Hurricane Irene

Irene at 8:00pm Thursday

We got lucky with the track of Irene turning North East and keeping way off the coast of Florida. As of 8:00pm tonight, we have had quite a bit of wind, usually around 20 to 25 mph with gusts to about 45. Right now, a band is moving through with 30 to 45 mph sustained winds...pretty nasty. I am guessing this will be a rather rough night. I will sleep in the salon as the movement won't be nearly as bad there as in the V-birth.
The wind howling though the rigging reminds me of the horrible couple of nights anchored in North Carolina. At least I won't have to wake up every 2 minutes to make sure we aren't dragging.
Anyway, it should track more to the west as it moves up the coast. We are a lot more protected from the west, so lets hope it helps a bit with the waves.
Updates to come...