Alex the Not-So-Great

Hurricane season in the southeastern part of the US generally spans from June to November, and as it turns out...I am in Florida right smack dab in the middle of that season. I came across this cute little saying about Caribbean-area hurricanes, which seems oddly accurate at this moment because I really do feel like I am on stand by (even though there is technically one more day til July):

June- too soon.
July-- stand by!
August-- look out you must.
September-- remember.
October, all over.

Luckily for us, though, Hurricane Alex is still on the other side of the Gulf nearest to Mexico (and moving west), but the effects of the storm are being felt here in Cedar Key in the form of windy water and overcast. It has been off-and-on rain and we have been stuck inside for the past two days. This is a bummer, as photo-IDing is boring and I want more practice working on the boat.

We did manage to get outside last night, though, to save the boat from possible sinkage! The rain started to really come down around 9:30pm last night and didn't seem to lighten up within the hour, so Stefanie thought it would be a good idea to get the boat out of the marina - last week it seems a friendly neighbor of ours did not make that same wise decision and lost his boat because of the heavy rain. So, Stefanie, Emily and I got on our rainjackets and headed out to get Truncatus out of the water.

When we arrived at the dock we noticed that the tide was incredibly low (at 0.2), so we had to bring 'er round the outside dock that was better suited for loading up in those conditions. The thing with the outside dock, though, is that, while it is better suited for low-tide, it is not better suited for reduced visibility and rain. It is much narrower than the inside dock with large concrete sides and a steep decline into the water. It gets slippery and is more susceptible to waves, but Stefanie has 4-wheel drive and we had the will to do it, so it would work.

We got in the boat to find that a good amount of water had filled the back-end, and that the white light (so people could see us) was not working. But! We barreled out the water and since I had my awesome tripod light on me (which we used while hooking up the trailer) I decided to sit in the front and watch for crab pots as Stefanie made it to the other dock - which we did safely! As Stefanie and I went to the truck to get it ready for the boat, Emily steered Trunc to the dock, losing one of the fenders in the process. She had to go back and get the fender in the dark and rain, but grabbed it on the first try and headed over. Stefanie and I loaded the boat and pulled the 18-ft boat out of the water. We pulled the plugs, drained the pool of water that had collected, and headed home.

We got home around 11:00 pm, tired and soaked, but with a sense of accomplishment. We saved the boat, and prevented that 'sinking' feeling of leaving it behind. It was a successful trip, and even though we got some mosquito bites and got our feet wet, at least we finally got out on the water that day!