"Riding The Storm Out"
 

I have decided to ride the storm out at the island camp this weekend and hope for the best. One boat will be brought to Fay's in it's covered slip and the other will be with me at the camp on the West side of Welch tied down really well.

My two jet skis will also be on their lifts in the water as I have no other place for them right now. I will strap them down to their lifts and hopefully they will survive.

My swim raft is also being left out, it's on a 1000 lb mooring weight with new chain and rope and it has my name on it. I hope it stays in place but I wouldn't be surprised if it busts free, I simply don't have the time to do anything else to secure it better right now and can't pull it in alone.

I will put away and / or secure all outdoor furniture and accessories and strap down the gas grill on my deck.

I recently cut the large dead trees around the camp and hopefully all others will remain in place when and if the high winds hit.

I have a good generator and plenty of gas so if and when the electricity goes out I am all set. It seems to go out pretty easily on Welch whenever there is high wind.

I think my biggest concern right now is the many trees I have around the camp staying in place and one of my patio sliders possibly breaking, that would really stink!!

I have a portable weather station at the camp that shows wind speed. It will only be accurate if and when the winds come from the Southwest, West or Northwest as the wind meter is protected on the East by the island. If I have an internet connection (Verizon air card) I will post some of the speeds I encounter while out on the island.

If the bad winds are from the South, that would be good for me as I will be somewhat sheltered. Once they come from the west they will be dead on and brutal.

While I hate they way most weathermen / women have falsely predicted doom and gloom for every storm, I think they might be right on this one...

What are other islanders doing to prepare??

Stay safe!!

Dan

Must be nice Dan...I wish I could be out there for this. You'll have a front row seat to an impressive show.

I pulled both jet skis out today, even though they were on my Sunlifts I was worried about wind tipping them over since they sit so high out of the water. Probably a bit too cautious on my part. I pulled the Sonic as well and stored that in my warehouse for the weekend. The Maxum will stay in the island slip with 6 ropes on it. Still contemplating putting it on the mooring. The pontoon will be at the marina in the slip, hidden between 2 bigger boats.

I am going up tomorrow morning to move furniture, umbrellas, etc. If you need help moving anything send me an email and I will swing by.

Dan you are going to have an experience for sure, hope it is safe and secure as well as exciting (well not too exciting).

We are on Welch now but will head back to West Alton in the morning. The Whaler is back home and the Slickcraft will go back to the covered slip at Fays. The furniture is out of the way and there is not much else we can do. Our main concern like you is the tall trees around the camp.

Let us know if we can be of any help this evening or in the morning. Looking forward to 1st hand reports and photos. Stay safe!

Alan

Good luck Dan. It should be a heck of an experience. Don't forget to take a lot of pictures.

Riders of the Storm
 

Hauled out the wife's 18.6' Doral bow rider this morning. Tomorrow I will turn the 22' C-Dory around in our u-shaped dock to face the wind, raise the motor up and out, rig 4 ties with new rope. Then I will secure the deck furniture and charcoal grill, take photos of trees around the cabin and guest house in case they fall.

Already bought gas for the generator, batteries, extra water and groceries, including oreos.

Good Luck Dan
 

We are headed up tonight to save the waverunner and water trampoline. The deck furniture will be brought in and I have a list of friends who requested this service so I will be going around hiding patio furniture.

I wish I was staying but the family wants me home before the show in CT starts. Post great pics like you always do and be safe.

Latest Info from NOAA website (Via Intellicast)
 

...PROBABILITY OF TROPICAL STORM/HURRICANE CONDITIONS...
THE CHANCE FOR HURRICANE CONDITIONS AT THIS TIME IS VERY SMALL.
ALSO...THE CHANCE FOR TROPICAL STORM CONDITIONS AT THIS TIME IS
62 PERCENT. THIS REPRESENTS A STEADY TREND SINCE THE LAST
FORECAST. THE ONSET OF TROPICAL STORM CONDITIONS COULD START AS
EARLY AS SUNDAY MORNING.

...WINDS...
THE LATEST FORECAST IS FOR TROPICAL STORM FORCE WINDS FROM SUNDAY
AFTERNOON TO EARLY MONDAY MORNING. WINDS THIS STRONG HAVE THE
POTENTIAL TO BRING DOWN TREES AND POWER LINES.

Whole story here...

http://www.intellicast.com/Storm/Sev...ation=USNH0261

I'll leave the Pontoon in the water, our marina in LSP is fairly well protected. I do wonder if it's best to leave it covered? Hate to have the cover blown away. $$$, and a pontoon dosen't mind getting wet! :rolleye1:

Rest of the "stuff" in the yard will be put away tomorrow.

We gave half a thought to putting our boat on the mainland and riding it out but the prospect of a likely power outage took most of the fun out of it for us. We tried to batten down the hatches this afternoon and came home tonight. We worry mostly about the trees around the lake.

Heading up to Meredith to start our vacation tomorrow. Should be an interesting day on Sunday. Plan on leaving the boat racked at the marina until after Irene exits. I'm hoping for a safe yet exciting experience. I wish the same for everyone else.

