thunder and lightening

Well after the boating experience the other weekend Sam was lucky I decided to step back on board. But I was pretty sure I had fulfilled my boating drama quota for at least the rest of the year so I felt it was pretty safe.

We headed out from Anacortes Saturday morning and saw an available mooring buoy at James Island so decided we should stop there. Since there are only 3 buoys getting one on a summer Saturday was pretty lucky. The weather was beautiful - sunny and calm seas and we had a mooring buoy. Not having fully recovered from our previous attempt at anchoring the buoy seemed much safer and a lot less stress.

Since we arrived early we had all day to explore by dinghy and for Sam to drop his line overboard in hopes a fish would bite this time. We got the crab pot set and then I convinced him I just needed some reading time on board while he trolled around in his dinghy.

Sam went to pick back up the crab pot and while he was around the island suddenly there was the clap of thunder and sure enough there was lightening as well not too far off. He decided to head back to the boat and get on board, I thought he was just coming back to keep me company but really it was cause being in the cabin was the best place to be. He had also gotten 3 crabs so it would be a crab dinner instead of brats on the grill - a much tastier option.

During the whole evening it kept up with the thunder and lightening and sure enough we were the tallest thing around though the island is covered in trees so that made it a bit better at least in my mind. After cooking up our crab dinner Sam was still pretty nervous about the lightening and it didn't help that it would suddenly seem like it was moving away and then it would come closer again.

Finally he decided we needed to turn off all our electronics and put on our rubber flip flops to be safe down in the cabin. I tried to lobby to keep the fridge on but Sam wasn't going for it. I do have to say he got pretty nervous about the whole storm (which was totally unexpected) but then I think that was because the sailboat is really "his" boat.

The good news is that we had a motor that would start (at least before a lightening strike), and were firmly tied to the buoy. I was also pretty confident I could swim to shore if needed, though in my own mind as long as land is visible I somehow think I can swim in. I did notice though that the suggestion to turn off all the electronics came after I had cooked up the crab.

It came out later that he figured if he was going to have a last meal fresh crab would be at the top of his list. I am just glad he waited to share that with me at a later time, a few days after the storm in fact when I was on dry land. Good call on his part.