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

Sun Jun 6 12:14:18 EDT 2010

Thanks for the story.  Great read.

Christopher P. Cowie    

4400 MacArthur Blvd, NW 
Suite 300 
Washington, DC  20007 
202.342.2711 
202.342.2691 fax 
202.270.1470 mobile 

[ccowie at cowieassociates.com]
cowieassociates.com

-----Original Message-----
From: rhodes22-list-bounces at rhodes22.org [mailto:rhodes22-list-bounces at rhodes22.org] On Behalf Of cjlowe at sssnet.com
Sent: Saturday, June 05, 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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