Sandy ... A Storm And A Lesson

As I watched the television last night from the comfort of my home, my heart went out to the many people affected by Hurricane Sandy.  It was kind of surreal watching the storm, this time looking in from the outside.  I knew that I was watching a storm that would make history and not be soon forgotten.  Experiencing the devastation of Hurricane Katrina in 2005 and then the recent damage to our house (we're thankful it wasn't worse) from Hurricane Isaac made me empathize with those on the East Coast.  I know the anxiety that so many folks are currently going through, and I felt kind of guilty as I climbed into our warm bed last night. .

As I was beginning to doze off, my thoughts drifted to the tragedy of the HMS Bounty.  This tall ship that had been around since the 1960's and had appeared in several movies had sunk.  Its Captain and one beautiful young woman lost their lives (Captain has not been found, but not looking good).  As a beginner sailor, I don't think I would have made the same decision as the Captain.  However, he paid the ultimate price for his decision and I feel for the families of the two victims.

Thoughts of the tall ship and its demise lead to thoughts of the many sailors and/or cruisers that I've come across thanks to this site and to Facebook.  I thought of those in Sandy's path, and wished the best for them and their boats.  Life is much more important than a possession, but I understand their attachment to their boat.  Like us, many of them view their boat as their home and the vessel to their dreams.  

Yesterday I had visited the sites and Facebook posts of my sailing "friends", and several had chosen to stay on their boat ... secured in a safe harbor. Others had no choice but to secure their boat as best they could and leave the area.  Some of these people had just recently begun their cruising dream, and were sailing down the East Coast before Sandy caused them to change their plans.   I went to sleep hoping that all would "sail" through this storm with no serious damage.  Social media does indeed bring things closer to home!

This morning I watched the news and heard about the flooded subway system in New York City, the extensive damage throughout the East Coast, and the loss of life.  So many people have a long road ahead of them.  I feel blessed to not be going through flood clean-up again, and my "whining" about getting our house fixed and sold for cruising seems selfish.

Once I got to work, I began checking the posts of fellow sailors (the only perk of a slow real estate market) in hopes of hearing that they were all fine.  I'm happy to say that so far all are well, including their boats!  There are a few folks that haven't posted an update just yet, but I'm hoping for good news from them too.

Again I'm reminded at how fragile all of us are.  Mother Nature does not discriminate, nor does sickness or tragedy!   As careful as we may try to be in life, safety is not guaranteed.  Many people think that we're crazy to take the risk of cruising.  However, tragedies can happen anywhere!  Whether it's on a boat, in a car, or maybe just sitting in a movie theater ... bad things can happen.  Most of us will experience our own "storm" of some sort in life.

I say this not to be depressing, but to remind you that you're not alone if you're facing difficulties.  We've definitely had our share, and we haven't yet fully recovered from Hurricane Isaac.  I also hope to remind you to follow your passion!  Figure out the risks involved, take the necessary precautions, then just go for it!  Fear is often what keeps us from living our dreams.  Don't let fear take your dreams away!

Hasta luego ... until then.  Mid-Life Cruising!

This Blows!

Yep, the above is a fan and it's been sitting in our home's foyer since Hurricane Isaac!

During the last night of the hurricane, I stumbled in the dark to look out of the glass on our front door.  My heart sank as I stood there looking out ... realizing that my feet were wet!  I woke Ken from his short sleep on the sofa, and quickly grabbed a flashlight.  To our dismay, we found a roof leak in the foyer and it was running down the wall, down the front door and onto our wood-laminate floor.  We grabbed a bunch of towels to soak up the water and placed a few plastic bowls around to try and catch the water leaking off of the ceiling.  About every half hour one of us would replace the soaked towel with a fresh one.  This went on until daylight, when the hurricane finally moved on and the towels were no longer soaking up water.

