Lighting

Last Saturday afternoon, we took a last-minute decision to take Plume out for a relaxing night at the anchorage. Ignoring the severe thunderstorm warning (who pays attention to thunderstorms in the San Francisco Bay area?), we left the marina at 6:00pm and were anchored at Friday Anchorage by 7:30pm. The evening was warm and beautiful and we enjoyed a lovely dinner in the cockpit.

By the end of the evening, clouds started to accumulate nearby. In the middle of the night, we were woken-up by rain, thunderstorms, and strong winds. Nothing too serious so far as we trust our Spade anchor. But then, the lighting started. Soon, dozens of lighting events were surrounding the boat. We did not take the bottom picture below (by Kent Porter), but this is exactly how it looked like.

Not only were we worried about us on the boat, but also about the rest of the family left at home: We had a nice view of the hills where we live from the anchorage, and the lighting was very intense there as well. The mix of lightning and strong winds created the perfect conditions for a wildfire; a serious threat for us who live at the edge of an open space.

So we ended-up awake most of the night, trying to stay away from the compression post, making sure the anchor was not dragging (it did not) and getting news from home. So much for a relaxing night at the anchorage!

While everything turned out fine for us (both at sea and on land) it was just the beginning of the nightmare for so many people who turned out to be impacted by the wildfires that started across Northern California on that very night. But we learned our lesson: Never again will we ignore a severe thunderstorm warning!