Heaving

...but not in the exciting harlequin romance bosom kind of way.

Last night we saw gusts up to 48 knots, at our dock. Those familiar with Victoria will know that Ogden Point is the big cruise ship area at the mouth of Victoria Harbor. To the right is a 3 hour track of the winds at Ogden Point. Sustained averages in the high 30s low 40s and three hours of guests at around 50 knots.

The wind was also westerly which is the worst direction for the inner harbor. Westerly winds blow right up inside the harbor with little break.

Everyone was out on the dock moving fenders and lines for unattended boats and assisting each other. We are in one of the more exposed slips and several boats loaned us mega fenders and helped us shove them between us and the dock. At the next marina one boat had its furled sail come unfurled and over the course of an hour flogged itself to shreds. Carol had been getting ready to grab a few people and go over to help secure it when the real gusts started and we began heaving on the dock.

At several points the entire dock was bucking wildly while we lurched around on it trying to put fenders between it and our boat, also lurching wildly and which had its toerail over the dock itself as if our poor boat were trying to crawl up on top of it. Imagine standing on the dock by your boat while the dock is surging up and down a few feet and your boat is bucking wildly the same amount, but not in rhythm with each other. You are trying to slip fenders in without having your hands crushed between the two and without falling off the dock (which would also involve some crushing).

Not fun. A good story. An interesting memory. But definitely part of "the suck".

And, unlike other westerly blows, this went on for hours.

AND just before the storm we had turned on some chill music, made some pasta and opened a bottle of our yummy Sonoma wine (Chateau St Jean Cinq Cepage). AND we broke one of our remaining two stemless wine glasses.

Am I whining yet?