Watching Dorian very closely

So, we come up from the Keys to be safer from hurricanes, and the first one we have looks like it will miss the Keys and come to where we are (we are still in St. Augustine). The Municipal Marina we are in is urging everybody out (it really is not protected at all), and fortunately we already have our new marina lined up, which is up the San Sebastian River and much more protected. Will Ronya be safe there if the hurricane hits St. Augustine directly? Probably not, but we won’t be on the boat in that case.

Either way, right now it looks like a lot of storm prep no matter what happens: take down the bimini top and the genoa, possibly take down the solar panels, deflate the dinghy and put it down below, remove everything from the cockpit, tie down the helm, double tie all the lines, and try to get that last triangle of our furling mainsail into the mast. There is lots of good news though, especially compared to Irma: We have no outside potted plants and no outside furniture to put away. We don’t have to deal with hurricane shutters. We already have a generator and the diesel to run it. We don’t have to fill buckets or bathtubs, because we have 80 gallons of freshwater in our tanks. We don’t have a freezer we need to eat everything out of (just a tiny fridge, about 1/10 of the size of a normal household fridge, but we have solar if its up and a generator to keep the beer and cheese cold). We are always provisioned for 2 weeks anyhow. Red wine doesn’t need refrigeration. And most of the stores here are already out of water (which we don’t need), but not out of beer :-).

Apparently tomorrow night the path of Dorian will be somewhat locked in, and then we will know to what extent we need to prep. We are really lucky with the timing though, tomorrow morning we move to a protected anchorage!