This is the first time traveling by sailboat on the east coast of the US, so we’re still adjusting to some of the differences from the west coast. There are about 10X the number of boats, for example, and it’s so busy on the weekends that the popular marinas nearly all require reservations in order to secure a spot for your boat.
One other difference is the weather – summer weather on the west coast is typically fairly stable, but here on the east coast there are plenty of squalls with strong thunder and bright flashes of lightning. For us thunderstorm newbies, these storms are intimidating – after each one we feel lucky that we haven’t been hit by lightning.
Our neighbors in Beaufort weren’t so lucky. Henk and Tineke are from the Netherlands and sail Zanzibar, a Lagoon 42 catamaran. One close lightning bolt during a particularly intense thunderstorm fried the wind instrument at the top of their mast, damaged their chartplotter, and disabled their AIS transceiver.
Bad luck to be sure – Madrone was anchored no more than 100′ (30m) away and escaped without any damage. And extra bad luck since Henk and Teneke were prepping Zanzibar to sail back to Europe before the hurricane season starts in earnest. That’s a long trip to make without key sailing and safety instruments.
Since we were so lucky to escape damage, we offered to help them out. New electronics arrived within a couple of days, and Angie lifted Mike up the mast to install a new wind sensor at the top, as well as a new cable to connect the sensor to the electronics in the boat. The new wind instrument now spins happily at the masthead, and the new AIS senses and communicates with other boats. After solving a few configuration hiccups, Zanzibar’s electronics are back in action.
We really enjoyed getting to know Henk and Teneke – nothing like boat repairs under time pressure to create a fast friendship – and we hope to see them in another port again in the future.