Hurricane Decisions Part 1 (EP 80)

[@scottkircher2262]

Boy! What a year… never a dull moment with you guys!

[@SailingAWEN]

I know. Hoping next cruising season will be the opposite of this one ;-)

[@heidiribkoff3585]

I really like that you show the decision making process and the discussions you have. And you keep your sense of humour too lol.

[@alisonsamuel-ns5zs]

Holly - love that you made callalloo! Stephane - thanks for the old wives’ tail reminder!!! Jealous about the dasheen leaves - I usually make it with collards/spinach and of course, am in New Orleans so add crab. Enjoying your videos.

[@SailingAWEN]

I’m so glad you are joining us with the vids! Big hugs!

[@georgeb3008]

Please be careful ❤❤

[@kcsunnyone]

I love that phrase, Holly, "scope creep" - in commercial construction, clients always do that. Was wondering if Beryl was impacting you two so thanks for the update. Also, I can't believe how fast your hair has grown! Love that braid!

[@SailingAWEN]

Thank you!

[@gayelee677]

Ah, the old wife's tale. Hope you swizzled the callaloo to give it a better texture, some people give it a blast or 2 in the blender. 🇹🇹☺️

[@seniorsdesflots]

👍Vous aviez vu la possible dégradation de la météo 5 à 6 jours avant! Voilà de vrais marins 👏. Nous aurions quitté Tobago 48 heures avant😉 pour moins de pression psychologique… Merci Holly pour la recette de cuisine👍 .;;;et bravo pour la qualité de tes micros: what is the name of your micros, Holly? Sylvie et Patrick, CROIX DU SUD Outremer 42, à BOCAS DEL TORO Panama.

[@SailingAWEN]

We were using wireless mics but they were cumbersome. Now we just use a wired lav mic by Rode and clip it to the end of a crepe spatula 🤣

[@rmkep]

I'm very happy you took the birds advice and exited Tobago.

[@SailingAWEN]

Ya, maybe they were trying to tell us something!

[@BryanHolmes-j4r]

Wise moving south always keeping in mind forecasts are only predictions and these hurricanes come in pairs according to a local in Carracou which has been devastated by Beryl. Stay safe Awen

[@remoranville]

You guys should consider making a short video clip with the piece about "the back nine" that's the most awesome way to frame your approach to this part of life! 🎉

[@charlesmiller4624]

Be safe.

[@jaysonbowerman115]

Thanks for sharing your decision making process, the heart of any functioning relationship. Wishing you solid holding and plenty of swinging room.

[@garyr1522]

Good job guys and good luck with Beryl, and hopefully that has now all blown through without too much trouble for you at least.

[@randalladdison537]

Be Safe....PRAYERS FOR YOU!!! I want a catamaran or trimaran but at 74 i am not willing or able to let my life be ruled by the weather any more if possible. We were hit by Hurricane Michael a few years ago now in January our mobile home /catamaran was hit by a tornado. 60K$ each time. Life is not much fun with all that. I hope you never have any loses like that. Our home is good structurally still after all that.

[@tonca124]

really hope you have both been ok during the storm and had managed to move out of harms way

[@philipplenzlinger445]

Thanks for sharing your decision making process. It’s really interesting for us armchair sailors. Wonder how this situation evolved for you. Stay safe !

[@stephaniestearns2493]

If your draft is 4.4ft (minimum draught listing on O55 specs) and you have a monohull next to you that likely has a (at minimum 5) 6 - 9ft draught, you can stop calculating and just start watching them, because they are definitely going to hit bottom WELL before you are. ;P That's some Steph-splaining. Not Stephane. Me, Stephanie. We have a 35' Ericson monohull with a draught just over 6'. New Years 2023 we rode out a storm with incoming swell to Avalon, Catalina Island, California. We were on the 2nd row of moorings and bucking like a bronco with big swell and boats all around. I'm always a little shocked at how close and shallow our assigned moorings are anyways, so needless to say it was tense! And I was doing the same calculations. Also because our transmission quit the day before, so only had engine available in reverse. :o You guys are TOO funny. I love you. Thank you!

[@SailingAWEN]

Thank you so much for sharing, glad I’m not the only one!!! Big hugs💕

[@gabsi64]

Good luck and keep safe.

[@codegame027]

I'm curious did you ever consider going to Colombia and/or San Blas for hurricane season instead of hauling out? Or did you just really want to spend the summer (hurricane season) in the states? What are your cruising plans over the next year or-so?

