Gustav & Chandra

Chandra has gone home. We put her on a plane for Sacramento yesterday and we miss her already. She is really a neat kid.
On Saturday, we took Julie and Tim out for a sail. They are officers in the Sail and Power Squadron in Clearwater and the Squadron had planned a rendezvous for 1:00 PM. The designated coordinates were about 19 miles from here so it took all morning to get there. As always, we checked the weather forecast and it looked fine. It was a great morning on the water, but by afternoon we were starting to see some T-storms on the radar. By the time we anchored at the designated spot we could see a storm approaching from the east. We sat out the brief storm at anchor, but then we could see that it was followed by a whole line of storms. We decided to head back immediately.
Along the way home, one more storm passed over us. There was wind, rain and few close-by lightning strikes, but the boat handled the conditions well. Chandra and Julie stayed warm and dry in the cabin while Bev and Tim and I stayed on deck. The storm passed by quickly and the rest of the trip home went without incident. We made it back safe and sound, right on schedule. In hindsight (always 20-20) it wasn't a good day to have been out, but I learned a little something about the boat and my ability to handle her in less than ideal conditions. I was nervous, but never worried. Now we all have a good sailing tale to tell.
When we got back to the house and checked the weather on TV it turned out that the storms we experienced were part of the leading edge of Gustav. It seems that Gustav picked up speed during the day and spread out a bit to produce the line of storms that hit us. So much for the "calm before the storm" stuff.