Hurricane Irene

[Gringo]

Is it just me or does it seem exceptionally windy here this afternoon?

[Del Gurney]

Hi Gringo: Presumably (judging by your post time and position of Irene's eye) the worst is past? Are you back down in the T'n C's? I'f you had hauled your shinny AS down there, I'd bet you were hold'n on to it with both hands.
Nice up here in the PNW.

[Gringo]

I think we're expecting the worst part of it here around midnight. Ain't that always the way? Our AS is nice and safe and inside an air conditioned warehouse in Dallas, Texas. No hurricane worries.

Here we worry more about boats. And houses. And body parts.

[Del Gurney]

Well, best of luck tonight. Did you haul your boat out? I've been through 3 Cat 2's at sea and a 1 and a 2 tied to the dock up the Dania Cut near Ft. Laud. So I'm wishing you and the people of the islands a safe night.
Last I checked it's at 1 now and may ramp up over the Gulf Stream tomorrow.

[Gringo]

it's a little after 02;00 and the shrieking of the wind and stinging rattling of the rain hitting the metal roof and hurricane shutters of the house makes it impossible to sleep. The storm appears to be at it's closest point to us. Latest is that it's still 100 mph. winds at the center. We lucked out, ha ha. We're only getting 85 mph at the moment about 40 miles from the center. neener neener.....nah nah nah...
Visibility outside is zippity do dah. Very strange to look out and not be able to see a single light in the dark and driving rain.

Wish I could export a few gazillion gallons of this to Texas.

[xrvr]

Hang in there! jim

[pmclemore]

We're kind of hoping for some of the heavy rain to put out the Great Dismal Swamp fire. It's pretty smoky up here in Walkerton today.

Pat

[DaveFL]

If we had 85 mph winds we would be out of electric, storm clouds would cover satellite , most likely the internet cable would be down. So you're doing good, hope you are above the high tide line.

[Goal15]

Hope you and La Gringa are okay, just out of internet at the moment.

[mhilley]

Maybe now is the time for hurricane snippets! My wife and I got caught in the Bahamas for a hurricane. We ran our sailboat up into the mangroves and sought refuge in a very old abandon church. The roof was long gone as were the windows. We piled up pews against the stone wall a hid under them during the storm. Oh, the joys of youth. The boat survived as obviously, we did.

[Goal15]

I'm sure that Gringo won't mind that I plucked this update off the comments area of his blog.... just to keep ya'll updated on our favorite Bermuda Triangle absentee AS owner and his better half.

Gringo said...It's dawn. What a mess. Wind still howling. No power, so I had to make the trek to the garage to get genny fired up. Now have coffee. And lots of water damage. It's still blowing 60 mph right now, and I have learned that trying to walk in a 60+ mph wind with a piece of plywood in your hands is either a beating or a brief flying experience. But in either case, it's dangerous. Don't do it. I plan to run the generator for an hour at a time to conserve gasoline until we know how bad this is. And finding out how bad could take a while with the island essentially powerless and shut down.

We'll only have power when we run the generator, and will put together another quick and dirty blog post.

Can't see much of the road out yet, but it appears to be flooded and we might be stranded until the storm surge recedes. Amazing we have internet. And that may not last. They must have found a good connector.

Who said that the difference between an ordeal and an adventure is your attitude?

Bring him over here right about now. We could use some attitude.
August 24, 2011 7:30 AM

[Goal15]

Thought y'all might be interested in the report from Gringo, Airstream owner who rode out the storm along with La Gringa at their home in the Turks and Caicos Islands. As has already been noted, their AS is safe and sound in AC splendor in a Texas warehouse, but this is pretty nice reporting from the aftermath of the storm.

Their internet is spotty or I'm sure he would have already checked in here himself.... so I'll take the liberty.

2 Gringos in the Caribbean

[Gringo]

Well, that was fun.

[mutcth]

What a mess indeed. Glad you're OK.

Tom

[wheel interested]

That was some storm coverage Gringo. You made it very vivid. Glad you made it alright. Do you have pictures of the flowers and trees and home before they were pelted and stripped? You have a very exotic home from this Michigan inlander's point of view. Those storms would terrify me and the pets.