Growing up in Florida and living in Texas, there have been numerous opportunities in my life to prepare for a hurricane. In Maine, however, this was a first. It wasn’t certain that Irene would hit the coast, but it’s better to be safe than sorry, so many precautions were exercised.
Rockport Harbor looked like mid October with many boats being pulled
and floating docks were attached to moorings to keep them from splintering in high winds and rough seas.
Though the hurricane did not hit directly, she sent rain and howling winds that caused boats to bob up and down like toys from early Sunday evening and on into the night.
Pipe Dreams weathered the activity better than most as she sat solidly in the harbor.
The water was murky and angry, crashing loudly against the rocks,
and limbs and leaves were everywhere.
Morning broke breezy, clear and warm, leaving all traces of Irene behind.
Notice that the boats have shifted in the harbor and rest more easily on the water.
Waves have settled, the water slides smoothly over the rocks,
and the kayaks are still in place.
All I can think about is how much work was done to ready for the projected storm and how much energy it will take to get all those boats back in the water. It’s possible that many are done for the season. When a storm doesn’t hit, it seems like a lot of effort wasted, but, again, it’s better to be safe than sorry.
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Lulu's Musings 
Phew, yes, a lot of work, but far far better to be taking too many precautions than not enough I think.
Hurricane Katrina taught people the lessons of underestimating the power of a hurricane and the loss of life, damage and chaos that such a storm can cause.
Imagine the work going into insurance claims and repairs if the storm *had* been as bad as expected, and people not taken so many prevantative measures… and not least the possibilities of more fatalities. I’ve been away and off line for the last week but was thinking of everyone along the USA’s eastern seaboard.
Very glad to hear that you stayed safe!
Glad to hear your boat came through alright. Must have been exciting to watch the storm move through the harbor. Our boat rode out the storm on it’s mooring in Castine. Will spend tomorrow morning getting everything back in place for the rest of the sailing season!
Glad Irene didn’t wreak too much havoc in your neck of the woods and Pipe Dreams weathered the storm! The poor NC coast was battered and the highway to the Outer Banks was broken apart in four places cutting off residents in Hatteras~ only able to get supplies in by ferry. We were far enough inland that we weren’t impacted but I feel for everyone dealing with flooding, damage and who are without power. We were here in ’89 when Hugo came thru and were without power for a week~ it took me that long to stop flipping light switches every time I walked in a room 🙂
Glad it did not leave a bad damage to your place.
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First of all I am glad you all are safe. I can see some boats are floating and hoping they are still okay. Thanks for sharing these photos.
Watery Wednesday
I am glad you are safe. Your photos are beautiful. I love how the day is back to normal with the sun shining in the last photos….Christine
Great shots of Irene’s wrath!!! Happy to hear all went well there! It is so hard to predict where these storms are going to go. This was such a huge storm n affected so many states. WE were very lucky in South Central Pa. just lots of rain n gusty winds!
I couldn’t agree with you more, better safe than sorry. I’m so happy you didn’t have any serious damage. I know so many people lost so much and others so much damage. Our son and his family lives in FL very close to the beach. They’ve gone through preps too and it’s a lot of work. Your photographs are beautiful. I love those red boats.
~Emily
I’m glad you are safe! It’s interesting to see the harbor in such a cloudy stage.
I may have told you this before. Our only trip to Maine was in 1999, on the heels of Hurricane Floyd! We were midwestern idiots & drove one day, leaving New York City, when we could hardly move down the Interstate. We finally stopped in Boston for the day, finding all of the hotels full! A kind innkeeper found us a room in a very old motel, off of the beaten path, which turned out to be very clean & nice. I remember heading north the next day & how beautiful it was as the storm had moved out. I sort of relived that memory this past weekend, thinking about all of those people in harms way. I’m so glad it wasn’t any worse, still way too many lives lost!
Today was also one of those unbelievably gorgeous after the storm days. When I hear about and see all the havoc this storm caused, I’m doubly glad that all we had was heavy wind.
Lots of tree damage here, no power, no phone for 48 hrs. Thank God it is back on!
I was thinking about you and am glad to hear all is well.