One More Hurricane and I'm Doing Fine

Yes, I'm still in Southport.  Yes, the area was hit by hurricane Isaias that spun off at least 3 tornadoes. Yes there were at least two marinas that experienced significant damage.  Neither me nor my boat were at those locations.  So, don't worry about me, other than being without power or internet for a day or so, I'm doing fine.

Often news reports tend to get the details wrong and if you saw the stories that hinted at the Bald Head Island ferry marina (where Rover currently is) suffered significant damage, it did not.  I wish I could say the same for all the marinas in the area, unfortunately there is some major damage at the Southport and South Harbor Village marinas.  Several friends and one sister ship to Rover were, unfortunately, staying at the marinas that were impacted.  I did try going over to Southport Marina to check on those boats, but the police have cordoned off the area and I was not able to make it out there or even find a vantage point where I could take decent pictures to send to my friends.  I was able to find some pictures taken by others and it looks like my sister ship, Tide Chaser, is still afloat without too many boats piled around it, so I'm keeping my fingers crossed for them, as well as anyone else in either marina, has survived with minimal damage. Unfortunately, I know that will not be the case for everyone.

Given my boats current location at a ferry terminal and a couple ferry captains that seem to think they should be driving for NASCAR, I have a tendency to over-tie-up my boat all the time.  When preparing for this storm, I really only had to double up and reposition a few lines and then hope that the marina facilities and structures are up to the task.  Yes, I also do other preparations like making sure nothing gets tossed about and all through hulls are closed, etc. Given that the storm had been categorized as everything from a tropical storm to a category 2 hurricane, I didn't take any chances and secured Rover to deal with just about any strength storm. Honestly, my biggest fear isn't in my preparation, but the preparations of others.  For this storm, everything turned out fine and both this marina and the one where my boat is normally stored came through just fine.

Rover after the storm. 
(I opened the hatch during my post storm inspection, it was secure during the storm.)

I actually did not stay on my boat during the hurricane.  But the reason may not be what you think.  Since I've been stuck in Southport for so long due to safety concerns with COVID19, I've been trying to figure out a safe way to make it back to Colorado.  Given that the virus seems out of control in much of the country; the idea of using public restrooms, hotels, and restaurants would only increase the risk that I could catch and then bring the virus back with me on a road-trip back.  So, my wife and I decided the best option would be if we acquired a camper trailer.  This way I would have a bedroom, bathroom and kitchen that I had control over. The past weeks I've been looking for said trailer and, naturally, finally found one last Friday.  I spent Saturday morning sanitizing the trailer and then left it locked up to bake in the sun to hopefully eradicate any "nasties" until Monday.

Of course, that means that I now had a boat, a camper, and a truck that were all in the path of the storm.  A fellow boater and dock mate that lived near Southport but several miles inland graciously offered to let me park my "new to me" trailer at his house and stay there for the storm.  Nestled between two sturdy houses that protected me from the expected wind direction and relatively clear of potential for flying debris, the camper and I were tucked in to wait out  the storm.  Other than losing power, internet, and phone service for a while, we all made it through just fine.

The camper hiding from the storm.

So, both I and my property are just fine and I actually may be able to head back to Colorado soon.  I have a couple small projects to complete on the boat and now the camper, but then I should be on my way.

My heart goes out to those that were much less lucky than I in this storm.  If you are near Southport and need anything, please feel free to reach out to me for help and I will do what I can.

Approaching Storms

There is currently a storm of which most of my friends and the sailing community in general is aware.  Hurricane Florence is expected to collide with North Carolina in the next couple days.  Unfortunately Rover seems to be right in the middle of the predicted path and there is nothing we can really do about it that hasn't already been done.  Sails and canvas were removed and extra dock lines were added when I left her several months ago.  The caretaker we hired has added additional lines and fenders and done everything else possible to make her as safe as can be for the impending storm.  The marina, and her location within the marina, are about as good as anyone can hope for anywhere in the area. At this point, all we can do now is wait and see what happens. My concern regarding this storm is more for the many friends I have made that will be impacted far worse than us by Florence.

Hurricane Florence image from NOAA as it approaches the U.S.

But, for our family, there is another storm on the horizon that is of much more concern.  This storm is not a weather event at all, but has to do with the health of our eldest four-legged crew member.
 

Madison sunning herself on deck.

