It's mostly cloudy with a 100% chance of precipitation.

 

I'm in McAllen, Tx at the moment. Very sunny and warm out there. 39°C (102°F) and rising!

 

My daughter just moved out of San Antonio yesterday. She was really glad she had the movers do the heavy stuff. The heat index was 114°F. Not a day I'd want to be walking a couch down an exterior, 3rd floor stairway.

 

The heat index is only 100 F today. Comfortable.

 

Pyrocumulus clouds from the Detwiler fire near Yosemite.

I just today was able to get my wife was to board a plane S.L.C, she was canceled last night while boarding a flight to Denver International that was shut down not the first or the last. But, they claim it was due to the level of electrical activity, at best my wife's description of the event over the problem, as I'm typing with 4 hrs sleep now but ya, this was really thought provoking for me tonight.

She got a plane and currently in Denver, what a night with 4 trips to S.L.C airport with 8hrs sleep in 2 days.

kv

 

Rain all day!
Got me out of a roofing job.

 

Rain all day!
Got me out of a roofing job.

No offense, but aren't you past that phase of your life? I'd do anything to avoid a roofing job. In Florida. In July. I mean, have you lost your mind?

 

aren't you past that phase of your life?

It's just a leak around the power pipe.

 

I just found out I'm in a Tropical Depression expected to become a (gasp!) Hurricane.
Terror Threat Crisis!
Watching for Heavy Flooding!

Except nobody noticed.
Stupid fake news.

 

Stupid fake news.

Let's hope it's also a fake hurricane in the end as well...

 

I just found out I'm in a Tropical Depression expected to become a (gasp!) Hurricane.
Terror Threat Crisis!
Watching for Heavy Flooding!

Except nobody noticed.
Stupid fake news.

I was in the Caribbean for both a tropical depression and a hurricane.

In the tropical depression (just before it actually started), I was sailing south from Virgin Gorda to hole up in Trellis Bay on Beef Island. It was blowing so hard when I turned into the bay with all sails down and motor on, the boat was still well heeled over as if I still had the sails up. It was blowing like crazy even well inside the bay. I headed into the wind lined up for my 1st mate to grab a mooring line. I had a reef behind me so it was extremely important that she get the line on as soon as possible. If the engine died we would be on the reef in seconds.

She kept messing around. I had no idea what the heck she was doing since she had many years of experience. Suddenly a dingy appeared from nowhere. The man grabbed the mooring line where we were trying to moor, held it up and showed me that the loop was cut, so there was no easy way to get the line on the cleat, especially considering how hard it was blowing. I guess was raining so darn hard (the rain was going sideways) my friend did not notice the split.

The man in the dingy motioned to another mooring. He motored over and helped us get hooked up.

The next day I woke to find a nice sunny day. I was still exhausted from the day before (the boat had a tiller, hence almost no mechanical purchase, I had to steer the whole way from Virgin Gorda, but just staying upright in a sailboat can be exhausting, especially when it is rough) plus it was still very rough out in the channel. We decided to stay put and take the water taxi over to Pusser's Bar. Of course the talk on the ferry as all about the storm the day before. "Did you see it lat last night one man said". "No", I said what happened"? The man then when on to explain that boats were "spinning around their moorings, like tops" and there were several boats moored outside the bay "their bows were coming out of the water 2-3 feet". They all had to drop their moorings and come inside the bay in the middle of the night. I had no idea all of this was going on. When my head hit the bunk I was sound asleep!

On different trips, for two straight years I would see the rushing through the local bar (The Loose Mongoose ) . I could never catch him. Finally one year I was there, same bar the man came through the bar. I said "I owe you a beer"! He asked why and I reminded him of the tropical depression and him helping two people on a 30ft sailboat. He had remembered, we had a good chuckle about it.

Flash forward a couple of years. I was headed to Antigua with a layover in Puerto Rico. I was waiting for my connection. They made a gate announcement for Tortola. A man seated next to me got up to check in. When he returned, I asked him if he was a resident of Tortola. "Ya mon" he responded. We started chatting about some people I knew on the island. I told him the above story and asked if he knew the man, American, White and operates an air charter service. "Ya mon " the man responded, "in fact is that him right there"? It was the very man that helped me so many years ago. Turns out a friend of his got a new helicopter and wanted to take it for a flight to Puerto Rico. He asked my hero if he wanted to take a ride. When the got to the island the friend decided to stay overnight so the man was taking a commercial flight back to Beef Island.

Perhaps tomorrow I will tell the story of the hurricane. Also the evacuation of a murder scene in the islands.

 

I just found out I'm in a Tropical Depression expected to become a (gasp!) Hurricane.
Terror Threat Crisis!
Watching for Heavy Flooding!

Except nobody noticed.
Stupid fake news.

There is an Icelandic song which translates to "weathermen lie" However they have been closer to the money every year now.

What I'm asking is. Do you think there is danger where you live?

 

Also the evacuation of a murder scene in the islands.

I'm looking forward to that one... you told a good story, btw, thanks!

 

Beautiful sunset above the skies of San Pedro:

​

The pic was taken by my wife, btw...

 

Do you think there is danger where you live?

Absolutely NO.
The only danger here is that there has been enough rain to rinse off the oily spots on the road which accumulate in the dry season. I have to tell you, the first few rains of the summer cause a lot of car wrecks because average people are not as aware as I am. They screech up to red lights like the oil spots aren't wet and slide right through.

Now the streets are much safer for the rest of the rainy season.

 

Here's the latest. I'm in a State of Emergency.
Thirty one counties are in a State of Emergency!

