https://www.nbcboston.com/news/local/Cape-Cod-Tornado-Timeline-Weather-Forecast-513102111.html
Jim and I decided to join a few other boats and do a “cruise in company” to Martha’s Vineyard. We had friends on the other boats, so it was supposed to be a really easy, fun way to spend a week checking out the islands. Well…
We got to Edgartown on Martha’s Vineyard and anchored outside the harbor, as Jim and I prefer. Beautiful day, great dinner at the Yacht Club. There was some discussion about some weather that was supposed to come through the next day, and we all decided to see what it looked like in the morning before we made any decisions on whether to move on to Nantucket the next morning or to sit tight and let the weather pass through.
Morning dawns a bit grey, a bit windy (10-15) and pretty choppy. We decided to stay put and do a couple housekeeping chores while the weather goes through. The wind picks up a bit… 20-25. No one is dragging. Every 7th wave a big set of 3 comes through, but still all good. The wind comes up to 30. Waves pick up. Some poor guy is sailing through the anchorage with his jib 1/2 unfurled and shredding, trying to get it down. He’s behind us, so all is still OK. I take a Dramamine because I’m beginning to get seasick at anchor.
About then, Jim mentions that they are reporting tornados on the mainland and winds up to 110. I’m still OK because the mainland is a good 20-30 miles away.
By 5pm, conditions have improved and my mal de mer is under control. It’s only a bit windy and the waves have gone down to chop. We have a beautiful sunset, eat dinner and go to bed.
We wake up the next morning and I start figuring out that while Jim was “technically” correct in that the tornadoes were on the mainland, they were actually on the base of Cape Cod, about 5 miles away. Trees were uprooted. Roofs ripped off motels. And I’m on my boat, 5 miles away. Yikes.
As my mom Lois used to say, sometimes it’s better to be lucky than good!
Morpheus Sailing 