A couple months ago Madison developed a limp.  At first we thought she might have just slept on her leg wrong or pulled a muscle playing.  When it didn't get better, we took her to the vet to see what was going on.  Initially they thought a soft tissue injury and so she was given some pain medications and we were told if it didn't get better in a few more days to let them know.  It didn't. We went back. The vet thought it was arthritis. I pushed back as I didn't believe arthritis was such a sudden onset symptom when recent x-rays didn't show any arthritis.  The doctor said the only thing they could really do was to send x-rays to a radiologist to see if they could see anything.

Her favorite hobby when a big bed is available.

The radiologist report was not conclusive, but thought he saw something in her shoulder bone that would be consistent with cancer.  More x-rays were done and in the process they found a tumor in her lung.  Not wanting to mess around and having one of the premier veterinary oncology centers nearby, we immediately made an appointment at the CSU Veterinary Hospital.

Playing in the ocean.

More examinations and a CT scan later and we had our answers.  Not only did she have osteocarcoma (bone cancer) but there were 8 tumors in her lungs.  In the matter of a few weeks Madison went from "a very healthy dog, particularly for her age" to a terminal diagnosis.  To try and and improve the quality of life for the time she has left, she has now had two radiation treatments and chemotherapy.

Taking Madison and her brother Tucker for
a hike in the Rocky Mountans

Other than a limp (that has improved with treatments and medication), she seems to be in good spirits.  Her appetite certainly has not diminished and I don't know that she is at all aware of the seriousness of her condition. Meanwhile she gets lots of attention and some special treats.  But there are dark clouds on the horizon.

Dealing With Hurricane Matthew

As I previously mentioned, we were exploring some of the stops of the Albemarle Loop when we decided that hurricane Matthew was likely to become an issue for us.  We were at the dock in Columbia, North Carolina with internet access when we looked at the weather, and forecasts seemed to show that Matthew was likely to come up the coast and make landfall in the Outer Banks of North Carolina.  The Albemarle is known for being unpleasant in bad weather, so we decided we should try to head a bit more south and inland.

We made a run south, through the Alligator River Bridge (that closes if the winds go over 35 knots), down the Alligator-Pungo canal, and into the Pungo river.  We stopped that evening at Dowry Creek marina with the intention of making our way on to Oriental where we had a car waiting for us.  We figured a car would be a good thing if we needed to evacuate.  When we got to Dowry Creek, we kept an eye on the weather and by the following morning the forecasts seemed to be turning to follow us. We decided that Dowry Creek and the Pungo river were better protected (and a bit more inland) than Oriental, so decided this is where we would stay.

One of the live-aboard residents was gracious enough to give us a ride to retrieve our car from Oriental.  Then we began preparations for the potential storm.  We gathered up important paperwork and packed enough that we could leave for a few days if necessary.  The winds at the dock were not cooperating and were blowing up to 30 knots across the beam of the boat.  On a slightly less windy day, we ended up tying bow-in to the face dock so we would point into the wind and could remove the sails and stack pack.

The marina we were at, as is the case with many fixed-dock marinas in the area, does not allow boats to remain if a hurricane is expected to hit. There is normally no tide here, so pilings are not all that tall, and a large storm surge could easily cause problems. Instead, a number of the boats chose to anchor in one of the more protected creeks in the area. We watched the forecasts and, for a time, it appeared the storm may veer off to the east before it was this far north.  Then the last couple days, the forecast started creeping north again.

On Friday we decided to anchor the boat as far up Dowry creek as we could, bring the dinghy back to the marina, and then take the car to a hotel well inland. We left the dock and motored up the creek, keeping an eye on the depths as we went.  We found a spot we thought would work and then circled around to verify the depths anywhere the boat might swing during the storm. We dropped our anchor in about 5 feet of water. Since the storm surge was expected to be around 5 feet, we decided a bit more than a 10:1 scope for a 15 foot depth would be the best we could do and still allow adequate swing room. I know that some use multiple anchors for a storm, but lacking multiple Mantus anchors (I have a Bruce and small Danforth along with my Mantus primary), I decided a single anchor approach would work best.  After watching a video on Youtube of a Leopard in the Bahamas swinging wildly at anchor during Matthew after its bridle broke, I did use two dock lines to rig a backup bridle that would take up any slack if the main bridle failed.  We secured everything as best we could and then bid Rover a temporary farewell and headed back to the marina in the dinghy.

