We are a small, happy family of four. My husband, a baby, a dog and me. My husband works on a yacht. A large, luxury megayacht which tends to be based in some fairly fabulous places. The thing is, where the boat goes, we go! When she was was just eight weeks old our daughter, Coco, boarded her first trans-Atlantic flight and since then we haven't stopped. This is a blog of our rather unusual yet adventurous life. No two days are the same.

Saturday, September 4, 2010

Blown Away!

Well - actually we haven't been and nor am I! After all of the excitement of the last couple of days I was really hoping to have a power-cut at the very least, but the effects of Hurricane Earl ended up being nothing more that a few car alarms going off in the middle of the night.

The preparation was by far the most interesting bit of the whole event. Yesterday Coco and I drove to Connecticut to pick up Angus and Uncle Gabes after they had taken the boat down to a hurricane hole there as a precaution. Our journey back to Newport was a little hairy, no wind but the most torrential rain. There was that sense of nervous tension in the air, something big was about to happen. I was relieved to get safely tucked-up at home with a fridge full of food, a box of candles and heaps of loo roll (Angus's biggest fear seemed to be running out of toilet paper!). I had spent the previous day cooking up a storm (excuse the pun) so that we wouldn't all go hungry - tortilla, chilli, muffins, cookies, hummus - we were ready for whatever Earl was going to throw at us!


I have to confess - I love a bit of drama. I hate that hurricanes can be so devastating and I am fully aware how dangerous they are, but the idea of being involved in something so powerful and out of control I just find electrifying. We'd been tracking Earl all day and reports indicated that we would start to experience the worsening weather from about 6pm. So, at about 4pm we donned our foul weather gear and hit the streets. Newport's shipyard was chock-a-block with boats that had be hauled out of the water in preparation of the storm. Those that were still in had literally battened down the hatches. I have never seen so many lines tied to the dock and some had even taped across the windows.




This weekend is a holiday weekend in the US and Newport is one of their busiest summer destinations. You wouldn't believe that a Bank Holiday Friday evening could be so quiet. There was nobody around (sensibly) and signs in shop windows read 'Closed - I've run for cover'. I loved it, having the streets to ourselves and the sense of anticipation.

We spent the evening going backwards and forwards to the window watching the trees... nothing. At 9pm we decided to have an early night as we suspected we may be up for part of the night at lease! Well, at about midnight the storm hit. I woke up because of the car alarms but Angus slept through the whole thing and I'm not surprised. We have definitely experienced much worse storms back in the UK.

This morning (very well rested after a full 10 hours sleep!!) we discovered that Earl have veered East and was categorised a mere Tropical Storm by the time it passed our latitude. However, despite all of this, why let the truth get in the way of a good story? I can hear the tale I will be telling my Grandchildren - "your Grandfather and I lived through the great Hurricane Earl of 2010, you remember that dear? Oh, that was a terrible night!"

5 comments:

  1. One of my most exciting experiences was about 12 years ago while living in Sydney when a freak hailstorm hit the city, causing £1 billion damage. The winds were just wild, the thunder was deafening, and the hailstones were insane!!! Our roof was cracked, and the skylight smashed in by a hailstone the size of a baseball. Afterwards the streets were covered in ice, tree branches and completely destroyed cars. It was frightening, but totally thrilling at the same time. My Dad lives in Christchurch, NZ, where the 7.4 earthquake struck last night, and when he rung to let us know he was OK, and I could hear the buzz in his voice too! There's just something exciting about getting through a potentially dangerous situation that you have no control over, isn't there?? As long as you're safe, of course, and no-one else is seriously hurt in the process. xx

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  2. Phew, thank goodness it didn't hit you guys. But I agree that there is something electrifying about wild weather. Your whole being is just on red alert and every sense is heightened. x

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  3. Gosh you handled it all really well. I have an armageddon phobia so I think I would completely plutz!

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  4. Glad it wasnt a bad storm! Me & the other half just watched the desperate housewives where it showed a hurricane hitting them and all he keeps going on about now is how cool it would be to have to hide from one! I think he forgets how dangerous they actually are!!

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  5. Hi! Just found your blog! We were excited about the Hurricane here on the coast of North Carolina. But it turned out to be nothing. The drama is always exciting though!

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