Andiamo!

We’ve just been taking in all the news of Charley’s devastation on the rest of Florida after passing us here, leaving us pretty unscathed. While it was ok and even a little therapeutic for us to have some fun with the storm yesterday, we are now sobered with the reality that this was a VERY serious storm. People are dead, homes and businesses are destroyed, more than 2 million people are without utilities, lots of people are injured and much more. And talk about irony, many of those poor people who were evacuated from here and Tampa ended up getting pounded by the storm at the locations they evacuated to!

While we thank our lucky stars we didn’t get hit with Charley’s full strength, we are absolutely saddened at what ultimately happened with Charley north of us. It doesn’t help that our family and friends live in Daytona and Orlando, two of the places that Charley hit with bullseye precision. Even at this time, I don’t know if my parents, brother, niece and nephew are left homeless or worse, since communications are impossible. I can only hope for the best. We’re going to try to get the boat to Mexico tonight or tomorrow so we can get Andiamo hopefully out of the way of any further storms this season has yet to bring. But I have a feeling I’ll be having to fly back to Florida not long after we get there.

Just hoping for the best.

Most of the day so far, we’ve been walking around town assessing the damage. Within minutes we realized that there was little if any real damage, so we walked over to Pepe’s for breakfast, who were open for business promptly at 7:30AM (they had a generator).

The weather was relatively benign considering a hurricane was about 80 miles offshore. I got a bunch of calls on my cel today and yesterday from worried friends and relatives who thought we were getting slammed. This was due to what was obviously blatant misinformation by the news agencies and National Weather Service.

What was even more outrageous to me was the fact that the weather service was giving next to NO useful information the whole time leading up to the storm getting here to mariners and locals who needed it the most. The amount of speculation, rumor and misinformation being milled around here left me flabbergasted. When I tried to explain to some worried folks what was REALLY happening with the storm (since I was watching the satellite photos online in quasi-real-time), some looked at me as if I was delusional. Most of the people here actually thought that the storm was coming “right at us” even though it simply wasn’t true. The misinformation took on such a mob-mentality that even the local authorities were acting on it. Seasoned mariners and boat-owners were simply hysterical.

I gotta say, I learned a lesson. You have to get your OWN information from several sources, and DO NOT depend on your government’s own weather service for these kinds of reports. NOAA’s and NWS’ reports have been nothing short of dismal and inaccurate. I’m glad that I was able to watch the satellite photos online and ascertain my own idea of where the storm was and where it was heading.

So since that there was so much perceived devastation, I thought we’d contribute to the hysteria and post some pics of the carnage and horror that we have seen firsthand. It’s pretty horrifying, so be ready, ok? Starting with the one that I feel epitomizes the degree of the devastation, and wanton destruction that nature has wielded upon us… (Mouse over the pics for captions, btw)…. (more…)

Most of the day so far, we’ve been walking around town assessing the damage. Within minutes we realized that there was little if any real damage, so we walked over to Pepe’s for breakfast, who were open for business promptly at 7:30AM (they had a generator).

The weather was relatively benign considering a hurricane was about 80 miles offshore. I got a bunch of calls on my cel today and yesterday from worried friends and relatives who thought we were getting slammed. This was due to what was obviously blatant misinformation by the news agencies and National Weather Service.

What was even more outrageous to me was the fact that the weather service was giving next to NO useful information the whole time leading up to the storm getting here to mariners and locals who needed it the most. The amount of speculation, rumor and misinformation being milled around here left me flabbergasted. When I tried to explain to some worried folks what was REALLY happening with the storm (since I was watching the satellite photos online in quasi-real-time), some looked at me as if I was delusional. Most of the people here actually thought that the storm was coming “right at us” even though it simply wasn’t true. The misinformation took on such a mob-mentality that even the local authorities were acting on it. Seasoned mariners and boat-owners were simply hysterical.

I gotta say, I learned a lesson. You have to get your OWN information from several sources, and DO NOT depend on your government’s own weather service for these kinds of reports. NOAA’s and NWS’ reports have been nothing short of dismal and inaccurate. I’m glad that I was able to watch the satellite photos online and ascertain my own idea of where the storm was and where it was heading.

So since that there was so much perceived devastation, I thought we’d contribute to the hysteria and post some pics of the carnage and horror that we have seen firsthand. It’s pretty horrifying, so be ready, ok? Starting with the one that I feel epitomizes the degree of the devastation, and wanton destruction that nature has wielded upon us… (Mouse over the pics for captions, btw)….

Some more storm pics for your viewing pleasure…

And finally, Andiamo safely tied at her slip at Key West Bight. She’s held on beautifully throughout the ordeal thus far. We’re very pleased.

Another note of thanks for all the emails, comments, phone calls and best wishes. We’re sorry that some people got so worried about us due to all the misinformation given out. We’re hoping that our friends/family in Tampa, Orlando and Daytona fare out as well as we did. That’s where our concern lies now.