After securing the dinghy at the marina, we drove to Raleigh to a hotel we had booked several days before. After a long day, despite the nervousness of leaving the boat, we crashed soon after arriving at the hotel.  The next day it rained like crazy in Raleigh. Apparently Matthew was interacting with a local front to create an obscene amount of rain inland.  In a bit of irony, when we called the marina they reported that the weather was reasonable and they were getting last minute preparations done. That night was a restless night for us. The storm grazed the area, with peak wind gusts around 70 knots and sustained winds in the tropical storm force range. When we checked the weather on Sunday morning, the storm had passed by and was finally dying as it head out into the Atlantic.

The weather was nice that morning, almost eerily nice. The problem was that all the rain was now causing severe flooding in between our location in Raleigh and our boat near Belhaven.  We called the marina to see if everyone and everything was OK. We were told everyone and all the boats, including ours, were doing fine. It would just be a day or two until we could get back. We ended up making a trip up to Virginia to retrieve our other car and from there were able to find clear roads to get us back to the boat.

Approaching Rover after the storm.

When we arrived back at the marina, we drained the water from the dinghy (it was left upright so it would fill with water and hold it down when the winds picked up) and reattached the motor.  We made our way back to Rover and found her where we left her.  One of the lifeline gates had come loose but the netting held it secure enough.  Otherwise, the boat was in great condition!  We removed the secondary bridle (it was never actually used) and fired up the engines.  It took a bit to pull up the anchor as the winds apparently helped it dig in pretty well.  When we deployed the anchor, I added a trip line with a float attached (to mark the anchor location in case any other boats thought about anchoring near us after we left) and used that line to help coax the anchor out of the creek bed.  It came up with a good amount of mud and some decaying wood branches on it. I used about 6 buckets full of water to clean the mud off of the anchor and chain as we pulled it in. I'm very happy with the performance of my Mantus anchor, it has held the boat everywhere I've put it.

A short motor back to the marina and we were once again tied to the dock and plugged in.  Everything turned out about as well as it could have regarding weathering the storm.  What happens next is still up in the air.  With all the destruction to the south of us, we are wondering if it makes sense to try and continue going south.  Will we be able to find marinas and fuel along the way?  Will there be new shoaling or missing markers?  We simply do not know at this time.  So, it is unclear if we will be continuing the trip south soon or if we will need to stay put a while longer.  These are the questions we will need to answer in the coming days.

But for now we are just happy that everything is well and we are once again back on the boat.

A Plate of Matthew Spaghetti

From my aviation days I've learned not to trust the local weathermen and their presentation of the weather.  As a result, I tend to look at the raw data myself.  Until I moved onto a boat, I never looked at hurricane models, but I can completely understand why they are called spaghetti models.

Plot from the http://tropicalatlantic.com website.

With a plate like that, all you need is a little marinara. I guess some of those are what the NWS uses when they come up with these charts.

National Weather Service current forecast for Matthew.

No wonder those "uncertainty cones" can get so large.  On the bright side (for us), the forecast is looking a little better.  Feeling sorry for the Bahamas, Florida, and Georgia as well as all of those that have already been hit by this storm.

Running for Cover

Sorry for the lack of posts...I'll get back to writing about the Albemarle Loop when I have more time. We made a bit of an early departure from the Albemarle when Matthew started looking like it might come up the east coast somewhere and figured we did not want to be in that particular sound if we might encounter a storm.

Current Forecast of Matthew from NOAA/NWS.

We are a bit further inland right now, near Bellhaven, North Carolina.  Naturally, that now seems to be right in the crosshairs of Matthew so we are busy preparing for the storm.  Most of the marinas in the area do not allow boats to stay during a significant storm, so we will likely be doing as many others around us are and anchoring the boat out in the best hiding space we can find.  We will prepare the boat as best we can to ride out the storm, anchor her in as safe a place as we can, then leave her there to ride out the storm as we seek shelter inland.

It is a bit of a nerve racking time and we are quite busy, but I wanted to put out a quick note as a number of folks have already inquired.  With good preparation and perhaps a bit of luck, we should be back to normal in short order.

Stay tuned...more to come.

Waiting Out Hermine

We think we have a basic plan for making it down the Chesapeake. We even plan on doing some of the Albemarle Loop. Of course, Hermine (just upgraded from a TS to an H) also seems to be planning to visit everything we will on our way south.  So, for now we will sit here in what we hope will be a bit safer location to wait out the storm.

