking the motor in for a course lift (OK that part wasn't American's cup racing), basically doing everything possible to get tucked in somewhere before Hurricane Bill hits. Of course he's changed his mind and instead of heading for the Avalon, he's headed for the Burin Peninsula, right where we're headed!

So we're looking for a perfect, snug hidey hole and hoping Bill's strength will diminish before he gets here. The fish plant at Little Burin seems to offer the right mix. We passed by the rusting hulk of 3 draggers at least 100 feet each and tied up to a huge wharf on the back side of the plant which should act as a wind shield. It's a little cove so there's not much room for waves to build up.

We got busy stripping everything we could off the boat: sails, kayak, jerry cans of water & fuel, it all got tucked up under the plant. Alun, single-handing aboard SV Sarah a 1966 fiberglass boat, came in and began to make his preparations. From St. John's, he'd been up to Labrador and was about at the end of his summer cruise. It was encouraging to have another cruiser to discuss tactics with and share some of the work.

These tires caused us a lot of concern. We started playing that "what if" game. "What if we're pinned against the dock with the gunwale under the tires, then the tide comes up and we're basically pinned under the tires with the water rising?" or "What if we're pinned against the tires and they snap our shrouds (those are the thin steel cables that hold up our mast)?" You know just little thoughts like that.

Our solution, haul these massive tires up onto the wharf. Not as simple as it sounds. We used the halyard tied around a tire with one of us guiding it and one raising it.

Two tires have become Andante's fenders so hopefully they'll ride up as we ride up. It's a very protected spot and we feel good about it as a place to ride out the storm.

The strategy that's evolved is to stay loosely tied to the dock with the stern closer in and the bow out at a 45 angle. Our Manson Supreme Anchor, our primary anchor, is going off the bow and our 2nd anchor, a Bruce, is going off amidships to keep us pulled away from the dock. Added to that the guys on the big fishing ship have loaned us a bunch of huge fenders. Andante looks a little like those science class experiments where you try to design cushioning around an egg and drop it from the 2nd story. If your egg doesn't break, you win.

Alun had a local friend that loaned him a car and we all went into Marystown for pizza.

Bill is set to hit here around midnight -2am. Sunday/Monday night. Which beg two questions:

Why do these things always hit in the middle of the night?

and

Couldn't the National Hurricane Center have come up with a better name than Bill?

Andante stripped down! The name on that big boat behind us . . .Katrina.