Helene

[Wolverine]

I was the ONLY one without gray/white hair. WIN!!!!

But, you have hair, right? 😉

[Captain Kidd]

Any word from CB? Guess we'll hear when he's able. Could be w/o power.

[Krusen]

Brennan has a generator...but they are like outboards, the love to fail when you need them.

The major part of the storm passed close to him, so there will be a lot of cleaning up to be done.

I hope that there is no house damage, and the boats are fine.

[Wayne Howard]

Here in Pensacola we got higher winds today than yesterday. No rain at all. My friends in Gulfport and Tarpon Springs came through with minimal damage. One of them lost some furniture even tho he had elevated it off the floor by a foot. Ended up with two feet in the apartment. His comment? "C'est la vie!"

[Krusen]

Attitude can be the difference between happy, or miserable.

Count the things that survived, then add that you survived, and life should be very good.

[Charles Brennan]

First things first!
The SCAMP MADE it!! 
Norman Lasky correctly identified the weak point of my preparations, as heavy winds getting under the hull and lifting it; my concerns at the time, as well.
But come morning, it was just fine! 
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But notice the slack on the lines on the left, versus how taut the straps are on the right.
I peeked underneath the hull and verified that the hull had moved roughly an inch and a half in the night; so those tie-downs were definitely the way to go. 
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I also picked a good place to put Urchin and the vehicles; notice the lack of branches and leaf strippings, between the houses.
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Back yard was not so fortunate.    This is a private road in back of my house.  That tree is laying on my fence and broke a few boards; no biggie.
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My side of the fence.
This damage is consistent with descriptions of Cat 3 wind damage.  (Downed trees, numerous broken limbs, extensive number of branches scattered and strewn.)
Helene may have come ashore as a CAT4, but by the time it went by us we were only experiencing CAT 2 winds. (75mph, gusts to 100+ mph, as measured in our neighborhood.)
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Trashed the canvas pergola cover over the barbecue grill. Oh, well.
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More downed branches and limbs.
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We were without power for a total of 15 hours, but the last 6 hours we had this guy keeping things going.
Started on the first pull too, leading me to believe I used up all my luck for the rest of the year.
First time it was used (other than annual test runs) since we moved up here, nearly 8 years ago.  First purchased for Hurricane Wilma, back in 2005; another glowing Sea Foam additive testimonial! .
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Check the chain and padlock; a sad reality of suburban life.   

And to think the neighbors couldn't understand    why I would change out a perfectly good RV power port, for a generator connector.  It was obvious to me: I didn't have an RV, but I DID have a generator!! 
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Have to say, the City of Newberry does a sterling job of restoring power every time a whirly-girl harasses us.
Underground power utilities certainly helps.

We were fortunate to be spared, especially compared to our neighbors in Steinhatchee, Horse-Shoe Beach and Cedar Key.
But I have to say, it sure doesn't feel like it, when you're facing all that yard work!
Have the front yard cleared out and the brush stacked on the street for pickup; have to do the same with the back yard, tomorrow.
And then securing and putting everything away on Sunday, although I hear we might be facing this again NEXT weekend!!   

Charles Brennan

[Frank B.]

Hey, thanks for checking in, we were worried.  Glad your damage was yard work only.  Yard work instead of boat work, guess that is the price you pay sometimes for access to water.

[Riley Smith]

 I was worried about the height of the boat CB. I'm glad it is fine. My son is in Tifton, GA w/o power, although not any damage to house or car or bodies. That's great. He said to me, " Man, it's been so long since I've been through this, I'd forgotten how it was." I did see some pics of eastern TN where the run-off from the torrential rains had wrecked a lot of stuff. And of course FL, where the misery is spread pretty much to everyone. I'm happy to have missed any repercussions so far, although I still have a beachfront to clean up from Francine. I may wait until the season starts winding down. It's a pretty big job by hand and there are other irons in the fire. All the millionaires are just going to have to be patient. There might be one more mowing of the lawn but from indications, it seems this mowing season is coming to an end. Thank goodness.

[Charles Brennan]

How to go from this:
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and this:
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To THIS: 
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and THIS: 
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In only 4 short (back-breaking) days!! 

Amazing, that all that mess and vegetative carnage could be reduced to such a small pile, after using shears, branch loppers and chain saws.
Also have the generator drained and oil changed, all the fuel replenished and stored in the fuel locker (fully half my fuel consumption was spent on power tools, cleaning up the yard) and basically everything hurricane related, all squared away.
Still to do:
Brush all the twigs and branches off carport and boat port roofs, and off the gutters around the house.

Meanwhile, I'm keeping a beady, jaundiced, eye on that "disturbance" out in the western Caribbean and hoping mightily, that I don't have to do this all over again, NEXT week!! 
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Charles Brennan

[Wolverine]

You finished that fast. Back breaking for sure. You earned a glass of your favorite beverage for sure.