The forecast "cone" seems to change a bit as we go, but so far Baltimore seems to be outside of it. The worst of the forecasts are showing winds no more than 30 knots or so in the area.  We have doubled up on dock lines, added extra chafe protection, and removed most loose items from the cockpit.  Tomorrow is supposed to be the calm before the storm, so we will continue to watch the forecasts and make appropriate preparations.

To all our friends and acquaintances in the path of Hermine, we hope you stay safe and secure.

Conundrum

That seems the best term to describe the the last few days.  We continue to sit at Dowry Creek marina and weigh options but I have to admit I don't really like the alternatives...kinda reminds me of the current state of what qualifies as politics in this country.

We had a theory.  The theory was that we could take the boat somewhere to have a little work done. A fairly simple task of stripping old layers of bottom paint off the boat and starting fresh.  There are a couple other minor tasks that could also be done.  Ideally we would love to be able to drop the boat off somewhere and then spend a few weeks going back to visit family while the work is done. And if my boat was my Toyota, this would be what I would do.

But, I spent the last couple days fixing damage caused by supposed marine mechanic experts. Apparently in marine mechanic's school (I say as if there actually is one...which I seriously doubt these days) they fail to teach that aluminum is a softer metal than steel.  Or that torque specifications really should be followed when they are provided.  During my engine checks I found both heat exchangers and a related bracket loose.  Upon further inspection, I found that the threaded holes that held the studs on which this stuff was mounted had been stripped.  The fix was a relatively simple addition of Helicoils to restore the threads (and make them stronger).  I then found that another mechanic, apparently after not having an 8mm bolt for a new alternator install, decided to force a 3/8 bolt into the 8mm threaded hole.  The stainless steel bolt cut the aluminum case of the alternator enough that the bolt would hold for...about a year before the compromised threads finally gave way. The bolt failed on our trip to this marina and we were fortunate that the remaining bolts held it in place. Drilling out the threads and then through-bolting the alternator fixed this issue...again probably better than new.

The problem is that this leaves me wondering if I can even trust any boatyard to do a paint job without constant supervision.  Virtually all of my previous experience tells me I cannot, but the theoretical convenience of having work done while we are doing other necessary tasks is a strong argument for giving it one more try.  Paying someone lots of hard-earned money to screw up my boat makes a pretty strong counter argument.

After the work on the boat the past few days, we took the day off and did some touristy things (more on that in an upcoming post).  When we returned this evening, a new weather disturbance in the Gulf of Mexico was upgraded to Tropical depression Colin.  The second named storm in this now 5 day old season.  The current path prediction cone does not include us, but could possibly pass nearby as it crosses Florida and heads northeast. Given how bad the weather service is at predicting things, we pondered the idea of pushing further north to get a bit further away from the predicted path. Of course, knowing my luck, we would move and then the path would change putting is in the path of the storm instead of outside of it.

Decisions...decisions...and I can't really say I like any of the options.

What's In A Name

Hopefully the last weather-related post for a while.  Tomorrow is the start of the dreaded "H" season (as superstitious sailors, I guess we don't actually utter the "H" word). It is the when and why I needed to be north of Cape Hatteras.

The reason we left Southport rather quickly was a tropical low that was threatening to become a "named storm" for which I would not be covered if I sustained damage while there after June 1. Of course after we left, the storm rose to the level deserving the name"Bonnie," then pretty much fizzled out after it made landfall and caused a little havoc in South Carolina. This wasn't exactly a surprise.

Latest track of "Post Tropical Depression" Bonnie.

While we wanted to play it safe and abide by our insurance, most indications were that the storm wasn't expected to develop into anything too serious where we were in North Carolina.  The weather guessers on the local news generally just regurgitate what the National Weather Service says and their information is only half the picture at best.  To get a better idea, I look at several sources of weather data.

One that I've started using more is the service Windity (https://www.windyty.com/). When this site was first brought to my attention a while ago, I thought it was kind of cute, but didn't really see how useful it could be.  Since that time I've slowly determined that I can get a much better idea of the overall weather picture. Look at the winds, the waves, and weather. With data from their two different models you can get an idea of how things might play out over a several day period.  Naturally, these are models and reality doesn't always follow the script, but I've found that this site can be quite a helpful tool. Recently I downloaded their Android phone application and found it to be equally useful and well set up for mobile use.

