Day 117, Year 11: Early AM Fright, PM Trip to Lauderdale
Date: Tuesday, February 16, 2016
Weather: Extreme AM T-storm, Then Overcast Going Partly Sunny PM
Location: At Anchor in West Palm Beach City Anchorage, FL
I’m ‘done’ with this extreme weather, but obviously it is not done with me. I woke up at 6 am and thought there was a police boat outside because there was a flashing strobe light. I quickly got dressed and went to the cockpit to hear thunder and see that the strobe light was actually lightening—a very strange, flashing lightening that I’ve never seen before. It was raining and was windy, but it has been windy since Sunday evening. So I went back to bed. I no sooner got in bed when I heard that awful sound roar like a train going through the boat and about that time a gust of wind heeled the boat enough that anything not tied down went crashing to the floor. I jumped up and turn on the navigation instruments to see 35-40 knot winds. Of course, the gust that heeled us over had moved on and according to the weather on my phone, West Palm was getting 55-60 knot winds and there was a tornado watch for Palm Beach County. Aye-yai-yai. I sat in the cockpit and watched the wind blowing the tops off the chop in the anchorage making it look boiling pot. The couple on one of the boats next to us was out on deck appearing to re-anchor. I didn’t think we had drug on our anchor, but I wasn’t sure. Either that boat had just moved or we had, but whichever, we all still looked fine. I sat on watch until the wind died down and went back to bed hoping that I would wake up in an hour or so to a calm, sunny day. Well, I got one wish. It was calm, but not sunny. But that’s okay. I LIKE calm!
The rest of the day was not so dramatic. I used the water accumulated in the dinghy from the morning rain to do a laundry and then walked to the train station. I got there early, so I sat and read. I’m reading a really good book recommended to me by Detta Porat a year ago. I’m just now getting around to reading it and thought it was ironic that I was going to Fort Lauderdale to meet Detta’s husband, Tom, today. By the way, the book is ‘The Signature of All Things’ by Elizabeth Gilbert—a really good read. I met Tom at the Fort Lauderdale Airport TriRail Station and we walked down the street to the nearest restaurant. We enjoyed the meal, but more than that, we enjoyed getting to talk face-to-face for the first time in ages. We walked back to the TriRail Station and just as we got there, I heard a train whistle. It was the northbound train and we were on the southbound side. I waited until the train stopped and then went across the tracks even though the gates were down. I got to the train in time to hop on, but the conductor met me at the door to reminded me that it is a $10,000 fine to do what I had just done—when the cross bars are down, you don’t cross the tracks. I guess the next time I find myself in that situation, I’ll wait for another train.
