You say Nor'easter, I say Northeaster -- Whatever. Living Aboard During One is Not a Lot of Fun

But we can't call the whole thing off! 

Yep. We are in a nor'easter. The winds are gusting above 40 and the "gusts" seem to be the norm to me.  We have just over an hour before high tide - which means we have over three hours of the rocking and rolling ahead of us. The winds are supposed to keep up until 4:00 AM so it won't be totally quiet by any stretch of the imagination.

I've silenced all things that were possible to silence -- did find that knife rack bungee and added some extra padding. Works like a charm. We put old towels under the frame supports that were swinging and banging. We retied one support as the line was chafing. We checked the 6 dock lines and chafing gear and we know where most of our neighbors are. Those who are aboard are monitoring channel 78 on the marine radio. So if we have problems, we can get help quickly.

I think that last thud is the lines pulling as we roll. I can't change that. So here is what I tell my family -- we have a stout boat and I am not afraid that we will be injured or die. Certainly when we are doing dock walks we go in pairs (at least) and carry line, but on the boat, we are fine. If the lines part from the dock or if our finger pier breaks away from A Dock, then La Luna will be damaged and we will have an unpleasant time working to secure her. (Yes this has happened but not to us.)

If the cover doesn't hold, we will at the least drench everything on deck -- at the worst things will fly off with the wind. That has never happened while we've been here. We did a good job with the cover and it is practically water tight since we didn't have to work around mast and shrouds. If our neighbor's power boat stays covered it will be a miracle. (Flimsy frame and a number of patches.) 

EW and I just tried to find whatever was banging and have determined that it is something from the dock that sounds just like a locker door banging. I will just have to get over it. The frame is flexing and creaking in the wind. The sound of the rain on the plastic makes the rain sound worse than it really is. We are at home. EW is reading (when I'm not making him look for noises) and I am writing this then will read or watch Hulu. Still love living aboard - but could have done without this weather. Really.

Comments

[Beth]

You have to be hardy to live in Maine, and I'd say you have to be doubly hardy to live in Maine on a boat! Stay safe and remember that this too shall pass!

[bowsprite]

whew! very glad you were not squished like tomatoes, tomahtoes...!

[Barbara Hart]

Thank you! We are glad we weren't squished, too! No matter how you say it! Love your blog -- such talent!