Orion Hauled Out for Nor’easter
I have been hearing all sorts of reports about this nor’easter happening this weekend, and nobody can agree on exactly what the severity is going to be. Some forecasters say we’re going to be slammed, and others say we’re just getting a glancing blow with not much at all. With all the media hype surrounding this thing, part of me wonders if it is really going to be as bad as they’re saying, and for a while I considered keeping ORION on her mooring. However, ORION is fairly exposed on her mooring with the wind coming from the northeast which is a concern. Also, I got an e-mail and text from the East Lyme Harbormaster with an urgent storm preparation advisory directing all East Lyme mooring holders to “implement full storm protocols” and warning of “severe, direct wind fetch” and a “long-duration blowout” creating “heavy surf, violent vessel motion, and a high risk of mooring failure or vessel grounding”. That was enough for me.
My father holding ORION while I take pictures and get the winch ready.
I pulled ORION out of the water at the Niantic River launch ramp this morning, and Captain Bob at nearby Mago Point Marina very kindly agreed to let me keep her in their parking lot for the weekend for a very reasonable fee. I left the mainsail on the boom but wrapped it up with a spare line, and I wrapped the spinnaker halyard around the furled jib. She’s good to go, and the plan is to put her back in the water early next week to hopefully enjoy some nice fall sailing. In the meantime, I can rest easy knowing she’s safe on the hard no matter what the weather decides to do.
I lowered the trailer tongue jack all the way to allow rain to run out the cockpit scuppers.
Maybe that huge powerboat will block some of the forecasted wind.
