While most Islanders were bringing in lawn furniture, buying candles in case of a power outage, and hunkering down in living rooms in preparation for Saturday’s nor’easter, members of the Coast Guard Station Menemsha traveled straight into the thick of it.

Boatswain’s Mate 2nd Class Leanna McKenna, who recently ascended in rank along with a number of other petty officers, started Saturday morning on seas under the supervision of Chief Robert Parent.

McKenna was aiming to achieve a heavy weather coxswain rating, which involves battling waves greater than 10 feet and enduring heavy winds over 30 knots.

A basic coxswain can operate in up to 10-foot seas and 30-knot winds. A heavy weather coxswain is cleared to operate in up to 20-foot seas and 40-knot winds. The surfman rating allows a coxswain to operate in 30-foot seas, 20-foot surf, and 50-knot winds.

So what type of boat could possibly brave these types of weather conditions without being swallowed by the massive swells? The 47-foot motor lifeboat (MLB) — the Coast Guard’s most versatile and commonly used watercraft — is made specifically to handle the heavy surf and powerful winds. McKenna is already licensed to operate these boats during the calmest of conditions (if you consider anything under 10-foot surf to be calm). Operated by a crew of four, the 47 is self-righting, meaning if it is capsized by a wave, it will roll upright. It’s designed to endure hurricane-force winds and waves the size of a three-story apartment building.

For McKenna’s next classification, she headed out into Vineyard Sound during the nor’easter and performed a number of drills that tested her competency in especially dangerous weather. “We check the ride, test all our gear, do towing practice and man-overboard drills,” McKenna said.

Weather conditions for midday Saturday were projected to be 12-foot seas and up to 40-knot winds. But knowing this, McKenna said, she had the utmost confidence in her ability to complete the training and acquire her heavy weather coxswain rating. “I have been training hard to prepare for this, and I feel pretty good about the whole thing,” McKenna said.

McKenna spent four weeks in Washington at Coast Guard Station Cape Disappointment, the largest Coast Guard search and rescue station on the Northwest Coast. There she readied herself for her heavy weather test through rigorous training programs. “I spent all last winter training for this test; I’m hoping it all pays off and by the end of this weekend I am a heavy weather coxswain,” she said.

The Times caught up with McKenna after her Saturday test to see how she braved the weather. McKenna said she is now a heavy weather coxswain — one of three Coast Guard members at Station Menemsha who are certified with the rating. She said the conditions were just as she expected, and drills included passing rescue gear to another vessel, as well as pulling a dummy out of the chop to simulate a rescue scenario. McKenna and the others with the certification will take turns as acting heavy weather coxswain, and be the first in the water for anything involving high winds and stormy seas.