Hurricane Dean Tracker – weather.com
Storm Path:
Date: Aug. 21, 2007
Time: 5:00 a.m. ET
Winds: 165 mph
Strength: Cat. 5
Direction: Moving W at 20 mph
Latitude: 18.7 N Longitude: 87.8 W
Dean, a rare category-five hurricane, as big as Texas, made landfall on the Yucatan peninsula early this morning. It carried sustained winds of 165 mph with maximum gusts up to 200 mph. Only a handful of category-five hurricanes have ever hit land. This is believed to be the tenth-largest hurricane ever. The eye hit about 80 miles south of us, so we were spared the worst of it.
Back in Houston, our original plan had been to sail straight to Cartagena, Columbia, so that we would be out of the way of hurricanes, but we know what often happens to the best laid plans. It took quite a while to get Boisterous ready to leave, and then we never really got our new weatherfax system or single side band radio to work properly despite weeks of tinkering with it.
After arriving in Mexico we were hesitant to cross the Caribbean without being able to get weather information. Plan B was to stay in Isla Mujeres, do a few repairs, get supplies, get clearance from the port captain, customs, and immigration, and then head for the safety of Lake Isabal up the Rio Dulce in Guatemala. Unfortunately, the Rio is a rain forest and this is their rainy season. They get around 20 inches of rain per month. We were also concerned that all the marinas might be full. Since the Rio is 40 miles inland, we wouldn’t get a breeze, and without the electricity of a marina, it would be uncomfortable.
Plan C was to go to marina “Puerto Isla Mujeres” in case we couldn’t get out to Rio Dulce quickly enough. Puerto Isla Mujeres is a resort inside a lagoon and is considered the best hurricane hole for hundreds of miles around. They have strong floating docks which have survived two or three previous hurricanes. The other marinas, though much cheaper, use inferior wood for their pilings, and they don’t have floating docks, so lines have to be tended as the water rises or recedes.
As soon as it became evident that tropical storm Dean was developing (about 11 days before its arrival) we began getting ready to leave for the Rio Dulce. We went to Cancun to buy supplies and malaria medicine. We did laundry. We bought food and water. We studied the charts and programmed way-points into our GPS. Meanwhile, tropical storm Erin brought us a lot of wind and rain and made leaving impossible. Although forecast to slow down, Dean kept moving toward us very quickly.
Our route to Guatemala, about 350 miles away, is against the prevailing currents. There is also a sand bar at the mouth of the Rio Dulce which measures 5.5’, and our boat draws 6’, so we would need to cross at high tide. In checking the tide tables, the highest tides would occur in the middle of the night. Having never been there, the last thing we wanted was to try to find a narrow channel in the dark. Furthermore, if we had problems with wind or with our motor we would be in a vulnerable position.
By the time we were ready to leave, because of Erin, and because of Dean’s speed, we had five days before Dean’s arrival. It would take three days to sail to Guatemala, and half a day to clear-in, and most of another day to motor up the river, and this just didn’t leave enough of a margin for safety, so we decided to move to the other marina.
Puerto Isla Mujeres drastically raises their rates during hurricanes. But about two weeks before Dean, Lora and I went there and met the dock-master who gave us a tour of the world-class facilities, and he gave us a rate-sheet. As soon as Dean became category one, we casually went to the marina stating that we wanted to stay for a month, making no mention of the hurricane, and were given the normal rate of about $29 per day, versus the hurricane rate (for our size) of $136 per day!
The luxury yachts from Cozumel and Cancun all come here for hurricanes, and the boys have been eyeing some of the boats here like a 60’ Alden ketch. There is an 85’ Azimut, and several huge Hatteras. The boat right behind us is a 126’ Atwood. We got to go aboard a sleek Swedish Swan. At 41’ I think we’re the smallest boat here
This marina is a beautiful place with manicured landscaping. There are banana trees, and coconut palms, and bright red flowers. There is a large pool with swim-up bar and a kiddie pool which Parker loves. Although we are in a protected lagoon, the marina also has a beach club on the Cancun side. The boys are most interested in all the iguanas here. Although almost vicious-looking, they are actually vegetarian. We feed them carrot and celery, and enjoy photographing them.
