We weathered a superstorm!

Wow.........The force of mother nature is mind boggling!  Since my last post, Guy  did all he could to secure our boat for our first hurricane experience. I did all the worrying! We had thought we would go to a motel at first (maybe that was me) but after looking around at our surroundings and realizing that the area we were in was quite sheltered from the wind direction of the storm, we decided to ride it out on board. We had been talking to other cruisers who were also going to stay on their boat and they also agreed that this was as good a hurricane hole as any.  I had mixed feelings as I hate the unknown and I knew the next few hours and day would be challenging. We exchanged boat cards with the other cruisers and made it known to each other that we would be there should anyone need help with their lines, and or shelter should the boats not do so well. 
We had anticipated the hurricane to reach us by about 11;00 p:m on Monday and were quite surprised when it reared it's ugly head at 6:00 p:m. The wind and noise started slowly at first then built up to a scary nerve wrenching sound followed by gusts that would tilt the boat to the starboard side all while tugging the lines taut and  jerk the boat back to the port side. The rain pelted the boat sideways.
We had lost the hydro, internet and cell service a few hours prior. Really made us feel all alone in the dark while anticipating an unknown white knuckling experience.
We had a candlelight  dinner, had a glass of wine (to take the edge off)) , I  did the dishes, while Guy went outside with rain gear on to check the lines one last time.  We decided that maybe we should try to get a few hours sleep before it got too bad.  LOL...LOL....Not a chance....our adrenaline was pumping through at record speed.  We laid there listening to the sounds of the wind, rain, and gusts with our eyes wide open in the dark. Finally in the wee hours of the next morning we fell asleep for a few hours. During the night the tide had gone down and we were on the bottom making the movement of the boat different but not uncomfortable. When we got up early Tuesday morning, we poked our heads out of the cockpit hatch in the rain. The wind had died down considerably.
The dock was underwater by a few inches. All looked good. Within an hour we saw people walking on the dock chatting about their experience. We were impressed to see the owner of Jabin's Boat yard assess the docks and touch base with all of us that stayed on our boats to make sure we were ok.
The docks were flooded later with the next hi tide making it difficult to get off the boat!
I am sure you have seen tons of pics on the internet and the tv of the devastation of this east coast. We are shocked when we see them and are feeling so fortunate to have escaped being one of those pics.

 The tragedy that shocked us all.  The majestic ship left New London, Ct., on Oct. 25 to sail to St. Petersburg, Fl. and, as most people know by now, was lost at sea on Oct. 29. Fourteen of the crew have been rescued, one has died, and the captain is missing.
The vessel was about 160 miles west (off of Cape Hatteras) of the eye of hurricane Sandy.

The 180-foot HMS Bounty was a hulk of a black ship with lots of massive sails that required athletic, brave sailors to haul them aloft. Built for the 1962 movie “Mutiny on the Bounty” with Marlon Brando.

The entrance to Back Creek , (where we were) in front of the maritime museum. Boats were moved from here as they were too exposed to the Chesapeake Bay.

Downtown Annapolis the morning after the hurricane. Lots of flooding.

Our favorite  restaurant took precautions to avoid flooding inside!

I posted a pic of this Alex Haley bronze statue in one of my previous posts. The area is now flooded.

This guy spent all night pumping the water out of his ice cream store in downtown Annapolis.

This is Rd # 12 in North Carolina.

Can't imagine being part of this mess!

The docks  were under water at hi tide. This is just as it is going down. Our boat is in the bottom right corner.

This is what we saw when we peeked our heads out of the hatch the morning after! We were elated at the calmness even though the dock was at water level!

 The candlelight dinner we nervously ate a few  hours before the hurricane arrived! Notice my wine is gone...I had a nerve issue!

Guy puts the bimini and dodger back on. Notice the water levels are back to normal. We are so thankful we did not have any damage. Our hearts do however go out to the millions that are suffering with their loses. As of today, our life is back on track . We have our hydro back, as well as internet and cell coverage. Our friends George and Jackie of S/V Heritage weathered the storm well south of us tucked in behind Goat Island in a river north of Elizabeth City N.C.  No damage there either!
We are all very fortunate.....