TS Beryl mostly missed us

It looks like tropical storm Beryl hit Jacksonville, which is well south of us.  We got brushed by the northern tip of it.  The most wind I saw was a 33 MPH gust.

My Home Cheapo weather station above shows the wind blowing 21 MPH, averaging 26 MPH, and gusting to 33 MPH at 1 PM. 

Athough Beryl wasn't as bad here as it was further south, I reluctantly decided not to go shopping with Pam.  Someone needed to stay on the boat to keep an eye on things and I made the sacrifice.

While Pam was gone, I did a couple of minor boat projects.  First, with all three of the A/C units off because of the chilly 82 degree weather, I cleaned out the sea strainer.   Next, I took apart the master stateroom exhaust fan which was very noisy.

The access panel is on the bottom.  I removed the panel and unscrewed the fan.   The motor's wires weren't color coded, so I took a photo of them so that I wouldn't wire it up backwards when I reinstalled it.



I vacuumed out the lint, dust, and tissue paper (see one of my first blog posts about winterizing) and then sprayed the shaft with WD40.   I reinstalled the fan and the noise level was acceptable.  If it wasn't, I'd have to disassemble the motor and oil the bearings directly.

Back topsides, the wind was pretty impressive.  I grabbed my camera and took some pics and movies.

Look at those whitecaps!  And there isn't any fetch at all over there.

This is the sending unit for my little weather station which is installed up on the flybridge.

Thompson and Brian refurling a jib.



I was out on the main dock talking with Julie and Jerry when I heard a huge SPLASH.  I could see the waves from whatever hit the water between Kindred Spirit and Theresa.  What was it?  A dolphin?  I looked around and noticed something missing on Theresa.

The center helm station window was missing.  The starboard helm door was open, and a big gust of wind popped the window out.  It flew up and the wind carried it up and over the bow rail where it landed in the water.  A diver was summoned to retrieve it from the bottom.

That window is glass, not plastic.  It's heavy.  I'm amazed it didn't hit anything and break.

Later, we gathered at the pavilion to wish Rick (one of the marina owners) a happy birthday.  

Nothing says happy birthday like chocolate cake, whipped cream, ice cream, and margaritas.

The longer we liveaboards stay here, the more like family we become.