Ouch

A few days ago, we had a 24-hour period of really strong winds blow through the area.  The NWS had post a High Wind Warning for Thursday, Dec. 15, with sustain winds of over 40mph and possible gusts as strong as 65mph.  Needless to say, we cancelled our 'Polar Oartex' whaleboat training row for that evening.

What surprised me, however, was that twice -- once during the night and once again in the morning --  the wind gusts were so strong that the knocked to the ground the sailboat mast that I had set atop "horses."  The first time, the winds caught the tarp (which I had imprudently staked to the ground) and lifted the whole mast and dumped it to the ground.  The second time, the winds just blew over the  somewhat flimsy plastic 'horses' from Lowes.

Humpty-Dumpty had a great fall.....

Ouch.  Now I will have to add to my list of spring tasks a good check on the spreaders, which I worry may have been damaged or bent by the impact(s).  Too cold to do much about it now, so I'll wait.  Meanwhile, I have re-designed my mast bed: It now sits atop two wooden blocks, a mere four inches off the ground, where it is much less likely to take another tumble.

But that has created another issue:  One of the reasons I had it up on the 'horses' was to lay it high enough to angle the spreaders diagonally, in the hopes of spilling any snow that might accumulate.  Now, laying flat and still covered by the tarp, I worry that the weight of any snow might bend or warp those spreaders.  I've tried to angle them a bit by rising one side with bricks, but only time will tell if that is sufficient safeguard.