Shortly after discovering the leaks, Ken and I had never felt so defeated!  We were exhausted, we were dealing with a leaky roof,  and we were now losing hope of saving our home from flooding.  At the time, the storm surge wasn't over and we had no idea how much longer Hurricane Isaac was going to stick around.  The storm wasn't moving on like most hurricanes, and the latest news wasn't reassuring.  (We had to sit in the truck to listen to the news since we didn't have power or a radio).  

By the time daylight arrived, we were relieved that the storm finally moved through and the rain and water had stopped.  We were also relieved to see that we had saved our floors from moisture damage.  Our relentless efforts every 30 minutes throughout the night had paid off!

The front door and the sheetrock in our foyer didn't make out so well.  Ken scraped the paint off the sheetrock to get a better look.

The sheetrock and insulation over the front door had to be removed.

Ken then placed a fan in the foyer to help dry the area.

Ken now has some sheetrock repair to do on our house ... right after we just finished a huge sheetrock job on our house.   Didn't we just do this?!  Also, our wooden front door and its sidelights probably need to be replaced.  More work (poor Ken) ... and more money!  While we're thankful that things aren't worse, we are so ready to stop fixing houses and draining our account in the meantime.  After Hurricane Katrina, the insurance companies came up with huge "Hurricane Deductibles".   We pay a small fortune for homeowner's insurance every year, but it doesn't seem to help when ya need it.

Our life is always exciting ... just not the kinda excitement we're looking for!  To be honest, Ken and I hated to get up this morning.  I guess we're a little depressed.  The mental, physical and financial stress never seem to end!  We feel a little guilty about being down, since so many people just two miles away are dealing with flooded homes.  But ... we're human, we're broke and we're tired!  Ken hates sheetrock work, and he's having to spend his time fixing our house for free (doing something he hates) instead of making money.  I wish I could snap my fingers and make all of this disappear for him!

On a positive note ... our new ports that Ken recently installed on Nirvana didn't leak.  They passed the test!

One foot in front of the other ... one day at a time!

Hasta luego ... until then.  Mid-Life Cruising!

Hurricane Isaac - Saving Nirvana!

Nirvana "heeling" and showing her fender board.  This picture doesn't capture the strong winds!

Being born (me) and raised (both of us) in New Orleans, we've been through a lot of hurricanes!  However, preparing for Hurricane Isaac was a bit different because this was the first hurricane that we've had a sailboat to protect (and worry about).  

While I drove my car to my dad's place in Mississippi (it's paid for so it's not flooding!), Ken and a friend stripped Nirvana!  The head sail, main sail, bimini, and grill were removed and everything inside was secured.  We've never seen Nirvana without her top ... she sure looked different!  This was a good learning experience, since this was also the first time the sails have ever been removed from Nirvana.  The sails were laid across our backyard (much bigger on the ground!) and gently rolled up and placed in our home's upstairs loft.

Nirvana stripped down!

We were concerned about the 5-8 foot storm surge that was predicted.  The Gulf of Mexico was going to be pushed into Lake Pontchartain, causing the surge.   If the surge was high enough, Nirvana could be pushed over the pilings and onto our dock.  This would not be good!  So, Ken the contractor decided to bolt some 4x4s onto our pilings and then support them with braces.  He also made a fender board for Nirvana, which would prevent her from rubbing against our dock.  

Our "Oh Shit!" hurricane preparation ... extended pilings and fender board.

Along with stocking up on water, canned food and candles we also stocked up on extra dock lines!  Nirvana had a total of 12 lines securing her to the dock ... two at each location.  We had lines at the bow, the stern, two locations towards the center, and springer lines from the bow and the stern.  Luckily, all of the lines held up!  It was a little nerve-wracking watching Nirvana "heel" from the strong winds, often gusting over 60mph for 36 hours.  We were lucky that the winds were pushing her away from the dock!

We know that a lot of boat damage can occur from the dock, so we debated anchoring Nirvana in the middle of our canal.  However, with the anticipated winds and storm surge we were worried about the anchors holding.  With neighbors and their boats to consider we decided we didn't want to risk the liability of Nirvana crashing into someone else's boat or dock.  All of the boats in our canal were secured at their dock or in their boathouse.

