Tuesday, December 28, 2010

The good, the bad and the ugly... and the good. (Part 2)

The good: Nobody got hurt.

The bad: The big, beautiful old maple tree in our front yard blew over in the storm a few days ago.



The ugly: It knocked over part of our fence and crunched a van parked on the other side.




And the good... nobody got hurt.

We’re still in Coconut Grove, waiting for a weather window to head over to the Bahamas…. and we’re not alone. All the boats that were here when we arrived are still here – all waiting for the wind to shift. It was so windy for a few days that no one even left their boat. A dinghy ride meant a certain soaking and quite possibly an unplanned swim. Every once in a while we’d stick our heads up out of the cockpit and look around – only to see other people doing the same thing. It looked like a game of whack-a-mole on the water. It blew so hard on Monday that the marina stopped running the launch except to go after a sailboat that was poorly tied to it’s mooring and had broken loose - twice. We saw the launch operator the next day and complimented him on his skillful handling of the situation (and we found out he’s a Philly boy!). He said “You know the old maxim… if you can’t tie a knot, tie a lot!” The marina wouldn’t let the boat owners pick up another mooring ball but rather ‘requested’ that they stay at the dock in the marina until the wind died down. I believe that’s what they call a vote of no confidence. I think I’ll practice my knot tying….

(Tree photos courtesy of guest photographer Kerry)

5 comments:

rpmutschler@comcast.net said...

LOL! I've never heard that saying before - if you can't tie a knot, tie a LOT - I love it.

yfys

Kim said...

Oh, Maddie--that's just crazy. What a thing to happen. Here's hoping Kerry and her hubby are good sports. And think how nice your parking pad will be. (More of the good.) Love you, girl.

Unknown said...

I finally am caught up with the Saralane Saga, I love the wise-ass commentary, even when describing downed trees.
Miss you! Have a happy new year!

kelly said...

Hi Maddie-sorry about the tree but, glad that you were not here to watch it fall. Got your message from Sue. The hotel in Playa del Carmen is about 3 miles from ours. We will be down there in 3 weeks. Cannot wait for warmth. Hope all is well. Say hello to Skip. Enjoy your time.

SNOWBIRD said...

Hello!
It was so nice to hear from you! Are you still in Miami? We are heading down in a slooooooow speed and right now we are in Fort Pierce and heading for Stuart tomorrow. We are planing to go over to the Bahamas from Fort Lauderdale. We are not certain to head to the Abaco but we haven´t decided yet!
Hope to see you there somewhere!
Martin and Johanna