[@SailingAWEN]

No because we want to visit the rest of the Caribbean islands next season. 🤗

[@lpauline]

Hanging on for Part 2 .. stay safe and don't let the crazy boats hit you ❤ .. 🌬🍃

[@jerrymacvaldosta]

great job

[@deniselumsden6738]

You need to attach some old CDs or DVDs on the lines. It supposedly discourages the birds. The y supposedly don’t like the changing flashing colours when they spin in the light

[@SailingAWEN]

If only we had some 🤣

[@JRTurgeon13]

After the second installment, if you could give us some info of what happened in the spot where you were in Tobago. According to Beryl's track, they must have been hit pretty hard. They should have been hit by hurricane force wind. Even though Beryl was intense, it was also really small, so the hurricane force winds didn't reach too far from the eye.

[@jwfox54]

We are with you Holly. We are with Steffan too, but this time the hurricane was a little too close.

[@earlhunt2815]

Very insightful and role modeling decision-making process. Steffan's calm confidence and active listening to your opinions Holly demonstrate a highly performing team.

[@gloriasponner654]

You have too put a crab in the callaloo. No beans. Carrots never did carrots in mine. You have too swizzle it or put it in the blender 🍽🍽🥗🥗

[@SailingAWEN]

Yes but Stephane doesn’t eat meat or fish, so beans is our protein, the ingredients said carrots and I swizzled it but don’t have a big blender on the boat. It’s modified but still delicious.

[@bobf4765]

At this stage... drive fast & take your chances. Weather maps are great, just wish they would use a finer brush. The mop method leaves a lot of room for SWAG. (SWAG=Scientific Wild Ass Guess or weather forecast & planning.) Be safe. Fair winds...

[@SailingAWEN]

💯

[@waltervanderboor]

Scrolling over some weather data we happened to wonder how Grenada was doing, because multiple friends mentioned going there. (we're in Asia) To our shock we found Windy showing 49kt with gusts predicted, and, worse, up to 94! kt at that same time, which is a hefty hurricane you do not want to be in. You already planned to haul out in a better location, away from the worst. You should be fine. 30-40 its not nice but still okay, although you could take a few heftier gusts, you seem well prepared. Grenada is where the worst will be, which is funny in a way, because all sailors we know had been advice to go there to sustain insurance cover. Decisions like going or staying in such circumstances are always a debate. If in any way possible you run prematurely, but this one seems to be very early and unexpected. I am much with the risk averse approach, however when 10 are fighting for moorings do you still want to squeeze in? I wouldn't That's a huge damage risk. What would we do? We would re confirm the haul out time and date, are they still running? If so its likely we would plan to arrive just in time..1-2 hour before haul out. Hope you're well and finish safely.

[@gdiup9241]

😂 on the dish.

[@gloriasponner654]

Thats not excatly how you make it. You made a vegetable soup. HAPPY CALALLOO

[@SailingAWEN]

I know, it wasn’t by the book but it was delicious anyway. 😊

[@GenevieveWaller-pk3xg]

The customs are charging you incase something happens to you and they have to come looking for you. If you are safe, they transfer the info to Trinidad who will keep an eye on you to make sure you are safe. That rumour is fake about callaloo, who told you that was telling you stupidness. Callaloo is an indigenous dish that was adopted first by the Garfuna ( half carib, half africa) ,after awhile everyone got into it.

[@SailingAWEN]

Thanks for the clarification about the Callaloo, we heard it from one of the fisherman on the beach 🤣 so… We definitely see the intent on keeping sailors safe. It makes a ton of sense Troy at customs was AMAZING, one of the best experiences we had, even though the process is different. We don’t mind the cost, it’s more the challenge of doubling back to check out. When you are moving your home based on which way the wind is blowing it’s hard to go halfway down the island and come all the way back and then double back to the new destination. It can introduce risk and take more time than some people are willing to invest because it’s about the weather window. We chose to just stay in Charlotteville and explore the island with Junior rather than take the boat from bay to bay and then come back, so that was a good workaround for us. We adored Tobago and hope to come back! 🇹🇹 The Coast Guard here in Trinidad along with Immigration and Customs have all been spectacular. You definitely feel like they are keeping an eye out for you and they did all this with hundreds of boats coming in from Grenada. It was amazing to see everyone rally to get all the cruisers checked in and looking after people spread across all the bays in the surrounding areas. It was a heroic effort by so many people and Jesse James deserves a medal for keeping great coordination and communication going. We love this country! 💕