Hurricane Jose is moving North but is expected to weaken
to a Tropical Storm before having any impact on our coast. Even though sustained
winds will be moderate, gusts could be as high as 50 kts. With the forecast I decided to prep Nauti Dog in case Jose swung West.
Motoring the dinghy out I was greeted by a flock of bird
on the deck, boom, rails and the brand new Lifesling. Other boats nearby were
hosting flocks of birds too. I have never seen this many birds in the mooring
field before. No idea if the storm pushed the birds up along the coast???
Other boats were preparing for Jose too. Before any prep
started I cleaned the deck, sail cover,etc. Afterwards I started with the following: Charged the batteries, tied safety knot on
mooring cleat, secure mooring pennant float, removed and stow spinnaker pole
below deck, de-sailed, secured halyards to the outer most points, secured &
bundled lines to large winches, ops-checked bilge pump, secured/removed any loose
gear below deck (brushes, grill, bucket). Then when I was ashore removed
outboard from dinghy. Total prep time was less than 2 hours and most of that
time was cleaning.
