Hurricane Dean

Hi From Trinidad
It is bright and sunny, almost no wind and we are in a slip at Coral Cove Marina, Chaguaramas, Trinidad. All the worrying about Hurricane Dean is over until the next tropical wave/depression arrives, which happens to be at approx. 19 deg N, 38 deg W. This will have an impact on us probably next Thursday/Friday, if we are still here, which I hope we ain’t. We firmly believe that the best “Hurricane Preparation Plan” is to be somewhere else! So, Venezuela looks good, hopefully heading in that direction in the next day or two.
Some models of Hurricane Dean’s position on last Tuesday had Trinidad & Tobago in it’s direct path. This would have been the first Hurricane to hit here in 120 years. We were in the midst of some boat work, and we did not have time to escape to a “hurricane hole”, plus we were convinced that it would veer north. Not only us, but about 350 other boats in the various marina’s and anchorages in Chaguaramas would have taken a serious hit, probably one that would have destroyed everything. As it was, Dean did veer north and passed between Martinique and St. Lucia, leaving a path of destruction. Unfortunately later today, Sunday 20th, the eye of Dean will be 30 miles off Jamaica then Cancun, Mexico as a Catagorie 4/5 Hurricane. The destruction will be massive and we hope the people have taken the time to seek refuge.
Cruisers who have spent some time here in Chaguaramas warned everyone on the Wed. and Thurs morning “Cruiser’s Net” (VHF radio broadcast @ 8am) of the exposure to the Southeast in the anchorage and some of the marinas. A lot of boats left for refuge elsewhere only to be replaced by boats arriving from Grenada and other places north escaping the storm. The place was packed! There is very little room to anchor here, most of the space taken by moorings which are spaced way too close together. We appraised our situation and decided to stay at the dock.
The ocean swell of Dean was felt here about 8 hours after it passed our longitude. In Coral Cove Marina there are strong concrete docks which don’t move when big waves hit it. But that doesn’t mean that the boats tied up to it don’t move.
First thing after morning coffee was to visit Budget Marine and buy 120 more feet of nylon rode to prepare Rhiannon for the predicted swell. We always felt fairly confident in our “ground tackle” and assumed that we would ride out situations like this on our anchors. We are never in a marina, never tied to a dock and only have dock lines that keep is tied in minimum forces. Not for what we were expecting this day.
Within 30 minutes of adding the extra lines, she started to roll. There were boats on moorings that were breaking loose and piling into other boats, boats on anchor were dragging onto their neighbor and big waves were bashing into boats in the marinas.
Rhiannon was rolling from side to side, (with me watching from the stable concrete dock), but not as bad as our neighbor boats which were closer to the wall of the marina and getting the back wave after it hit the marina wall. The swell lasted about 3 hours and it was awful! Masts banging other masts in fact two hit about 10 or 11 times. Our rig hit the shroud running between the main mast and the mizzen mast of a 54’ ketch beside us only once but broke our wind instrument.
About 200 yards away more openly exposed to the waves a few boats in the marina were litterly picked up and smashed onto the marina wall! The local boat businesses went all out running down with huge fenders, lines and people to help out. All this and not a breath of wind, it was amazing! You might check out www.guardian.co.tt then go to archives for August 18th , which is at the end of the list. This is the local newspaper and the cover page has photos of what was happening. We were too busy to take any pictures ourselves.
Our boat projects are complete now, installed one 150 watt solar panel, added more insulation to the fridge and re-worked the propane locker and we are setting sail to Venezuela, minus our wind machine, where we hope that we will never have to experience what we went through here in Chaguaramas, or the potential disaster that it could have been. First Rule in Hurricane Preparation, Be Where It Ain’t!
See Ya, Fair Winds and Seas
Pat & Miriam
S/V Rhiannon3