Since Nirvana was tied to our dock, we did have to wade out in "butt-deep" water to raise the dock lines higher up the pilings.  The first picture was taken shortly after we raised the lines.  It doesn't capture it, but those winds were fierce and I couldn't wait till Ken had adjusted the last line.  I was afraid I was gonna blow away!

We were glad to have the extended pilings, because Nirvana got about 18 inches higher than our original pilings.  When I'd look outside, she was about eye level ... scary!  Needless to say Ken and I barely slept for three nights, constantly checking on Nirvana throughout the night.  Since we lost power the first night, we were glad to have our fully charged spotlight to keep an eye on her.

I tell ya, I don't think Ken and I have ever been so stressed and exhausted!  Being so close to our dream of cruising, thoughts of a destroyed sailboat or a flooded home really drained us.  The storm didn't seem to want to leave, and at one point during the last night we really got depressed and were sure our house was going to flood.  It seemed the rain, wind and rising water were never going to stop!

Luckily, everything stopped in time and we're now breathing a sigh of relief and trying to get back to normal.  We do have a few issues to deal with thanks to Isaac, but that's for another post!  Also, our last post has a few pictures of the flooding in our area, as well as a picture of our backyard during the time that the water was the highest.   It got close!

We removed the fender board, but we didn't throw it away.  As far as the extended pilings ... we're gonna keep them on until hurricane season is gone.  We're also going to keep the sails in our loft for now ... just in case.  We can't wait till hurricane season is over!

Thought I'd share this short video of the flooding in Slidell, where we live.

Hasta luego ... until then.  Mid-Life Cruising!

Hit By Hurricane Isaac!

On the 7th anniversary of Katrina, Ken and I were dealing with a direct hit from Hurricane Isaac!

Located just North of New Orleans in Slidell, LA we were at the worst part of the storm ... the upper right quadrant.  The storm moved at a snail's pace and we had over 36 hours of non-stop rain and wind gusts up to 60 miles per hour (I think we had more sometimes).   Ken and I barely slept for 3 nights, keeping a close eye on Nirvana and the rising water threatening to enter our home.

 

However .... I'm happy to say that Nirvana held her own and came through Isaac without a scratch!  Also, with just about a foot to go before entering our home ... the water stopped rising.  Hallelujah!

 

The anxiety and the storm started Monday night, and on Thursday morning we finally realized that we made it through!  Three days later, the water has just receded off our dock this morning.  After 3 days without power (not complaining ... without power for a month with Katrina) we got our electricity back.  We had some minor damage to the house, but nothing that should set us back.

 

We are so thankful that both our house and sailboat survived this storm!  After going through Hurricane Katrina, we've experienced the devastation in the past and know the potential of these hurricanes.

 

Now that the water has receded from our backyard, we've got some tree limbs to cut down and lots of debris to clean up.  I'll be posting about how we prepared Nirvana for this hurricane and more details about our experience in another post this week.  In the meantime, here are a couple of pictures of areas nearby.

Our backyard ... water got close!

 

 A day after the hurricane moved through, right outside of our subdivision.

 

 

Another view of the interstate

 

 

Mandeville lakefront, where we sailed two weeks ago.

 

 

 Also, I wanted to thank everyone that shared their concerns and prayers on our Facebook page.  We really appreciate knowing that we were in your thoughts!

 

Hasta luego ... until then.  Mid-Life Cruising!

Preparing for Isaac!

 

This Wednesday is the 7 year anniversary of Hurricane Katrina, and the irony is that on this day we'll be dealing with an unwelcome visitor .... Hurricane Isaac!  As many of you know, we just finished the repairs on our Katrina-damaged house JUST 2 WEEKS ago!  (Our home is located about 20 miles North of New Orleans).  We finally put our house on the market to start making our cruising dream a reality.  I hope Isaac doesn't change all that!  To be honest, I don't know if we'd be very pleasant people if so.  It's like we're almost out the prison and then the door slams!  As I mentioned in my post, Seven Year Itch, we've been "fixing" homes and our lives for seven years now ... we've had enough! 

