We’ve spent the last 2 days working hard on getting Atlas prepped for Hurricane Henri. I’m stunned by how much work was required. Looking back I think it, really, was the combination of the physical work and the emotional toll that has left us absolutely wrecked. We consider ourselves incredibly lucky to have Atlas in the harbor, and the specific location within the harbor, that we do. It’s very very well protected. We’re not exposed to any sort of waves or surge. We’re protected on all sides (mostly) from the wind, and while we will fully feel its effects we just won’t have any fetch to contend with. The boat is as well prepared as it’s going to be. The wobbly nature of the direction of the hurricane has been hard to contend with as if it passes to the east of us (it will) we see more North, NW and W winds which isn’t ideal as we’re on the north side of a dock. All we know is Atlas is well tied (11 lines) and with 9 BIG fenders.

My conservative nature found us with big supply of sturdy (we hope) fenders, the ability to mount them horizontally to the dock (thank you Melissa!) and a full compliment of new, robust dock lines. I decided to grab one more small fender on Saturday morning and drove over to West Marine to pick one up. Having been on Friday afternoon at 4 p.m. I was surprised by the many fenders and lines that West Marine had in stock a few days before a hurricane. Seems everyone was waiting until the weekend because by 9:30 a.m. on Saturday morning (they opened at 9) it was mostly cleaned out. Thankfully they had one great option left and I was able to grab it, though it didn’t have a cover.

Driving away from Atlas yesterday was hard and I experienced emotions I never had before. I think my anxiety mostly stems from how fragile our life is at the moment and this storm directly threatens a dream. So much is currently tied up with this boat. Honestly I don’t have strong feelings for Atlas in a physical sense, I think it’s really not pretty and it’s clearly a coastal cruiser designed for the charter market. But I adore Atlas for what it provides us, a home and the ability to fulfill a dream that’s been years in the making. The loss or material damage to Atlas would stop that dream for a long time, perhaps forever. I think that’s what made it so hard to drive away. I likened it to sending your kid in to a fight that you know he’s gonna get beaten up pretty good. You hope you’ve prepared him well and he just makes it through ok. Thankfully Hurricane Henri is a baby hurricane. This is a good first fight for Atlas and I hope we can keep her out of further fights.

I had planned to stay with Atlas to monitor the situation and try to “fix” any issues that came up. Atlas is docked directly across from a bunch of homes and an incredibly nice gentleman came over to me and said “do you have a place to go? If not, come to our house, at any time, no matter how late at night or how strong the storm.” It was incredibly nice. On Saturday morning though, with Henri looking as if it would come ashore directly on us, the entire neighborhood was boarding up their windows and placing sand bags around their ground floors. Seeing this, and listening to the anxiety in my family’s voices when it turned to where Daddy was going to be, it was clear that I should do everything I could to prep Atlas, but my place was with my family and not aboard.

So we’re now safely an hour north in Canton, Connecticut staying with our dear friends John and Liz. The boys, who clearly had been worried as they watched their parents strip Atlas down, are THRILLED to be here. The toys that Nate (15) and Hunter (10) have are amazing and the boys are on cloud 9. Henri is coming ashore, it appears, east of New London so Atlas will see those N, NW and W winds, but it appears the gusts won’t be more than 50. I think she’ll be fine. We hope to be back aboard first thing tomorrow morning.