Swift

Sailing into Tropical Storm Colin

We left Miami in order to make our way north and get to a safe harbor for hurricane season. Our first stop on our way north put us right in the path of a tropical storm. What larks!

Monday, June 6th, 3PM.

Eating storm brownies. I’ve lived in Florida for 21 years, and every time there is a hurricane my fellow Floridians rush out to the store and fight over water and the last tin of Spam. My family never could figure out why we had to hit people and then queue up to buy tinned food we didn’t want, so always made brownies for storms. It’s a tradition!

Baking brownies on the boat
Hurricane Brownies
3:30PM. There’s a tornado warning for Nassau County. Wait, is that us? What county are we in? What kind of people don’t know where they are? Also, what day is it? Thursday? Sunday?

That morning, we woke up and moved from our mooring to a marina. As we turned in to the marina entrance, we were hit with a wall of water from the sky. Luckily, no one was harmed during docking, and Hastings supervised our 4 or 5 attempts to get the lines and fenders just right.

Sailing Amelia River
Relocating down the river
Hastings the boat dog watches the dock in the rain
Supervising dock lines
When we checked in at the marina, we asked if someone could take a look at our Yamaha (the dinghy engine that wouldn’t). Within 20 minutes, Henry showed up in the rain to our slip, helped Matt get the engine off, and took it off to their shop. Amazing! They identified the issue and have ordered the part. Matt doesn’t enjoy rowing against a current, or the people who line up on the docks to call him a hero.

Back to the storm. At 4PM, we heard a strange noise from our hulls. Floating debris? Two manatees drinking rain water that was draining from our dinghy.

Manatees under our boat
Manatees under the boat!
Manatees under our sailboat
At 4:30, we had a squall producing 35 mph winds for a few minutes. That was it. It rained on and off all night, and by the morning it was clear.

Tropical Storm Colin, Amelia Island, FL
Rain
Hastings was un-impressed by the storm, but he’s loving dock life. There’s grass! On land! Right by the boat! There’s AC!

Hastings the boat dog weathers the storm
Hastings' 3PM thoughts on the storm
Hastings the boat dog weathers the storm
Hastings' 5PM thoughts on the storm
Hastings the boat dog weathers the storm
Hastings' 10PM thoughts on the storm
Hastings the boat dog weathers the storm
Hastings' 9AM thoughts on the storm

Coming up

Chilling in Fernandina Beach, St. Mary’s, Georgia, and Cumberland Island. Hastings is going to throw us under the bus again on Friday. Each week his trials and tribulations increase!
Watching the sunset from our Lagoon 380 sail catamaran
Watching sunset over the marshes
Sunset over the marshes
Sunset, the day after the storm


This is the story of Matt, Lucy and Hastings, the crew of the sailing vessel Dulcinea, a 1985 Cabo Rico 38.

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5 comments

  1. The Cynical SailorJune 8, 2016 at 11:43 AM

    Is that your Omnia you're making brownies in? Love the manatee pix :-)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Boat Life Larks - S/V DulcineaJune 8, 2016 at 3:39 PM

      It's the Omnia! We haven't used the actual oven since we bought it and sometimes even use it several times a day.

      Delete
  2. TheCambriansJune 8, 2016 at 1:03 PM

    I was going to ask the same question . . . that and why are you guys in Florida? We could always use plenty of storm brownies up here.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Boat Life Larks - S/V DulcineaJune 8, 2016 at 3:41 PM

      We love the Omnia. We've made baked mac n cheese, all sorts of cakes and breads, and even flatbread. Sure, its all round and flat, but it's quicker, more efficient, reliable, and puts less heat into the boat. We use it all time and haven't turned on our oven since we bought it!

      Delete
    2. Boat Life Larks - S/V DulcineaJune 8, 2016 at 3:45 PM

      Apparently Florida is a tough state to leave. We've always wanted to visit Fernandina Beach, FL and Cumberland Island National Seashore (which is just over the state line in Georgia) and figured it was a good stop to make on our way north.

      Delete

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