While I was in Alaska making #sailloot Lisa was back in Puerto Rico aboard Unwritten Timeline when the news of a possible hurricane came out. She was alone on the boat and had to get UT prepared for the worst possible case. Today we generally know when and where a hurricane will strike, but there is always a measure of unpredictability. Marina Pescaderia asked that everyone remove their boats from the marina. This is a usual occurrence during hurricanes. You might think that having a boat tied to a solid dock would be the preferred course of action but this is actually not the case. If a single 15,000lb boat should start to break away it would constantly bash against the dock. This would result in the dock and every other vessel coming lose and causing damage. Eventually all the vessels and the entire marina would be destroyed. If you are at anchor and you break free you may drift ashore or into another vessel. While that is devastating for the boats involved it means the entire marina isn’t destroyed. So Lisa started to secure sails, outside cushions, disconnect water and power connections. She had to make sure her and Unwritten Timeline would be safe and secure should she be in the direct path of Hurricane Dorian.
Lisa enlisted help from the great people at Marina Pescaderia. They provided a few deckhands to help her move the boat to a small anchorage surrounded by mangroves. This is only about 1000 meters from the marina, which is another reason it is such a great place to have your boat. Even though we only draft 4’ Lisa still had to wait for high tide to go into the mangroves. She barely scraped the bottom on her way in. While waiting for high tide the anchorage quickly filled up with all the vessels around Puerto Real. When Lisa was able to get in she snuggled in between several other boats and tied our dock lines to various mangrove trees and dropped the main anchor. Once settled nicely in her new home the deckhands jumped aboard a small tender to go help the rest of the boats get into the mangroves.
Lisa and the other residents of the marina watched the news and waited to see what Hurricane Dorian would do. Puerto Real is on the South West tip of Puerto Rico. When Dorian made landfall in Puerto Rico it was on the North East tip near San Juan. Much of the Northeast part of the island sustained damage from Dorian. Luckily Lisa and Unwritten Timeline were virtually unscathed. In the mangroves Lisa had very little wind, no rain, and no damage. After a few days Marina Pescaderia opened the slips back up. The tenders headed out to the mangroves to help the larger vessels get back over the shallow entrance and tied back up to the dock. Lisa sat and watched many of her lucky neighbors make their way to the marina while she waited for high tide once again.
Just before nightfall Lisa started to untie her lines from the mangroves and weigh anchor. She slowly made her way over the shallow entrance and headed back home to her slip. It was her first dealing with a hurricane. It was her first dealing with an emergency while alone on the boat. It was the first time tying up to a mangrove forest. While Dorian didn’t directly hit Unwritten Timeline it provided the opportunity to do a lot of firsts aboard a boat. It’s a good feeling knowing you can handle any situation aboard when you’re planning on going around the world on a boat.
Lisa enlisted help from the great people at Marina Pescaderia. They provided a few deckhands to help her move the boat to a small anchorage surrounded by mangroves. This is only about 1000 meters from the marina, which is another reason it is such a great place to have your boat. Even though we only draft 4’ Lisa still had to wait for high tide to go into the mangroves. She barely scraped the bottom on her way in. While waiting for high tide the anchorage quickly filled up with all the vessels around Puerto Real. When Lisa was able to get in she snuggled in between several other boats and tied our dock lines to various mangrove trees and dropped the main anchor. Once settled nicely in her new home the deckhands jumped aboard a small tender to go help the rest of the boats get into the mangroves.
Lisa and the other residents of the marina watched the news and waited to see what Hurricane Dorian would do. Puerto Real is on the South West tip of Puerto Rico. When Dorian made landfall in Puerto Rico it was on the North East tip near San Juan. Much of the Northeast part of the island sustained damage from Dorian. Luckily Lisa and Unwritten Timeline were virtually unscathed. In the mangroves Lisa had very little wind, no rain, and no damage. After a few days Marina Pescaderia opened the slips back up. The tenders headed out to the mangroves to help the larger vessels get back over the shallow entrance and tied back up to the dock. Lisa sat and watched many of her lucky neighbors make their way to the marina while she waited for high tide once again.
Just before nightfall Lisa started to untie her lines from the mangroves and weigh anchor. She slowly made her way over the shallow entrance and headed back home to her slip. It was her first dealing with a hurricane. It was her first dealing with an emergency while alone on the boat. It was the first time tying up to a mangrove forest. While Dorian didn’t directly hit Unwritten Timeline it provided the opportunity to do a lot of firsts aboard a boat. It’s a good feeling knowing you can handle any situation aboard when you’re planning on going around the world on a boat.
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