When we departed Plattsburgh we went into a very well protected anchorage in Hibbard Bay (north side of The Gut) on Saturday about noon and worked to get the anchor set well in all the weeds. After two attempts and waiting several hours for it to work its way into the mud below the weeds, we felt it was well set. The 50 MPH gusts we experienced during Irene’s passing proved us correct.

Here’s a photo of the sunset on Saturday night before Irene’s arrival:

By midnight last night the barometer had started to climb (reached a low of 28.9 inches from the high at 0700 yesterday morning of 29.5) and the base-line winds were dropping to about 20 (from a high of 27/28 during the peak). These figures are all based on our own barometers and wind gauge, so may not coincide with NOAA figures.

This is how the handheld GPS looked after Tropical Storm Irene had passed. Notice how the “blob” creates an arc. This was scribed as the wind shifted from the NE to the N and finally to the NW as TS Irene passed by to the east of us. The arc is created almost exactly 150 feet from the location of the anchor!

This morning the sky is clear and the sun is shining. Three of the four other boats in the bay have already left; only a single small sailboat remains.

We’ll stay here for the remainder of the day and tonight, then tomorrow (August 30th) we’ll move to a marina at Plattsburgh where we have a reservation for a week while Judy flies to Kansas for her mother’s 90th birthday.

On Tuesday the 30th we weighed anchor and moved to the Plattsburgh Boat Basin where Sanderling, the cats, and Bob will stay for a week. Here’s a photo of the anchor chain and weeds/grass as we raised anchor preparing to depart. It’s not an easy task getting rid of all the vegetation which gets wrapped around and interwoven in the chain.

Next post: a 42 foot catamaran is damaged in the storm and is removed to dry land for repairs.