The year 2004 will forever be remembered in Florida as a major hurricane year. Four hurricanes caused major destruction and loss of life. 

CHARLEY: When a hurricane watch was posted for the Florida Keys in mid-August 2004, Captain Ed was in Key West during a Boy Scout Charter. The Boy Scout Florida Sea Base in Islamorada asked that we drop the scouts in Key West before taking any further preparations or evasive action. Captain Ed then sailed SIESTA back to Marathon single-handed (a 6-hour trip) and secured it at our home dock in preparation for the possibility of CHARLEY  passing close to the Keys. We were lucky. Maximum winds for CHARLEY in Marathon did not exceed 40-50 mph. CHARLEY intensified to a Category 4 hurricane and pummeled Punta Gorda, on the west coast of Florida.

FRANCES: After completing the last (11th) Boy Scout Charter trip, SIESTA was sailed home. Right after arriving home during the first week of September, hurricane FRANCES, a huge hurricane, hit the northern Bahamas as a category 4 hurricane, and then headed for the east coast of Florida. The Middle Keys were under Tropical Storm Warning. The eye hit Ft. Pierce and damage was suffered as far south as Delray Beach, where our daughter Ana lives. Fortunately, Ana and Fred did not suffer much damage to their house. Uncertain as to where FRANCES would hit Florida, we hauled SIESTA at a nearby boat yard and stripped her of her sails and canvas on deck. We experienced 50-60 mph winds in Marathon, due to the sheer size of this hurricane.

IVAN: Just a few days after FRANCES hit the Florida east coast, and while our daughter Ana was still without power from FRANCES, hurricane IVAN, a deadly category 5 storm, was projected to hit the Florida Keys. With SIESTA already on the hard, we locked everything in the house, pulled down all the hurricane shutters, and evacuated Marathon ahead of the official Florida Keys all-resident evacuation, which was ordered the following day. We left Marathon in the "Marill Mobile", our trustworthy and comfortable Toyota Mini-RV, with our cat SMUDGE, headed for Ana and Fred's home in Delray Beach. Delray Beach was still full of falled trees and shrubs from FRANCES, and Ana's power had just been restored. From Delray Beach, we comfortably watched the weather developments using satellite TV on our RV, and experienced a sigh of relief as we saw IVAN miss the Keys and head for the Florida Panhandle, leaving disastrous results in its wake! We were saved once again!