too much...............................from P

Sometimes there is just too much "excitement." These moments are rare but memorable. While anchored in Lecompte Bay off the Choptank River (beautiful spot, also the setting of Michener's novel "Chesapeake"), we heard a weather warning on the VHF radio. Of course, a VHF weather warning gets your attention but the odds of a storm cell on the bay hitting your location are pretty low. This time, we hit the odds. Over in the south I started seeing the horizon quickly turn black. Then the feel of the air changed and I knew we were in for it. Nothing we can do now but prepare. I tied everything down, let more rode out to give the anchor line more scope to hold better, dogged down the hatches, and by the time I was back down below the first gust hit. It hit so hard Senara heeled over 15 degrees or so and started swinging around the anchor. Then harder gusts. Wierd whistling sounds above. Then the lightning started flashing around. We know to stand in the middle of the salon away from the mast, not touching any metal. We shut down all electricity in the boat in order to kill any current which may be attractive to lightning. We tried not to think about the 55 foot metal pole sticking up in the air in the midst of a wide open cove. More hard gusts. Senara started spinning in a circle around the anchor. I started thinking about what I would do if the anchor tore loose and we started blowing toward the rocks. My thoughts were interrupted by a sound I had never heard on board, a tap-tap-tap then bang-bang. Hail! Uh-oh. Please don't let it get any bigger than it is. More, harder gusts. I looked out the companionway but I could only see two or three feet from the boat. This was a big one - it lasted over an hour and a half. Finally, after what seemed like all day, the wind dropped out, the hail stopped, and the rain dissipated to a drizzle. Thunder echoed in the north and I knew we were OK. After checking around, the dinghy cover had blown off (but held on to the deck by a strap) but everything else was intact with no damage. The anchor held fast, I suppose because of the 10 to 1 scope I had let out. I looked around - it was gorgeous. Time to mix a stiff nerve-settler, get out the grill and cook dinner.