A two Afghan night

Before Mike left to go sailing, he removed the wind scoop and put a tarp over the v-berth hatch. The theory being that tarp would keep rain off and I could still have the hatch open to keep it cool. It works really well if the rain is coming straight down. There are a few small holes in the tarp but not enough to cause a problem. However, the tarp is so low and tight it is a struggle to get the hatch closed. The hatch is a big, heavy piece of fiberglass and awkward to move at the best of times.

At 2:15a.m. I woke up to the sound of thunder and flashes of lighting. A big thunderstorm was starting. I jumped up and closed the forward hatch as the wind started driving rain in. Then went back to the v-berth to close the hatch. The rain started in earnest as I reached up to start closing the hatch. I struggled for five minutes with rain whipping at my face and shoulders. I couldn't get the hatch to budge. My hands were slippery, rain was coming into my bed. The lightening began striking closer and closer. I grabbed my big, blue afghan and covered as much of the hatch as I could. I held it in place until the wind died down a bit. After about 15 minutes the Afghan was damp enough to stay in place. I dried off and got back into bed hoping the afghan would hold.

At 3:15 a.m. I feel the splat of water hit as the afghan reached total saturation and began dripping water into the v-berth. It is still raining. I grab a new afghan, push the saturated afghan out of the way and cover the hatch with the new afghan. I hold it in place until I'm sure that it isn't going to blow away. I finally get back to sleep ignoring the occasional splat of water. The alarm goes off at 4:19 a.m. and I hit the snooze button. I do that several times and finally just turn off the alarm clock.

I wake up at 5:30 a.m. I'm not going to work today. I have to empty out the hatch cover, take the tarp cover off, empty the dinghy before it sinks, and take the afghans to the laundry, What a marvelous start to a Thursday morning.

I haven't heard from MIke since Friday. I'm worried that he has been going through some of these thunderstorms at sea. I bet he isn't having fun either.