She's Still Standin'

The last fews days have been a flurry of events getting ready for Hurricane Hermine.

Last night was probably one of the longest I've ever spent. After doing all that I could do to ready Annie, I left her behind to drive to Tallahassee to stay with my elderly mother during the storm. Tallahassee is only 59 miles away from Carrabelle but it might as well have been cross-country. As I watched the updates on the Weather Channel and especially as the Weather Channel had a truck in Carrabelle, I felt helpless.

Though the storm was going to make landfall directly at Carrabelle, as I watched the reporter on TWC, I noticed the wind didn't appear so strong; I was hopeful. Because Carrabelle was on the Northwest side of the storm, the winds and rain were considerably lighter; most of the storm's force was on the Southeast and East side. I was still concerned that the stands that kept Annie upright would give way under Hermine's 80+ MPH winds and Annie would fall on her side. As the night progressed, Tallahassee went dark; 80 percent of the city's power grid was dead and the capital of Florida spent a very long and dark night waiting for daylight. Needless to say, I did not sleep well.

Power outages are in red,... still dark as of this posting!

At 7:00 AM I left Tally and headed for The Forgotten Coast, (tough it was far from forgotten in the mind of this sailor). The normal hour and fifteen minute drive took over two. None of the traffic signals worked and there were lots of confused drivers out. Most of them were just curious, a few were working, some were electric company employees, some were trying to get down to the coast to check their homes, and at least one was trying to get down to his boat.

The rest of the story is in pictures...

Finally, as I rounded the turn at the marina...

She's still standin'.

Fair seas and God bless.