 

Today we'll be stripping Nirvana of her sails and bimini and getting her secured for the storm.  Our house got about 3-4 feet of water during Katrina, but hopefully Isaac won't be as cruel.  At this time, I think we'll be staying here at our house.  If we do get water in our house, at least we have the upstairs loft and room with a futon.  We really want to stay and keep an eye on Nirvana.  We've got our dinghy ready if we need it later, gas in our vehicles, canned food, bottled water ... growing up in Louisiana we've done this many times.  However, the anxiety has only gotten worse since Hurricane Katrina.  This is the first time we've had to deal with a hurricane since owning Nirvana.  That makes everything much more stressful!  If we didn't have our sailboat, we'd just get out town for a few days and not stress about it.  The plan of selling our house and cruising on Nirvana changes everything!

 

I won't be on the computer during the next few days, but I plan on posting updates to our Facebook page.  Wish us luck!  Hope to come out of this with good news!

 

Hasta luego ... until then.  Mid-Life Cruising!

Dock of the Bay!

The "Dock of the Bay" ... on the bay, in Bay St. Louis, Mississippi

Not much exciting happening with us.  We spent the past week working and recuperating from Ken's birthday celebration last weekend.  Before we knew it, another weekend had come around!  As most of you know, this past weekend was very exciting for the US East Coast.  They were visited by Hurricane Irene, and she was not a welcome guest!  However, it appears that although there was damage and a few unfortunate fatalities, Irene wasn't as mean as expected.  We hope that all of you reading this from the East Coast are well and did not experience much of Irene's wrath.

Even though Irene was far away from Louisiana, it brought about a lot of talk and memories of hurricanes here in Louisiana.  That's because today is the 6 year anniversary of Hurricane Katrina!   Six years ago this morning, Hurricane Katrina slammed into Louisiana and the Gulf Coast.  In some ways it seems like just yesterday, and in some ways the destruction seems a life-time ago.   We had our fair share of  loss during Hurricane Katrina, as did our family and friends.  I can tell you that unless you were able to drive around and see the damage for yourself ... you just can't imagine the widespread destruction!  It spanned across several states and with the lack of street signs and landmarks it was very easy to get disoriented.  We are happy to say that our town has made a full recovery!

One nearby area that is still recovering from the massive damage is the Mississippi Gulf Coast.  Since Ken and I had not visited the area in about a year, we decided to take the 30 minute ride to this area and check out the progress.  Saturday was a beautiful day for a car ride and we rode along a portion of the beach in Waveland and Bay St. Louis.  While we saw some beautiful new fishing piers and docks, we also saw an amazing amount of vacant lots.  So many beautiful homes have yet to be rebuilt.

We stopped at one of the docks on the bay and soaked up the sun while watching the boats, fishermen, and beautiful views.  We then headed over to the nearby casino for an all-you-can-eat buffet of crabs and brisket with all the fixings!  We'd been craving this for a while now, and with our frugal selves we finally treated ourselves with a "buy one, get one" coupon!  To make things even better, we had a coupon for a $15 chip at the blackjack table.  Ken put the chip on the table, and in one play he got a blackjack!  Woo hoo ... dinner was free for both of us! 

I can eat my weight in crabs!

I won't bore you with the details of our sad Hurricane Katrina story, but I will say it was miserable and exhausting!  It took a very long time to get our life back to "normal".  However, going through such a catastrophic event reminded us of what's important in life.  It all fits in a car (or boat), cause what's really important is carried in our heart and soul!

On a lighter note ... when riding around the coast, we found ourselves on "Vacation Lane"!   This is the closest we've been to a vacation in a long time.  We really need to get movin'!

Hasta luego ... until then.  Mid-Life Cruising!