T&T: mo Gustav

[Larry N. Brown]

12:12-- It's like that horror movie where, just when you think everything's
settling down, the guy shows up again with a chainsaw.

Glass is still dropping, wind and water's rising and we saw a few tree tops
fall across the way. Fortunately the wind direction keeps the tops and other
debris "over there." Reminds me of the guy who was talking to three-finger
Charley in the saw-mill. How'd you get that name, Charley? Well, I was just
milling down some timber and. . .whoops, there goes another one. Trees are
starting to lose their tops with a little more regularity now in the higher
winds. Fortunately it's on the wide screen, 200 yards away from the boat. The
100' away trees are falling parallel to us. Still waiting for the wind to
clock to give us a little more protection. Did I mention that I never, never,
want to do this again?

I can say in all honesty that venison sausage leavened with wild sow fat makes
an excellent accompaniment to country biscuits. Like the hair conditioner,
buttermilk went on the endangered species list and I had to seriously adjust
my recipe for sweet milk. The victims didn't complain. In the immortal words
of Spiny the Elder, sic transit gloria biscotti.

Sailboat bows are barely pulling the catenary off vertical on the 150' of 1/2"
chain connected up wind to the 150# North Hill. Oh, I didn't mention how we
launched the anchor. Teri maneuvered Cigano until the port quarter of Cigano
just kissed Libertad, a 55' steel ketch and we used the dinghy hoist to pull
the North Hill off her deck. Then she backed down to the anchor launch point
and we cut the 3/8" sacrificial rope to allow the behemoth to sink to the
bottom. Although there's still room for slip between cup and lip our planning
appears to be successful.

Gusts on the Davis are around 35 kt and I suspect higher at tree top level.
Everything feels like we were tied up to the dock and then, pow, we rock and
reel.

Cell phones and Verizon internet are holding up so I'll keep the yarn going
until we begin to see a denouement in the offing. I may be just whistling by
the graveyard but I think we will survive relatively intact.

Regards,

Larry and Teri
M/V Cigano, 47' Prairie Sundeck Cruiser
Lying: 64 Cypress Road
          Covington, LA