We finally have some sunshine back, we got a nap in, EQ is sitting upright in her slip again, and the wind warnings have backed off to just Gale levels! J But it was a long night for sure, and a full-on day before struggling with wildly surging docks and boats all about. The long-timers around here say they haven’t seen anything like this here before. Tropical Cyclone ‘Oswald’ developing up in Indonesia, came ashore in Oz up north (being normal familiar territory), but then hung a right and marched down the coast, wreaking havoc along the way. No one thought it’d make it this far south (normally doesn’t) until a couple of days ago. The forecasts called for gale warnings, winds E to 50 knots in Moreton Bay. Ok, so it’s going to blow, but not that big a deal. But then they changed it yesterday morning to storm force just offshore, with gusts to 65 knots in Moreton Bay. Hmm, now it’s starting to be a big deal. So we set about making sure the boat next door (being directly up wind) was tied on well, extra well, as those dock lines he had looked a bit dodgy.
And that was just the beginning, as it started to blow, 30 knots, 40 knots… When it hit 50 knots and our deck was even with the dock from heeling over so much, it started to be a worry. But then the real action started as the tide came high that morning, backed by the storm surge. And it wasn’t just any high tide, but a ‘King Spring’ tide (full moon tide), about a meter higher than a normal high tide. The entrance to the marina points to the NE, about the same direction as these massive winds and waves. Bugger, as they didn’t build the break-water tall enough to stand this situation, we had a very large swell rolling through the marina. Double bugger! This coupled with storm force winds and torrential rains, created an eventful day and night, to say the least! The docks were undulating wildly, boats surging back-and-forth on their dock lines like wild demons, (some lines exploding and boats coming loose), a bunch of blokes running around like mad-men throwing more lines on boats, yelling over the shriek of the wind.
Then the forecast changed again, this time they were expecting gusts to 75 knots!!!! Now it’s looking like we are going to get blasted by a true cyclone (hurricane), which never happens this far south. Triple bugger. By now, it’s too late to even think about alternatives, like getting out of this marina and finding a hole in the estuaries down south to hold up in without anybody around to wack us. Just EQ and the mangroves. But it was not to be, so we had to stick it out, pay attention to the details around us, deal with whatever comes up and hope for the best. We did trade more dock lines for extra fenders with our other (downwind) neighbour as we were slamming up hard against the dock and our two little fenders weren’t cutting it. It took a while with a surging dock and boat, being careful not to get our fingers caught between the two. We took turns shoving against the boat being pinned against the dock by 45 knot winds and coaxing more fenders in for a better air cushion. That made a big difference.
One boats’ rolled-up spinnaker (why they didn’t take that down way before hand is a mystery) popped loose in 50 knots of wind. This is normally a light wind sail, so you can imagine a huge sail starting to open in these winds, sounded like a cannon blast at first, sending me on deck in a second at 1:30 am. It took what seemed like forever for them to cut the halyard and let it fall in the water (luckily they were downwind of other boats or it would have been a major mess). I thought the whole rig would come down if they didn’t get it done fast. But it didn’t, so I went back to my sailing EQ at the dock, checking the dock lines for chafe, looking at the weather forecasts, rain radar, weather monitoring station data, etc. The station out at Cape Moreton was recording 69 knots! Why they called it "ex-cyclone" is a mystery to me. Sherry of course was sound asleep (she always sleeps really well on EQ J), turned sideways in the berth, feet down hill (downwind), while I paced back-and-forth, jumping out on deck at the slightest unusual noise. I’m so glad she could relax and rest so she could take over when I collapsed when the major part of the ordeal was over. J
But just as we thought it was all settling down this morning, the wind kicks back in, just before the morning high tide, even higher than the night before. It looked like the entire break-water surrounding the rest of the marina was going to breech. Now real BIG bugger. And just about then I discovered my neighbour’s boat had severed a dock line and was getting dangerously close. Luckily, I had added two backup lines the night before which was now taking the massive surging loads. So, on go two more even bigger lines as backups to the backups. Phew, that would have been a big mess. So, now we wait it out for a couple of more hours until the high tide backs off and the forecast winds to settle down. And it did finally, even the sky’s turned blue and the sun came out for a bit to warm our weary souls, glad to still be here in one bit and no damage, just a bit soggy. J We did just hear though (haven’t ventured afield yet) that we can’t get in or out of here as the cops have the roads closed for downed trees and power lines. So, I think we’ll stay put for now in our safe little floating home and get some rest.
So, that’s the news from EQ, were the winds are fair (finally), the following seas settling down (in the marina), and the crew content (to sleep through the day AND night). J
with Equanimity and Joy (the dinghy)
EQ stripped
down, but finally sitting upright. Imagine being healed over with the deck even
with the dock!!!
There’s my honey dew, my
sparkly one. The sea wall behind us is normally a meter higher at high tide
with the bird sanctuary completely under water (they were the smart ones,
flying to higher ground long ago). The winds just backed-off, so life is
looking promising again.
can I get a nap now?