We All Wish You The Very Best, Rinkerfam
 

Hurricane away for you and your family! Stay safe, and BTW, hard hats are in season!! :)
Best of luck to you and your's
Terry
_______________________________

Good timing...
 

We start our week's vacation today. We usually sleep on the boat weekly, but this week, we will be riding out the storm in a 1940's cabin in Moultonboro. I'll leave the boat tied up in its slip in lakeport till Monday. I usualy only have a inch or less under my keel at the cabin, so I don't want her pounding into the sand for 12 hours. Going to head to the slip, pull down the camper canvas, and put on the tight cockpit cover. Probably throw on a couple of lines to four-way tie her too. Then I figure it would be wise to strap down the furniture and grill.

Sure will hate to bring my generator and have it hanging around all week if I don't need it, but sure will enjoy it if I do. It is one of the honda quiet 2000 watt ones. I love it. I worry about the refrigerator spoiling all of our food if the power goes out more than anything else. Besides a fan and some lights, there isn't much else at the cabin. if power is out, cable will probably be out too.

Everyone be safe.

O man I would love to spend the night on the Broad side of Rattlesnake. That would be an adventure and a half! Have fun!

Irene Be A Lady!!!
 

Went out to East Bear Island yesterday to prepare for the wild lady's visit. Our neighbors had already removed our plants from the dock, moved our small lighthouse to the land, and secured the Baby Bear Buggy in her slip. What wonderful neighbors we have! We closed hinged shutters on the east and south facing sides of our cottage. Also removed all small items from the porches, including hummingbird feeders, wind chimes, porch furnishings, etc. We removed some frozen items to bring home in a cooler. Checked our portable generator - we will come out to the island after Irene heads to the Canadian maritime provinces to run it if power is lost. Secured our small aluminum fishing boat on the dock and tied it to adjacent posts, and removed the small drain plug at the stern. We brought the Baby Bear Buggy into Fay's where she was taken out and put into the large boat storage building. We secured the Bear Buggy in her covered slip with extra lines to keep her from rubbing against the adjacent pilings [tied a streamer on one line that stretched across the walkway that we share with "Slickcraft" from Welch Island]. We hope that the strength of the potentially naughty lady continues to diminish as there are numerous tall trees around our cottage and at our home in southern New Hampshire.

Have Fun Dan!
 

I'm a wee bit envious that your staying to brave Irene. ;) Hope you can get lots of pictures to share with us and I hope that if (more like when) you lose power, you will still be able to post updates from the island. With luck, your trees will stand tall and stay true.

Stay safe! We'll be thinking of you.

Cel

While we briefly unhooked that line to unload the Slickcraft this morning, we reattached it to the stern of Bear Buggy as well as tying an extra line to the other side of the Slickcraft. We hope that your place on East Bear has no damage on your return.

I know of at least one person who is riding it out on Rattlesnake, and can think of a few "probablies"....

The storm is not going to be as strong as originally predicted... But, still some big gusts and strong steady winds. If the storm stays somewhat formed, and continues spinning, the wind will blow from from about a 270 degree arc over the course of the storm - starting from the East (or even a bit east-north-east), then gradually shifting around and blowing from the South, and then moving around more and finally from the West. All assuming the storm stays to the West of the Lake, of course.

So, at least where we are on the Island, the "safe" dock would not be all that safe with the wind right out of the South or South-South-West.

The Calm Before The Storm
 

Really pretty sunset tonight. The lake was eerily calm. One pic was taken with flash and one without. The one with flash caught the birch tree on the left. I thought it looked kinda cool!

Dan

Rattlesnake
 

Left my daughter and fiancee to ride it out on Rattlesnake--They report a beautiful sunset and a very erie silence of no boats on the lake!! Wish I was with them!! Keep you updated!!

really cool.........
 

Great photos, really love the flash on the birch tree.............stayed on Welch Island one summer in the 80's, Should be a great storm to watch, wish I was there! Stay safe.............send those images!

You sound prepared Dan, let the weather gods be kind to you.

We're not in the more direct path you guys are, but they are still projecting some pretty harsh winds and rain. We'll know on Monday what happened.
I doubt pictures are going to be possible, but I'll buy you a bag of chips if you get some good ones :laugh:

"Red Sky At Night..Sailors Delight." YUP :) NB

I was funny today to see the docks at Shep Brown's Marina empty in August. They moved all the boats to the racks.

The Mount went by tonight in a fantastic sunset with almost nobody on board. The Mount is staying at the dock tomorrow.

9:00 A.M. Update
 

The rain started this morning, first it was light rain then heavy, now it's light again.

Swirling wind can be seen blowing across the top of the lake, they are light and from the North / Northeast which is very uncommon.

Fog is starting to roll in with about 1/3rd mile of visibility. I can no longer see Lockes Island from my camp.

The satellite dish is going in and out of reception interrupting the Sopranos reruns! :eek: Looks like DVD movies will be my best bet this afternoon!!

More to come...

