Strewth. The photographic night sky (per yesterday’s picture) was the harbinger of a very rough night. Before we went to bed the wind got up. It started buffeting the caravan about a little, we were concerned. Towards midnight the wind had died down and we slept. At two o’clock we were both awake feeling as though we were in a wind tunnel that someone had forgotten to turn off. It was quite frightening at times with the caravan shaking around and this movement being accentuated as we lay wide awake in bed. At two thirty we put the battery light on and laid in bed awake. At three o’clock Saffy was sick (this is not uncommon but at night we may not hear him) Elayne decided to make a cup of tea, which always goes down well when you’re in worry mode. After a cup of tea we laid awake playing ’I Spy With My Little Eye’ until finally we felt that the wind had decreased enough for us not to feel concerned and we started to nod off once more, thankfully. We did stir a few more times as the wind rose but nodded straight back off again until blessed daylight came upon us and it was half past eight.
This was by far the worst night that we have spent up here and all the stories that we have heard in the past about caravans tipping over or flying away came into full focus in the dark. We both independently (without telling each other) worked out an evacuation plan for us and the cats, in case we needed it.
On close inspection this morning we seem to be fairly sound and unscathed. The tied down posts, that I thankfully put in last week, are all in good condition this morning as are the ones on the portacabin.
We are tired but very thankful to be in one solid piece. The people who sail in small yachts in this sort of weather deserve my full admiration and sympathy. Just imagine tossing around for twenty four hours or longer in a tiny boat, not being able to eat or sleep, but just sitting below decks, on your own, if you can, riding it all out until the better weather arrives, sometime in the future. Like last night every minutes seems to last ten minutes.
This afternoon the wind is still blowing, but not nearly as bad as overnight, and we have glorious sunshine and an ambient temperature of 15 degrees, and 19 in the sunshine.
We hope that we have enough energy left to dance tonight and that the wind continues to abate.
Our friends Isobel and Eric rang us from El Pinar this morning to see how we faired overnight, which was really nice of them. Good luck on your book finalisation trip to the UK soon Isobel and your drive to the UK in early December Eric.
We have just run outside to watch a golden eagle fly up the valley past us. We need to know where the cats are when we see eagles. They are wondeful to watch though.
PS I think that I have found the reason for the comments not showing up. Because we had a few spurious comments a while back I put on the moderation control for the blog. What I did not realise is that then I have to review each and every comment before it is published. Please forgive me and don't stop writing the comments. Now that I am aware I will read them and publish them pronto, adios.