The Windity model when the above forecast claims "Bonnie"
will be here. You can see the low (even without a giant L)
and the wind estimate for my current location.

Clicking on the eye-catching graphic shows you the wind, wave, or weather data and an option to bring up a detailed forecast for that point. Running the slider at the bottom moves you around in time (the Android application controls are slightly different, but all the same data is there). For pilots there are even icons for airports that bring up the latest weather data there (regardless of where the time slider appears to be, the airport data seems to be current) I still have no idea how to pronounce the name of the site...but it is helpful.  If you don't use it, you might want to check it out sometime.

So, as a name, Bonnie looks to be a non-event for us.  Windyty, however you pronounce it, is a weather tool worth keeping in your weather prediction arsenal.

No Joaquin, But Lots of Wind and Rain

Well, we dodged a bullet with Joaquin as it heads toward Bermuda instead of the Chesapeake.  But the weather has been pretty unsettled here anyway.  Glad we took the sails down and added extra dock lines.  The wind has been a pretty steady 25 to 30 knots according to the poor little bit of plastic spinning at the top of my mast.  The tides here have also been really high as the winds push water into the bay.

Screen capture of Joaquin and the east coast from Windyty.com

What is normally high tide here seems to be low tide these past couple of days.  The high tides have been washing over the lower fixed docks and causing the floating docks to push the ramps from the higher fixed docks into the air. It also floods the two roads in and out of the marina enough that there are times they are impassible.

Hmm...the ramp seems a bit ineffective at this tide level

Yesterday we decided we should get off the boat and go do something to take our minds off the bad weather.  We invited our friends from The Retirement Project to come along and we ended up going to see a movie.  Having a home theater when we lived on land, it has been an extremely long time since I've been to a theater.  They were playing The Martian in 3D.  Theaters seem a bit more comfortable than I recall, but overall I think I still prefer watching movies in the comfort of my own home.  But we had a nice time and the movie was pretty good (neither of us knew much about it, so we didn't really know what to expect).

Today, when the internet cooperates (internet always seems to be an issue at marinas), I think I'll be doing some research on solar.  Needing a new mattress in our berth, I'll be looking into that as well.  So keeping busy while the wind and rain blow.

Top Details and Hurricanes

The past few days have been very long, with little time or energy left at the end of the day to write a blog post.  But, as I sit listening to the rain pouring outside this morning, I find myself with much less to do today.  So, to catch up....

After getting the PVC glued in place, the next step was to make transition pieces for the raw ends of the PVC pipe.  I had thought about trying to use PVC fittings, but the shapes are not right and it wouldn't look good.  So, I was left with the only option I could figure out...sculpting them. Fortunately I have plenty of scraps of the Divinycell foam from which to make my little sculptures.

I started off by rough cutting a small block of foam so it would fit the gap I am trying to fill.  Holding it in place, I would do my best to trace the outlines of the final desired shape.  In some cases, I simply had to make a freehand guess, as in the case of the inside of the curved piece below.

Using a razor knife, I cut the basic shape out of the foam block, leaving a little excess in case I should make a slip with the knife.

Since the block of foam is 1 inch thick and the half PVC pipe is less than half an inch high, I used the razor knife to "whittle" the block down closer to the rough shape of the final piece to save on sanding time (and dust).

Finally I would sand the piece into it's final shape, test fitting it every so often to make sure I wasn't too far off of the desired profile.

The sand and test process was repeated more times than I care to count for each piece, but in the end I had 6 pieces I needed to transition between the tubes on the top and bottom as well and taper the ends on the top.

After that, it was just a matter of using some thickened polyester resin to glue them in place.  Even upside down, the thickened resin would hold the lightweight blocks in place without the assistance of clamps or tape.

Of course, all of this was done in between rain showers because of my usual luck with the weather. There has been a stationary front parked over most of the eastern US for several days and has kept the weather rather unsettled.  The weather, combined with the recent full moon has led to some tidal flooding in the area.

Then, just so Mother Nature is sure I'm paying attention to her, she introduces me to Joaquin. At first, all the tracking models were all over the place (the reason they call them spaghetti models, I think, is because sometimes a map of the predicted tracks from all the models would look like a plate of spaghetti).  But after a couple days, the models started to converge and, naturally, they were converging right on top of our heads.  Great.