Dan

wind direction
 

Parked my sailboat in a protected harbor. I thought it might be fine....but couldnt peg wind direction. If from East I'm protected. If from N NW totally exposed to waves rolling down the Broads. What is the direction?

11:00 A.M. Update
 

The winds are now definitely from the East. Hard to tell what the speed is as I am completely protected being on the West side of the island.

This pic was just taken of a broken free swim raft floating by. Background in pic is Belknap Point. Rain is light right now and occasionally picks up to a heavy downpour.

If you recognize this swim raft, it looks like it is headed for Lockes Island...

Marine Patrol has gone by a couple times but other than that no boats have been seen.

No TV reception so watching "The Fighter" DVD with Mark Wahlberg!

The best is yet to come, standby...

Dan

winds from east
 

there are rarely strong winds from east. It will test some untested moorings. Boats exposed to W and NW winds know better.

wind direction
 

It's supposed to switch to winds from w and nw. be interesting to see if that actually happens

Update 11:45 A.M.
 

Power just went out on Welch. That does not surprise me as the power goes out here when someone breathes hard. :)

Winds are now out of the South and look fairly strong.

I saw a lone loon floating around in the middle of the wind and waves with what looked like a baby on her back. I had her in my spotting scope, but not for long. She must of known I was spying on her and she dove. I didn't see her again.

Generator is now running and all is good!

Stay tuned!...

Dan

It actually looks like mine :eek: I doubt mine could be heading that way though if it did let go with the wind direction.

It is blowing pretty hard here in Dover. If the wind is out of the east up there my place must be getting creamed.

After looking at the rattlesnake cam and your shots the lake looks surprisingly mellow.

Codeman;

If it's yours, it would have had to come around Welch from the broads side. I suppose it could have considering how the winds are shifting quickly in a clockwise direction... More than likely however it came from someplace on the broads side of Welch or Rattlesnake island.

Dan

Update 5:00 P.M.
 

Well other than losing electricity this has pretty much been a non event for the Southwest and West side of Welch Island. There were no big winds on this side of the island and everything remained relatively mild. Even the rainfall didn't seem that bad.

As you can see in this pic the only debris on our patio area is a small pine twig about a 18" long. Other than that the patio and yard is in perfect shape and the same goes for my neighbors. Even my wife's flowers were completely unharmed!

Right now the lake is calm with very very few white caps, heck I may even go for a boat ride! (just kidding)

I put a lot of work in yesterday to secure and put away furniture, secure the boat to the dock, strap down any loose out door items, etc, etc. In retrospect I really didn't have to do anything but better safe than sorry I guess. I just lucked out being on the right side of the island!

Good Night Irene!

Over and out...

Dan

We're starting to see less rain, and stronger gusts now. So far, I think 50-55 mph is the strongest. Waves are starting to reach the projected 7' height, with 9' possible as the storm reaches us.

As is typically the case with these storms, loss of power is usually the worst part.

Where are you located?

Boy is that the million dollar question :laugh: Inside joke I guess. Shhhhhh

I'm over on Lake Champlain. Just came in from taking some videos. I've never seen waves break on the beach here like that. At least 6 footer breaking like an ocean beach. Out in the broad lake, it looks like the Pacific now.

We weren't quite so lucky on the south side of Black Cat. I had 4 lines and a shackle snap on my 15' Whaler over the duration of the storm. Luckily they broke individually and I was able to jump in and re-secure it each time before the next one let go. I just had a breakwater built last year to protect from the NW winds but it didn't help worth a damn today. Wonder if DES will let me build another breakwater on the southern side:rolleye2:

Not meant to be an inside joke... your profile has no location information. From your user name, one would guess that you're in Vermont (duh), but this Winnipesaukee forum has many members who maintain places in the Lakes Region as well as somewhere else. And, I'm not familiar with any of your past postings to deduce where you might be reporting on in your 6:38 PM post. It didn't sound like a current report from Winnipesaukee, hence my inquiry.

Brutal West Winds!
 

I guess I spoke too soon as the Westerly winds last night were just brutal!! I got off pretty easy for the entire storm being on the West side of Welch, or at least I thought I did... From 9:00 P.M. until early this morning the wind out of the West was blowing hard, REAL HARD! Luckily no damage and no downed trees and everything was fine, but I am sure glad I took the time to secure everything down!!

Hope everyone got through this O.K. with little or no damage.

Dan

Is power back to Welch Island? Both circuits? Are you on the north or south side of the point where the power splits?

Judging from Gatto Nero's experience, the south side of Welch, facing Rattlesnake, may have gotten hit pretty hard. Any knowledge of this?

I'm on the West side of Welch. Not sure where the power splits but as of now there is still no power at my place. I have no knowledge of any damage on the South side. That side definitely had it worse than where I was, except last night when the West wind started to blow.

Dan

Anyone have any idea how big the waves got? I was looking at the Rattlesnake Is webcam and they looked like 3-4'.

Hey Dan , Glad everything made it threw good out at your place...I like the pic nice and clean and color full....
Hope all is well
Ken