Okay.. so it's Saturday and the weather folks are still claiming a tropical
storm. I'm in Mahone Bay on Overproof. Check the marine WX and they are
giving alerts to a landfall for the South Shore by a possible Cat-1 to Cat-2
Hurricane on Sunday evening.. H-m-m-m-m....... not what the Environment
Canada office is telling the folks on radio, TV and Internet.???

Drove to my buddy's farm and we strapped down all his loose boards and
shingles from the barn he just took down. Spent the night getting really
drunk. Next morning we left for the boat at 0700hrs. We stripped all canvas
and rails etc to reduce windage. The WX stated the eye was estimated to pass
right over Mahone Bay. They upgraded to a Cat-2. I extended the mooring
lines with two lengths of 15 ft 3/4" golden braid and set two anchors to the
east [open fetch area] with 200 feet of chain and 200 feet of 3/4" to a 26
lbCQR and a 50lb Danforth in 20 feet of water. Broke out the leather kit and
stitched on leather chafe guards wrapped over chamois to every rode. Then
assisted in securing other vessels. Nothing more to be done I watched as the
weather deteriorated and the winds increased. Overproof was riding well and
softly to her mooring ... not dancing and bobbing like the other vessels. We
called it at 1800 hrs when darkness fell and returned to my friend's farm to
wait out the storm well inland. I painted a sign for his truck while the
storm raged and the rum disappeared.

At 2100hrs God himself responded to the 3 churches of Mahone Bay full of
praying patrons and the Landfall was switched to Halifax. I phoned up my
friend at the Dartmouth Yacht Club. I warned him of the change just as it
was being relayed to him. They were expecting a possible Cat-1 with moderate
expected damage. He called me the next morning and informed me the entire
club and all the docks were in splinters. 20 boats lost and severe damage. I
checked on Overproof and found her safe.. with one of the three moorings
that didn't drag. The other 2 also had deployed anchors and chafe gear.

End result... Halifax is a mess. Boats litter the shore. Trees down and
uprooted. Roofs blown off. Trains derailed and sucked into the bay, boats
with their moorings up on shore... a woman awoke to find her ship had come
in... through her bedroom wall.... 6 foot high boulders tossed 50 meters
upshore. The Ferry terminal and most of the harbour front docks damaged. One
of the bridges damaged and shut down. Roads washed out. We have over 30
trees down on my property.. some are 40-60 foot Maples.

I've been over 4 days without power.. getting water from the Nine Mile River
to flush the toilets. All frozen winter meat supplies have to be thrown out.
Lost 1/3 of the flock when they were blown away by the winds that took the
door off the coop.

The whole area is crippled badly. No warnings were issued... no hurricane
action was enacted and our Emergency Response Organization failed the
community badly. They issued tropical storm warnings and only started to get
worried about 4 hours before the hurricane hit. They have now upgraded to a
Cat-2 with possible Cat-3 due to reported wind velocities and recorded
sustained winds..... after the fact.

Capt. Mooron