New London, Connecticut
Tropical Storm Hermine is supposed to head out to sea south of us, sending us very little rain or wind. (Too bad because we could really use some rain here.) Of more concern is a predicted storm surge of 2-4 feet tomorrow and beach erosion. But Hermine delivered us quite a surprise yesterday, a huge guided-missile destroyer, seeking shelter from the storm.
Today we decided to take a water taxi across the river so I could get a picture of this huge warship. As it happened, three sailors from the ship were on the water taxi, too, and Tim got to talking with them while I was snapping pictures. After the storm passes they will be headed to the Gulf or the Med, which is sailor slang for the Mediterranean Sea. They are hoping for the Med because it is hotter than hell in the Gulf.
When Tim called their ship a boat they corrected him — they refer to it properly as a destroyer. We may think this vessel is huge but they said it is one of the smaller navy ships.
These fellows seemed so young, even younger than our own children. As we go about our busy lives, it’s so easy to forget that our nation is still at war, that so much is being sacrificed. Carry on sailors, and thank you for your service.
and New London Ledge Light
Great photos. Glad the storm will miss you. We are needing rain here too. It all comes in downpours which run right off.
Thank you, Jane. It’s strange to me that the atmosphere has been so full of humidity this summer, but still, not enough rain.
What an interesting and educational adventure you two went on!
It was! Today we will go down to the beach to see the eight foot waves I heard about on the news…
Wow, I can see why you were surprised. Who would have guessed that a large ship like this would appear in a harbor.
It’s probably as far inland as it was safe to go. The submarine base is a mile or two up the river where the water must be too shallow for such a large ship.
I wish everybody out there a safe stay. Thinking about the ship… hmm.
This morning it is breezy and cloudy – no rain yet. Will go down to the beach about high tide and see how high the storm surge will be.
Great photos, and I learned a little too. 🙂 Glad to hear Hermine isn’t going to give you too much trouble. We didn’t get nearly the amount of rain predicted (and we could have used it too!). It was a bit blustery on Saturday, but not too bad.
Thank you, Robin. 🙂 Blustery is a good word to describe what the wind is like right now. Still no rain but I hope we will get a few drops eventually. Did you get much of a storm surge? Happy to hear you didn’t have too much trouble from Hermine!
We have had some of the usual flooding resulting from wind and waves, but since we’re on the bay we don’t really have to worry too much about storm surge. From what I’ve seen and heard on the news, it wasn’t as bad as predicted on the Atlantic coast. In fact, they’re saying very little about storm surge or beach erosion in the news lately so I’m guessing it wasn’t bad. The rip tides, however, have been big news because there are so many people here on the Eastern Shore beaches for the holiday weekend. We had rip tides when Gaston (I think? or maybe it was an unnamed tropical low) was far off the coast a few weeks ago, and I think they rescued 82 people within the space of three days.
So… it was blustery all day but now the wind is really picking up. Turned on the 6:00 news and learned that Hermine has turned and is now heading back to New England, but losing strength as it comes over the cooler water. So we might get some rain tomorrow. Hope the wind doesn’t get much worse than it is now. We’ve being hearing about the rip tides, too. It’s hard to understand why thrill seekers take chances in such rough water. Now the geese are honking down by the salt pond. Love that sound…