Work stopped on the top and we switched to hurricane preparation mode.  This is the first time we have ever had to do this, so I'm sure we spent a lot of time figuring things out.  We removed the sails and stack pack (and the sails once again remind me how heavy and stubborn they can be).  We put out just about every dock line we have to make a spider web of lines holding us on all three sides of the slip.  Not trusting some of the cleats on the dock, we even tied a few lines around the pilings that hold up the dock (because if the dock goes, we are screwed anyway).  We deployed all the fenders we have.  I tested the bilge pumps and floats to make sure all is working (and find another broken bilge pump hose courtesy of those fine folks in Deltaville).  We even booked a hotel in Richmond if we needed to evacuate.

And then there is my top and workspace in the yard.  Pretty sure the $50 canopy and tarps won't withstand a category 2 hurricane.  We also don't want the top to become a giant frisbee out in the boatyard.  So yesterday, with the help of many friends in the boatyard, we move the top into a safe spot in the boatyard shop and take down the tent.

Apparently hiding the top in the shop was what Mother Nature wanted. When we awoke this morning the forecasts now show the hurricane heading out to sea and not as likely to make landfall.  We will still keep the boat hurricane ready and the top in the shop until the possible threat passes, but at least things are looking a bit better this morning.

Oh, and did I mention that my friends at The Retirement Project stopped by for a visit? I think they wanted to come see this top I've been talking about and ended up getting stuck in the middle of this little storm event as well. They had originally anchored out, but came in to the marina when it looked like Joaquin was going to be a direct hit. It was nice to see them again, but I only wish it ended up being under better conditions.

I'm glad forecasts seem to be improving, but feel really bad about the Bahamas since they are getting slammed by the storm.  I hope the storm turns away from them soon.

Hurricane Arthur

Shortly after purchasing Rover last December, I had to leave our future home in Hammock Beach Florida and return to Colorado.  I would be coming back in about a month to start living aboard and fixing up the boat.  Well, while I was gone a tornado hit the Palm Coast and Hammock beach area.  There was a bit of stress after I heard about the tornado, but it was a short lived event and didn't take very long for me to find out that our future home was OK.  Fortunately for us, the tornado didn't come all that close to the marina and our boat remained safe.

Fast Forward about 6 months and now there is a hurricane that has the possibility of making a pass over or near our boat.  And again, I am not near the boat.  Of course this time I hear about the hurricane well before it could become an issue so I have much more time to worry about it.  I did my best to clean up the boat before I left it, however, for expediency I was having a local sail loft come retrieve the sails, sail pack, and trampoline to do a little work while I am gone.  I did confirm a few days ago that the sail loft did retrieve the "hanging canvas", so I can only hope that the boat is in as good a condition as possible to weather any potential storms.

Hurricane Arthur Track from Weather Underground

I watch as Arthur passes by each of the places were Rover and I had stayed and takes a path similar to the path I took to move the boat north (ironically to adhere to my insurance policies requirement of where I needed to be during hurricane season).  From Hammock Beach through Jacksonville Florida and on to Brunswick Georgia all seem safe and pretty far west of the storms path.

The storm starts coming closer to the east coast and the eye of the storm passes near Southport, NC. where I spent a little over a week.  It officially made landfall near Beaufort/Morehead City NC. where I made landfall after departing Southport weeks before.  The storm crosses the Pamlico Sound and passes over Cape Hattaras, the "magic point" my insurance required that I be north of during the June 1 to November 1 hurricane season.

The storm path wobbles and veers west and then back east and finally the outer bands of the hurricane pass over where Rover sits on land in Deltaville while the eye heads back out into the Atlantic.

Arthur passing "near" our boat (red circle).

I haven't heard any reports from the yard, but presume my boat is safe.  It sounds like the winds in the area probably topped out around 30 knots.  If anything, I suspect the storms were worse than the winds but I probably won't know for sure until folks return from the US independence day holiday.

Paths of Destruction

With all this recent thought about the dreaded "H" season, complying with my insurance requirements, and moving the boat, I was doing a little research on the paths and landfall locations of hurricanes along the eastern U.S. seaboard.  I came across an interesting site from NOAA that you might find interesting:

http://csc.noaa.gov/hurricanes/#

It is a searchable database of hurricane tracks and strengths displayed on a map.  You can search by a variety of parameters (the image above was a search of the West Atlantic Basin from 2008 to 2012).  Something entertaining to play with while the weather continues to be cold, rainy, and windy outside.