I know we have several friends on here in Florida and with Fay potentially headed your way I just wanted to say, stay safe and stay dry! Our thoughts will be with you all. With any luck it will either drift away or at least stay weak! Take care.

I am here in St. Petersburg on central west Florida coast; could be a direct hit but hopefully just some wind and rain.

Best of luck John!

Bob,
thanks for the good wishes. We're in Orlando which, we learned a few years ago, doesn't exempt us from Hurricanes -- three of them tracked right over our home. We're still tweaking some of those repairs.

Today's mission is to clear the pool deck of any objects that could become projectiles and make sure we have enough batteries for the flashlights and enough food for the dogs. And then we'll just have to see what Ms Fay decides to do.

Depending on conditions, I'll try to get some photos. I may need scuba gear .

Jim

Good luck Jim. I know the feeling about being inland doesn't mean much. We had our butts kicked a few years back with Fran. I lost over 50 trees, majority of them over 80 feet tall. It was a real mess! By the way, I'm a certified Master Diver with lots of gear if needed!

Well, so far the storm has been a real plus to our part of Florida. Humidity is way down, has not rained for 30 hours, temperature is comfortable, wind is not bad, etc.

I am sure my tune will change in a couple days as the storm slowly tracks north and we begin to get wet.

John,
right now (7:30 am Wed) Fay is located just off the Melbourne coast due East of us and we're getting some gusts but the rain has lightened up for the first time in 12 hours. Just had the guys outside and they took advantage of the lull in rain to contribute to our new retail product, Puppy Poop Garden Fertilizer.

One thing that Fay did do was show me where my roof is leaking after all the repairs from the last 3 Hurricanes. We needed a long-term period of rain for me to be able to trace the leak along the rafters to the point source. Now, I need to have some dry, non-windy weather to repair it but at least I know what and where.

Other than that, Fay has deposited some 4 inches of new water in the pool and helped offset some drought conditions here in Central Florida so not all bad. BTW, did you notice that Fay was Annie's middle name? I guess she wanted to send us a reminder that her spirit is still with us.

Unless Fay turns due West (unlikely but still possible) I don't think you're going to get any of her destructive qualities. Looks like you guys dodged another one. Let's hope your good fortune continues.

Take care,

Jim

My wife is flying into Jacksonville Beach tomorrow to see her Dad. My son is graduating from Infantry school at Fort Benning GA on Friday and will be going to Jacksonville Beach on Saturday.

David,
Fay should be gone by then. Or at least downgraded to a Tropical Depression if she hasn't made it to the Gulf.

Things might be a bit soggy up that way but nothing more than that. Hope the flight is good.

Jim

PS How's the shoulder?

Jim & John, happy to hear you are doing well. Fay could have been a real mess!