Hurricane Irma - September 6-14, 2017

After some RV maintenance, I headed south to Florida to renew-reuse-recycle.  In other words, I was going to take everything I had stored in Florida and sell it, give it to charity or recycle it.  This plan would enable me to reduce all my tangible worldly belongings to fitting in either the RV or aboard Irish Rover.  If an item couldn't fit or be stored aboard one of my two cruising platforms (sea or land cruising) then I didn't want to own it any longer.

I was able to fit my bicycle, skis & boots, backpack, camping gear and day-to-day items aboard the RV.  Previously, I had stored Irish Rover in Pennsylvania for the winter with all my sailing gear, except for some odds & ends and the Portland Pudgy.  The Pudgy was the only item in storage that had more than a few hundred dollars value, so I sold it.  The balance of my gear (sewing machine, old computer, books, clothing, galley ware, etc.) I took to a local charity in Titusville, FL and they accepted all but some pictures and old paperwork that only had value to me as items to spark memories of my life.  I took photos of the items important to me, then tossed them into recycling.  It was a wrenching experience to eliminate so many tangible memory-sparkers but it has also lightened my load and granted me a feeling of freedom that I haven't felt since singlehanding Kelly IV around the Canadian Maritimes.

As my plans also included meeting my college roomate at the Orlando Airport for our week of camping in North Carolina, I had firm commitments to drive to Florida come hell or hurricane.  Of course, Murphy's Law dictates that since I didn't drive to hell, I would certainly drive into a hurricane.  Irma, by name.

As I drive south, everyone else seems to be evacuating northbound!

Not one to change plans unless something truly dire happens, I decided to stick with previous arrangements.  Thankfully, a friend had a hurricane-proof, cement garage that would easily accommodate the RV.  That made weathering the storm in Florida a reasonable activity.  Thanks to the actual track followed by Irma and the fact that the garage was several miles inland, for me, Irma was a non-event.  Not true for so many others across Irma's path, but I was highly blessed and fortunate to enjoy a passover for this terrible weather event.

These photos are examples of the damage around the neighborhood where I rode out Irma.  Ugly but minimal, compared to the devastation in other areas like the Florida coast and Caribbean.

I stopped in a rest area off I-95 and felt
lucky to capture this racoon on camera!