Hello Isaias

As the future cone of tropical storm Isaias centered on our marina we started making preparations for his visit on Aug. 3rd. We have been through mild hurricanes and tropical storms on land but not on a boat. The first challenge was a strategy for our side-to dock meaning if the wind came from the east, we had no lines on the port side to keep off the dock. We solved this problem by loading up the piers and boat with every fender we had plus two borrowed ones. The second problem was the dock was fixed (not floating), so as the boat rises the lines get looser. We solved this issue by keeping a close watch during the storm and adjusting the lines as needed. We also made other preparations such as securing the genoa and staysail sheets forward, removing offshore safety equipment below, installing chaff guards at the fairleads, attaching the dock lines to dock piers instead of the cleats, and adding an extra forward spring line. We also test ran the generator in case the marina lost power for a prolonged period. As the sun rose today the wind picked up all morning. The direction was primarily from the north so we did not have to worry about being pushed against the dock. The top wind we saw was 40 knots (46 mph). There was a lot of rain and we watched the barometer dip to around 997 millibars. Luckily the dock was not flooded and the marina power stayed on. We are happy to report all is well and hope everyone else had minimal problems.