Hurricane Earl's Side Effects

Kyle and I spent all Wednesday night preparing for Earl's Thursday night arrival.  Southern Cross was streamlined; no sails, no boom, no solar panels, and about 8,000 fenders.  Then Earl turned out to be not much more than a whimper.

Of course, the thousands of tourists on the Outer Banks had to prepare for the worst.  And they started preparing right around the time I decided I needed some mushrooms to saute for the poached pike dinner I was planning for the evening.  Look at me bypass all the traffic on the way to the grocery store!  Wheeeeee!

The pike was delicious, poached in a white wine sauce with sauteed vegetables, served with a side of penne topped with stewed tomatoes, fresh basil and lemon zest.  Delicious!

But back to the hurricane....  Earl was maybe a whisper of wind in these parts.  The real issue was the next day when the water dropped three feet.  It is incredible how the geography of the outer banks and sounds allow the wind to have such an effect on the water level.  This picture hurts my heart.

It was not all a loss, however!  This weekend the water came back with a vengeance, rising above normal levels.  So, for the second time since arriving back in this area, we took Southern Cross out for a spin on the bay.  She was soooo happy to be out and about, even boom-less and sail-less.  And frankly, Kyle and I were slightly giddy about being "home" again.  We cleaned her up (on the outside at least).  Sitting under pine trees does her no favors.  I found every single spider web on deck yesterday.

The water is still high so maybe I will talk Kyle into taking her out for a quick jaunt tonight after work.