with you more. People who wait to long to make the decision often are the ones who loose their boats. The temptation to wait is great, however, because It's time consuming, usually hot, and generally inconvenient. The storm usually "hooks north and misses us" says the local who you asked so why bother? That's exactly what happened to me. I had planned on going to Culibra but was waiting for the morning broadcast to see if the storm had finely hooked north as everyone said that it would. It hadn't and the 16th was my drop dead date. I got my anchor cranker and gloves out of the bin and went up on deck to pull anchor only to find every other boat in the harbor doing the same thing. Everybody had waited and had the same date as I. I knew a lot of them would be heading to Culibra and I would be water lined and one of the last boats in only to be stuck in the open bay off the city dock. I had been there once when a strong squall had blown through and drug about 50 yards so I knew that one of the mangrove fingers was the only real option. I changed my mind at the very last minute and all my plans were out the window. I went back down and looked over the chart of St. Thomas and picked Brenner Bay over by Red Hook. When I got there it was already almost completely full and again only the open bay was left. I started to motor up and down the channels anyway and finely found a spot big enough. We were parked like cars along the side of a street. Everyone had set anchors across the channel but dropped them down so other boats could still pass. When the first bit of wind and rain came it was like a signal and everyone pulled up their line at once. The sign was out. No more room at the inn! No boats that were anchored out that I know of survived. People ask me what it was like to have gone through 150 Mph wind and the only thing I can tell them is that it was like hitting your finger with a hammer. Later, you can remember that it really hurt but you can't actually remember the pain. It's kind of like that. You have nothing to compare it with so you can't really explain what it was like. It's a damn weird feeling. You nailed it. Get prepared and set early!