[Rhodes22-list] It was a dark and stormy night....

Sat Jun 5 23:06:33 EDT 2010

Lee,
  I should have warned da list,that I'm on a small,well protected lake and
alot of the stuff I do,could be bad news on your waters.
Jerry Lowe

> Jerry,
>
> Great story!  The weather weasels' predictions have me scared about
> risking a sail tomorrow.  Your tale should have inspired me to go for it,
> but I think I'll be a chicken instead of a duck.
>
> Lee
> 1986 Rhodes22  AT EASE
> Kent Island, MD
>
>
>
>
> ________________________________
>
> From: rhodes22-list-bounces at rhodes22.org on behalf of cjlowe at sssnet.com
> Sent: Sat 6/5/2010 10:25 PM
> To: The Rhodes 22 Email List
> Subject: [Rhodes22-list] It was a dark and stormy night....
>
>
>
> Friday and Saturday's forcast heavily favored rain and thunder storms,but
> If you live your life around the weather weasels predictions,there won't
> be much living. My darling wife lets me overnight solo,as her artheritus
> dosen't let her sleep well on the boat.I left for the lake at noon on
> friday,with Carol planning to meet me for a sail and supper after she
> finished her projects for the day. The closer I got to the lake ,the
> darker the sky got.As I pulled up to the dock the rain started to fall
> like a cow peeing on a flat rock. I'd brought the bimini down with me,and
> I set it up against the steps going down to my pier,so I could close the
> window that one of the legs of the bimini was sticking out. Accepting the
> fact that the weasels won this round,I consoled myself on a bar stool at
> the Mifflin Inn,watching the weasel tell of thunderstorms with quarter
> size hail and 60+mph winds in a town 25 miles away. One Bud light later,
> the rain slowed to a light sprinkle,so I went back to the lake and hualed
> all 4 loads of boat stuff down the 12 steps and 300 feet to my slip at the
> end of the pier. As I mounted the bimini,the sprinkle turned to rain,but
> now I had shelter,so I went about replacing the main sheet.Just then the
> phone rings,Carol is pulling into the parking lot. I tell her to pull up
> to the pier,I'll change clothes on the boat, and meet her end of the pier.
> As I laid down the phone,I see a bolt of lighting and hear a loud crack of
> thunder to the south.Upon closer inspection,I see a wall of water where
> the lighting had been.Looking north,  I see Carol rounding the bend. I
> grab the duffle bag and run down the pier,to the car,beating the wall of
> water by 3 steps. I had to stop twice on the 14 mile drive to Mansfeild to
> eat,because of the limited visibilty,not to mention driving through a
> puddle 1 foot deep and 50 feet long. During supper the rain quit and we
> returned to the lake and went for a 1.5 hour sail. Carol headed for home
> and I went out to the middle of the lake to anchor. Got the PTE set up and
> adjusted the bimini so it would cover the back of the PTE,so if it
> rained,I could still have the back window open for ventilation. I usually
> bungie the topping lift line between two shrouds to keep it from banging
> on the side of the mast when the wind pipes up. Tonight I left it loose to
> be my high wind warning alarm.
> About 10:00 pm the first--of many--thunderstorms rolled thru,setting off
> the topping lift alarm,just as planned. There was a storm just about every
> hour,all night long. Some of them had winds over 30 mph,making me glad I
> let out all of that 100' rode in 6' of water. You should have seen that
> chunk of real estate that came up with the fortress anchor as I rocked and
> winched it out of the lake bed. The morning looked overcast and humid,but
> at least it wasn't raining,so i stowed the airbed,PTE, bimini.
> The wind was perfect for a beam reach up and down the length of the lake.
> On the second pass,I noticed a man standing on the end of his dock waving
> me in. I struck the sails and motored up to his dock,he introduced himself
> and his wife who was standing 30 feet up the hill,holding Buster the dog.
> George had just bought the house on the lake,and was thinking about
> learning to sail.He ask me about the boat and a few sailing questions,and
> I ask him if he would like to go for a sail. George lit up like a
> Christmas tree,but his wife did not match his glow.He walked over to
> encourge her ,and she ask if Buster could go along. When I said "sure",you
> could see her wattage increase. We loaded up and shoved off,then put out
> 70% of both sails,then it started to rain. I handed George the tiller,we
> sailed for 20 minutes in a light sprinkle,until the wind started to pick
> up and his wife said" what do you do if the boat leans over to much?" I
> grabbed the main sheet and said "This is the main sheet,when in doubt let,
> it out." As I releasted a foot of line and the boat straightened up 5
> degrees,her smile came back. It looked like the weather was on it's way
> south,so I took them back to their dock,told him to google Generel
> Boats,and told him I'd take him out again,when we had more time. As I
> pulled away from their dock the rain stopped,allowing me a few more tacks
> across the lake before I had to head home. As I slid the slider shut and
> pushed the lock closed the rain started up again. 20 miles into the trip
> home,a weather alert came on the radio,announcing a tornado warning for
> the lake area.
>
> Jerry Lowe
>
> Ther might be a pic of the day before splash on the bottom
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