Once we got into our new slip, four days of hard work began. We removed all the sails; we took down the bimini and dodger; we dismantled the wind-generator, and solar panels. We took down our radar reflector. We stowed jerry jugs, and the outboard motors; we removed our dorade vents; we tied off the halyards. We deflated our inflatable dinghy, and we took our sailing dinghy ashore and tied it to trees. We removed the anchor from the bow, and put out 14 lines (we usually have 6) and chafe protection. Our dock was crisscrossed with lines so that we practically had to do the limbo to get to our slip.
There are seven sailboats here with American cruisers aboard, and we helped some of our new friends, who couldn’t get a slip, move their boats into the mangroves. There is always a strong
sense of community and mutual help among cruisers. One friend was asked to move from his spot in the mangroves because he had tied to some pilings that someone owned. He said he wouldn’t go unless the authorities asked him to move. An hour later the Mexican Coast Guard came, and so we helped him move to another spot. We loaned him an anchor and helped him kedge out some lines.
It seemed to us that many waited until the last minute to prepare. Two days before the hurricane hit, there were long lines of people trying to buy water and Coke. The night before Dean arrived, people were finally boarding up windows. Fortunately the Mexican government makes it illegal to buy, sell, or consume beer during a hurricane. There were also curfews in place to minimize looting.
We also made arrangements to stay in a two bedroom apartment over the small LDS branch on the island in case conditions warranted leaving the boat. We decided that Lora and the four youngest boys would go to the apartment, while William and I stayed behind to look after the boat. Had the hurricane been a direct hit, we would have all gone to the apartment.
At the marina we have cable access to CNN, so we had almost continual coverage and could see where the storm was heading thanks to satellite images. Sunday afternoon we took food, water, bedding, and some valuables to the apartment, and on Monday Lora and the younger boys moved there. The boys were excited about sleeping in a hammock for the first time.
As the hurricane hit, William and I watched a movie and ate Cheetos. The radio broadcast emergency instructions in the Mayan language, in Spanish, and in English. At the marina the wind increased from 15 to 30 and then to about 45 miles an hour steady--with gusts to maybe 75 mph. In the marina some trees were knocked down, and we lost electricity for a few minutes at a time, but aside from that, thank goodness, the worst damage was sustained by the bag of Cheetos—by morning it was almost gone.
We are very happy to report that we sustained no damage whatsoever. Yesterday, after the hurricane passed over, it was breezy but beautiful. The boys went swimming and fed iguanas.
Storm Path:
Date: Aug. 21, 2007
Time: 5:00 a.m. ET
Winds: 165 mph
Strength: Cat. 5
Direction: Moving W at 20 mph
Latitude: 18.7 N Longitude: 87.8 W
Dean, a rare category-five hurricane, as big as Texas, made landfall on the Yucatan peninsula early this morning. It carried sustained winds of 165 mph with maximum gusts up to 200 mph. Only a handful of category-five hurricanes have ever hit land. This is believed to be the tenth-largest hurricane ever. The eye hit about 80 miles south of us, so we were spared the worst of it.
Back in Houston, our original plan had been to sail straight to Cartagena, Columbia, so that we would be out of the way of hurricanes, but we know what often happens to the best laid plans. It took quite a while to get Boisterous ready to leave, and then we never really got our new weatherfax system or single side band radio to work properly despite weeks of tinkering with it.
After arriving in Mexico we were hesitant to cross the Caribbean without being able to get weather information. Plan B was to stay in Isla Mujeres, do a few repairs, get supplies, get clearance from the port captain, customs, and immigration, and then head for the safety of Lake Isabal up the Rio Dulce in Guatemala. Unfortunately, the Rio is a rain forest and this is their rainy season. They get around 20 inches of rain per month. We were also concerned that all the marinas might be full. Since the Rio is 40 miles inland, we wouldn’t get a breeze, and without the electricity of a marina, it would be uncomfortable.
Plan C was to go to marina “Puerto Isla Mujeres” in case we couldn’t get out to Rio Dulce quickly enough. Puerto Isla Mujeres is a resort inside a lagoon and is considered the best hurricane hole for hundreds of miles around. They have strong floating docks which have survived two or three previous hurricanes. The other marinas, though much cheaper, use inferior wood for their pilings, and they don’t have floating docks, so lines have to be tended as the water rises or recedes.
As soon as it became evident that tropical storm Dean was developing (about 11 days before its arrival) we began getting ready to leave for the Rio Dulce. We went to Cancun to buy supplies and malaria medicine. We did laundry. We bought food and water. We studied the charts and programmed way-points into our GPS. Meanwhile, tropical storm Erin brought us a lot of wind and rain and made leaving impossible. Although forecast to slow down, Dean kept moving toward us very quickly.