"Florida Governor Rick Scott has declared a state of emergency in 31 counties as Tropical Storm Emily hit Florida’s west coast. The order comes as the tropical depression was upgraded to a tropical storm by the National Hurricane Center."
https://www.rt.com/usa/398120-tropical-storm-emily-triggers-emergency/
What a maroon!

Two to four inches of rain!
All I see is a cloudy day and cleaner streets.
I wish we had enough rain to get the bird poop off my car.
I'm going to have to go out there and rub it with a towel.
Florida is made of sand. Rain rinses through it like a coffee filter. It's all gone in an hour.
I won't even get my shoes wet.
What are these people doing?
"Call out the National Guard! All police work double shifts! Ambulances and Fire Trucks on every corner with their engines running and lights flashing or we won't be able to raise taxes again this year."

Seriously. I was out yesterday and saw seven police cars swarm around an ambulance answering a call for medical help. I'm thinking, "We have too many cops, and they're bored!"

What do you expect? That town is so small it doesn't even register on some maps.
They probably get about 3 calls a week.
Today, 31 counties are on Emergency status.
Sheesh!

 

I'm looking forward to that one... you told a good story, btw, thanks!

One of my favorite anchorages in the British Virgin islands is Jost (pronounced Yost) Van Dyke. This is because the captain would get a free lobster at the two restaurants (Sydney's Peace and Love and Harris's, Abes's was closed in the summer) in Garner Bay. Most people would go to Sydney's (hey they have a cool name ). While Harris's didn't get the majority of the business they always had a good time. The family was almost always out front playing guitar, singing, dancing, basically having a great time. Sydney 's kids were spoiled brats. Nothing but trouble. I remember one year I was taking the dinghy to shore and they came zooming into the bay in their high speed runabout. Nearly swamping me and several other boaters. The kids were always in and out of prison for drugs, which is a major accomplishment in the islands considering when you pass a police station you will often smell them smoking weed.

One year, Harris had taken over the concession on the moorings so I had to go into shore to arrange payment. Got to talk to him a bit. Very interesting guy. I found out he funded the elementary school on the island and that he lead the effort to get electricity on the island (how cool is that). He asked if I would be dining with them that night. I agreed then teased with him on treating us right. We laughed and said for sure we would get a great meal. Well he wasn't kidding. Everything was delicious and I don't think I have ever walked away from a lobster dinner full. That night I did. The deal was sealed, I would be going back to Harris's from now on.

I returned one year to find Harri's very quiet. I knew there had to be something wrong, as I described above they were always having a good time there. I noticed, Harris's wife sitting at a table. I asked if I could speak to Harris. "We buried him yesterday", she said. I asked what happened? He was a young man (in his fifties at the time I guess), in excellent heath. She said "Sidney's son shot him through the chest with a spear gun. They got into an argument over lobster and he shot him"! I was just shocked and so saddened. Harris was such a nice man.

I paid for the mooring and returned to the boat. I informed the crew what had happened. They wanted to leave immediately. I explained Sidney's son was in prison and there was nothing to fear. I also explained that it was 4:30. Time to be moored or anchored somewhere. Not time to be looking for a place to stay. By contractual agreement you had to be on a mooring by six due to the fact that there are no aides to navigation and the sun needed to be high enough to be able to see the reefs. I always like to find a place by 4PM at the latest. Better light and tough competition for mooring space. The crew still wanted to leave.

I reluctantly agreed to leave. My plan was to go to Souper's Hole on the main island. I knew the water pretty well between Jost Van Dyke and Soupers's Hole on Tortola. There were no reefs beteen the two islands and the harbor had a nice wide entrance and well marked since it is a major harbor on the island(the ferry goes in there). It was unanimously decieded that Harris's widow keep the mooring fee. My other stipulations were 1. The crew buy me dinner at Souper's Hole. 2. If there was no mooring at Souper's Hole we would immediately return to Jost.

I set out, along the way a rain squall kicked up. I couldn't see a thing. I knew the island was in front of me somewhere, so I kept going in the direction where I figured where we had to go. keeping an eye on my depth. I figured I would likely see the island before I actually ran into it. Soon the squall cleared. I was able to see the island again and got into our mooring for the night without incident.

 

"Call out the National Guard! All police work double shifts! Ambulances and Fire Trucks on every corner with their engines running and lights flashing or we won't be able to raise taxes again this year."

We were in the Pamlico Sound in South Carolina. We wanted to sail out to the outer banks but decided against it due to bad weather so instead tucked up into one of the many creeks ans rivers and tied up to a marina dock. There was a VHF of the dock that was blaring away as we tied up. Call, after call, after call to the Coast Guard from the outer banks. I think that was the best decision I ever made to go up into that river instead of going to the outer banks that day.

Sad fact is that most people that call for help don't really need it. The boat is afloat long after the people are pulled off. Taking someone off of a boat is extremely dangerous for both the Coast Guard and occupants of the boat. It really should only be done as a last resort.

 

Beautiful sunset above the skies of San Pedro:

View attachment 132032​

The pic was taken by my wife, btw...

The government is spying on you!

 

Sad fact is that most people that call for help don't really need it. The boat is afloat long after the people are pulled off. Taking someone off of a boat is extremely dangerous for both the Coast Guard and occupants of the boat. It really should only be done as a last resort.

Being a total landlubber, I don't understand why it's "extremely dangerous" to change boats in the middle of the water. They seem so easy to step on to and off of when they are at a dock. Do people find it so difficult to move from one boat to another when the boats are bobbing on the waves?