Charley is now passing by, winds are howling, but it doesn’t look like we’re getting more than 50 knots of wind, but it doesn’t look like it’s going to get much more than that. It’s not raining that much, and from what we can see on the satellite, we’ll have some nice clear weather after this passes. Hopefully we’ll have a nice weather window to get out to Isla Mujeres as soon as tomorrow. That’s what we’re hoping for….

So last night, we went into town in search of a hurricane party. We managed to find a restaurant open, where we had a great late hurricane eve dinner, and then we went down to the wharf and then Duval St looking for a joint that would take us in. There was NOTHING OPEN. So much for the legendary hurricane parties. Guess that’s all they are, legends.

During out venture into town, it started raining pretty hard, and since we left our rain gear on board, we had to improvise a bit. Hence the trash bags (click “more” to see the photos) …

These are some shots of the storm conditions this morning, about 8AM…

We may have a couple more before the day’s up.

Comment from: papa [Visitor]

i am very happy that you both ,tony and margriet did survive the hurricane without any damage today i got my brandnew car it drives really smoothyso i willdrive to burgh-haamstedeto buy me a sorbet or eat a cup of fishsoup bye , byeand till we meet again papa

2004-08-13 @ 11:19

Comment from: Valerie [Visitor]

Mike, Tony, & Mahi,

Great rain gear : )

I’m thrilled that all of you are safe and that there wasn’t any damage to The Andiamo. Now the forecast says that it’s headed for us in the Carolinas. Perhaps Charley will continue east instead!

Happy Birthday, Mahi

Valerie

2004-08-13 @ 18:00

Charley is now passing by, winds are howling, but it doesn’t look like we’re getting more than 50 knots of wind, but it doesn’t look like it’s going to get much more than that. It’s not raining that much, and from what we can see on the satellite, we’ll have some nice clear weather after this passes. Hopefully we’ll have a nice weather window to get out to Isla Mujeres as soon as tomorrow. That’s what we’re hoping for….

So last night, we went into town in search of a hurricane party. We managed to find a restaurant open, where we had a great late hurricane eve dinner, and then we went down to the wharf and then Duval St looking for a joint that would take us in. There was NOTHING OPEN. So much for the legendary hurricane parties. Guess that’s all they are, legends.

During out venture into town, it started raining pretty hard, and since we left our rain gear on board, we had to improvise a bit. Hence the trash bags (click “more” to see the photos)

(more…)

Key West is quite abuzz today, there are all kinds of speculations and rumors that the storm is heading right at us, and the weather service is of little help. They’re just not putting out as much concrete info as they should be. I’ve been watching Charley’s movements pretty closely via the satellite and other weather sources like Accuweather for the past couple of days now. And in my limited experience as an extremely amateur meteorologist, it looks to me like it’s going to head just west of us. It should keep enough distance from us (probably 80 miles or so) to keep the heavy storming to a minimum. We’re expecting 50-60 mph winds and some rain, though not as much as if the storm were hitting us.

Andiamo should be pretty well protected in the marina she’s in, being fairly well blocked in on three sides, all of which are the potential wind directions. We have her tied in pretty good, both anchors are out, and will have the bimini, dodger and other windage all down and stowed below by this afternoon. My only hope is that she doesn’t get hit by any flying debris, since that’s where the real damage will come from, if any.

Thanks for all the calls, comments, and emails, by the way. It’s nice to know that some people care.

Oh, and it’s Mahi’s birthday today! So needless to say we’ll have a hurricane party with a dual purpose tonight! YEAH!

Key West is quite abuzz today, there are all kinds of speculations and rumors that the storm is heading right at us, and the weather service is of little help. They’re just not putting out as much concrete info as they should be. I’ve been watching Charley’s movements pretty closely via the satellite and other weather sources like Accuweather for the past couple of days now. And in my limited experience as an extremely amateur meteorologist, it looks to me like it’s going to head just west of us. It should keep enough distance from us (probably 80 miles or so) to keep the heavy storming to a minimum. We’re expecting 50-60 mph winds and some rain, though not as much as if the storm were hitting us.

Andiamo should be pretty well protected in the marina she’s in, being fairly well blocked in on three sides, all of which are the potential wind directions. We have her tied in pretty good, both anchors are out, and will have the bimini, dodger and other windage all down and stowed below by this afternoon. My only hope is that she doesn’t get hit by any flying debris, since that’s where the real damage will come from, if any.

Thanks for all the calls, comments, and emails, by the way. It’s nice to know that some people care.

Oh, and it’s Mahi’s birthday today! So needless to say we’ll have a hurricane party with a dual purpose tonight! YEAH! Comment from: Michael Greaney [Visitor]

Happy Belated Birthday Mahi!

2004-08-13 @ 07:18