Friday, May 11, 2007

Storms and a sad, broken Mirror dinghy

We do need rain. Lots of it. So when I woke around 6am to the sound of pouring, with a bit of thunder in the distance, I wasn't worried.

It got heavier, and windier. The rain was blowing diagonally against the windows, which were even leaking slightly in a few places. I still wasn't worried. It was only a little bit, and easy to wipe up.

There was a bit of a leak in the roof over our stairs, but that's happened before in heavy rain when the wind's blowing it around. No damage to anything, even the pictures on the walls. No problem...

The rain eased slightly, and we went to do our weekly shopping. We had to take a slight detour, as some of the roads were flooded:


as was a small orchard not far from where we live:


But that's happened before. Last time it took a few days before it dried up, but the sun always comes out eventually.

There was even a lull in the rain while we brought our shopping in. Then Richard went to work. He had a phone call from our sailing friends, saying they'd been to the sailing club, to check the boats. Theirs had been blown over, but seemed to be all right. However Richard's little wooden Mirror dinghy was apparently blown right from one end to the other, and was seriously broken. They said they would put it back on the trailer as well as they could.

So after lunch we drove to the sailing club to check the damage. There had evidently been very severe wind there this morning, perhaps even a minor tornado, as there were large branches from trees in several places:


.. and this caravan, which had evidently been blown entirely upside down and destoyed completely:


And Richard's Mirror? At least we didn't see it in pieces all over the place, but it's very badly damaged. This is probably the worst bit:


... but there are cracks or breaks in several other places. And the mast is broken too:


So sad. Some of the other boats at the club had slight damage, but none as bad as this. Probably because (a) the Mirror was the smallest and lightest, so the most easily blown about, and (b) it's the only one made of wood.

Of course it's nothing like as terrible as the tornado that ripped through a town in Kansas earlier in the week, but still quite a shock.

Now the sky is almost yellow, and the rain is dirty and sandy. Probably rain from Egypt.

10 comments:

Unknown said...

Sorry the boat is so badly damaged. But thankful you and yours are fine.
Storms are my worst fears, you are so helpless you don't dare be on your own. You remember, God will take care of you, every day, in every way.

Betty G

Anvilcloud said...

you certainly didn't want rain that badly ... I don't think.

Fernando Olmos said...

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fernando

Anonymous said...

thanks so much for your blog...for someone who fell in love with Cyprus last summer it certainly rekindles fond memories and helps me learn more. Living in Kansas, yes the tornado in Greensberg was horrible,95% of the town distroyed. Number of deaths is at 12..amazing considering the strength of the storm. Everone is thankful that just "stuff" was lost...People generally are very thankful to God. Thankful your storm was not more serious.

susan said...

Oh that's alot of water. Hope no one was hurt with the rain and wind.

Anonymous said...

Hi Sue,
I live less than half a kilometre from where the caravan and camper (next to bushman)are pictured and found a kayak wedged neatly under the front of my car causing £350 worth of damage to the steering, however there wasn't a scratch on the kayak which pleased the owner... such is life... does Richard sail at the club next to the swiming pool?
Kind Regards

Phill

Sue said...

Hello Phill, yes he does - most Saturdays he's out there in his Wayfarer, which replaced the Mirror.

Anonymous said...

Hi Sue,
I'm tempted to pop down and meet him and find out a bit more about the club, as I would love to get back into sailing again. Especially as I see them all pass my place as the weekends....
Kind Regards
Phill

Sue said...

Hi Phil - Richard would be delighted; he's always on the lookout for more people to take out sailing!

The club is very friendly - the guy in charge is a Cypriot called Nikos. It's not always open, but there's usually someone there on Saturdays from around 10am. Richard has a blog dedicated entirely to his Wayfarer - I don't know if you've come across it - at http://wayfarer-cyprus.blogspot.com/

He hasn't updated it for a couple of weeks, but usually does so after each sail.

Anonymous said...

Hi Sue
Sounds perfect, I'll nip down there when I get a chance. Had a look at Richards website, nicely done too.....
Kind Regards

Phill