Marinas, boaters keeping an eye on Earl

Marinas and boat owners — as well as the Coast Guard Academy — are taking precautions as Hurricane Earl moves this way.

The crew on the barque Eagle is lowering the ship's masts today in case they have to relocate Thursday.

Capt. Eric Jones, commanding officer, said this afternoon that they had been working for 36 hours so far to get ready to lower the masts by 13 feet so Eagle can fit underneath the Gold Star Bridge.

Jones said he would decide Thursday morning, with guidance from the Coast Guard Atlantic Area, whether to take Eagle from State Pier to a more sheltered pier at the Naval Submarine Base in Groton, or possibly out to anchor in Long Island Sound.

"At the base, the pier is a bit stronger," Jones said. "And also if you get a southerly swell coming in, State Pier is quite exposed."

The three masts have to be lowered from 147 feet to 134 feet, which requires moving many pieces out of the way before loosening the rigging to lower and then house the masts. The crew should be finished by the end of the day, Jones said.

Nearby at the Coast Guard Academy, the staff at the waterfront has been working since Monday to secure their boats and loose gear. Some boats have been taken out of the water while others were stored in moorings that can withstand hurricane force winds.

The offices at Noank Shipyard resembled a war room on Wednesday, with a series of maps and charts tracking the movement of Hurricane Earl taped to a glass window. The scene was similar up the Mystic River at the Noank Village Boatyard, where yard manager Bob Helbig had boat-specific plans on his desk and a National Hurricane Center map on his computer screen.

"We're just going to hunker down, check everything and make sure we don't have anything loose," said Helbig, who has been sending daily e-mails to customers since the storm threat materialized.

Kathleen Burns, the general manager of Noank Shipyard, has been overseeing operations at the marina, where crews are also completing previously scheduled maintenance on the facility's boat lift.

Workers are moving boats from the outer edges of the marina — "the most exposed slips we have here" — to Seaport Marine, a sister marina closer to downtown Mystic, Burns said. Rather than taking boats out of the water for the season, Burns said people are being advised to secure their boats and remove anything that could catch wind, like sails, canvas or grills.

"We're just keeping an eye on things," she said. "We'll definitely be watching."

But because the storm is still a ways off, both marinas — and others across the region — are not certain what to expect. Models on Wednesday afternoon were showing winds between 35 and 50 mph were possible, but a slight change in the storm's direction could bring more severe weather.

"We could have a beautiful Labor Day weekend, but if it's 100 miles off its course, that's a day-and-night kind of difference," Helbig said.

"Ask me again in 24 hours, then we'll have a better idea of what to expect."