When in danger or in doubt, run in circles, scream and shout.

The latest on Hurricane Irene from the U.S. Navy is that it's going to brush the Outter Banks and then slam into New England.   They're saying the bulls eye is Mystic, which is about 90 miles east of us, but of course between now and then anything can happen.   There have only been five hurricanes that have hit within 75 miles of NYC, so the odds are in our favor that it won't be too bad here.   Still, I called my insurance company to up the coverage on Drift Away by the amount I've dumped into her in the past few months.

Last weekend I cleaned up the helm station.   The last thing to remove was the Wagner autopilot, which you can see right in front of the helm's instrument panel.  That's probably where the 12" touch screen will go.

The compass for the autopilot was under the helm console and I removed it as well.   I considered keeping it because the compass rose was really nice, but the cheap metal frame around it nixed that idea and into the dumpster it went.

I need to run some cables and wires to the upper helm.  I removed two pieces of wood that cover cable races.   I tried to get this panel off that houses the old depth sounder, knot meter, and radio direction finder but it wouldn't come off.   It's hanging up under the headliner.  Don't know why.   So I may just fish the cables for the GPS, AIS, and VHF antennas through without removing the panel.

The fiberglassing of the decks is finished.  This weekend will be sanding on Saturday, and then maybe painting on Sunday (depending on Irene).

Meanwhile, Pam is enjoying her new wicker furniture on the aft deck, while Ruby is enjoying some sunshine.

Someone asked me how I will prepare for Irene should it hit.   I'm thinking I'll probably run around in circles on the foredeck, waving my hands wildly above my head and screaming like a little girl.