Hurricane Sandy: Day Three Evening

Soon after my morning post, the drizzling rain began. It has rained continuously all day. Gray skies, gray water, gray air.

The wind moans as if tired by the effort, accented by the pulsing lyrical static of persistent rain. With the milder, pre-storm winds, the water has risen slowly, not yet inundating the dock joists. Wild Haggis and all her sister boats float nearly level with the docks, an odd view from our cockpit.

Sandy has accelerated to the northeast at 13 mph, heading farther away from our coast. While her track is favorable, her tropical storm force winds now reach out 520 miles. The velocity and duration of our storm winds will likely increase as we plunge into night and the arri al of the worst of Sandy during the next 36 hours.

I choose to see the presence of sea gulls, pelicans and cormorants as reassuring. It is a quiet time for reading and watching a movie. In another 12 hours, we will wake to deteriorated conditions and peer into a new chapter of this long storm.