Our route to Guatemala, about 350 miles away, is against the prevailing currents. There is also a sand bar at the mouth of the Rio Dulce which measures 5.5’, and our boat draws 6’, so we would need to cross at high tide. In checking the tide tables, the highest tides would occur in the middle of the night. Having never been there, the last thing we wanted was to try to find a narrow channel in the dark. Furthermore, if we had problems with wind or with our motor we would be in a vulnerable position.By the time we were ready to leave, because of Erin, and because of Dean’s speed, we had five days before Dean’s arrival. It would take three days to sail to Guatemala, and half a day to clear-in, and most of another day to motor up the river, and this just didn’t leave enough of a margin for safety, so we decided to move to the other marina.
Puerto Isla Mujeres drastically raises their rates during hurricanes. But about two weeks before Dean, Lora and I went there and met the dock-master who gave us a tour of the world-class facilities, and he gave us a rate-sheet. As soon as Dean became category one, we casually went to the marina stating that we wanted to stay for a month, making no mention of the hurricane, and were given the normal rate of about $29 per day, versus the hurricane rate (for our size) of $136 per day!
The luxury yachts from Cozumel and Cancun all come here for hurricanes, and the boys have been eyeing some of the boats here like a 60’ Alden ketch. There is an 85’ Azimut, and several huge Hatteras. The boat right behind us is a 126’ Atwood. We got to go aboard a sleek Swedish Swan. At 41’ I think we’re the smallest boat here
This marina is a beautiful place with manicured landscaping. There are banana trees, and coconut palms, and bright red flowers. There is a large pool with swim-up bar and a kiddie pool which Parker loves. Although we are in a protected lagoon, the marina also has a beach club on the Cancun side. The boys are most interested in all the iguanas here. Although almost vicious-looking, they are actually vegetarian. We feed them carrot and celery, and enjoy photographing them.
Once we got into our new slip, four days of hard work began. We removed all the sails; we took down the bimini and dodger; we dismantled the wind-generator, and solar panels. We took down our radar reflector. We stowed jerry jugs, and the outboard motors; we removed our dorade vents; we tied off the halyards. We deflated our inflatable dinghy, and we took our sailing dinghy ashore and tied it to trees. We removed the anchor from the bow, and put out 14 lines (we usually have 6) and chafe protection. Our dock was crisscrossed with lines so that we practically had to do the limbo to get to our slip.
There are seven sailboats here with American cruisers aboard, and we helped some of our new friends, who couldn’t get a slip, move their boats into the mangroves. There is always a strong
sense of community and mutual help among cruisers. One friend was asked to move from his spot in the mangroves because he had tied to some pilings that someone owned. He said he wouldn’t go unless the authorities asked him to move. An hour later the Mexican Coast Guard came, and so we helped him move to another spot. We loaned him an anchor and helped him kedge out some lines.It seemed to us that many waited until the last minute to prepare. Two days before the hurricane hit, there were long lines of people trying to buy water and Coke. The night before Dean arrived, people were finally boarding up windows. Fortunately the Mexican government makes it illegal to buy, sell, or consume beer during a hurricane. There were also curfews in place to minimize looting.
We also made arrangements to stay in a two bedroom apartment over the small LDS branch on the island in case conditions warranted leaving the boat. We decided that Lora and the four youngest boys would go to the apartment, while William and I stayed behind to look after the boat. Had the hurricane been a direct hit, we would have all gone to the apartment.
At the marina we have cable access to CNN, so we had almost continual coverage and could see where the storm was heading thanks to satellite images. Sunday afternoon we took food, water, bedding, and some valuables to the apartment, and on Monday Lora and the younger boys moved there. The boys were excited about sleeping in a hammock for the first time.
As the hurricane hit, William and I watched a movie and ate Cheetos. The radio broadcast emergency instructions in the Mayan language, in Spanish, and in English. At the marina the wind increased from 15 to 30 and then to about 45 miles an hour steady--with gusts to maybe 75 mph. In the marina some trees were knocked down, and we lost electricity for a few minutes at a time, but aside from that, thank goodness, the worst damage was sustained by the bag of Cheetos—by morning it was almost gone.
We are very happy to report that we sustained no damage whatsoever. Yesterday, after the hurricane passed over, it was breezy but beautiful. The boys went swimming and fed iguanas.
