Drenching rains and gale-force winds marked the start of the weekend, but forecasters and emergency managers breathed a little easier over the powerful hurricane churning through the southern Atlantic.

A recent round of grants will help the Wampanoag Tribe of Gay Head (Aquinnah) manage and restore more than 230 acres of land affected by the 2010 hurricane, including the herring run between Menemsha and Squibnocket Ponds.

The Vineyard was lashed with wind and drenching rain and ferries were cancelled Friday evening as Hurricane Arthur passed offshore. By daybreak Saturday the storm had passed. Fourth of July festivities will be held in Edgartown tonight.

Hurricane Sandy, the historic storm that dealt a knockout blow to New York city and the New Jersey coast early this week spared the Vineyard for the most part. But while the center of the storm stayed hundreds of miles away, the Island experienced near-hurricane conditions throughout the day on Monday, including serious flooding and coastal erosion, forcing school closures, transportation shuts downs and a day indoors for most Islanders, often without power.

Martha’s Vineyard lost a lot of sand from its beaches, a lot of limbs from its trees, and electricity for varying periods, but otherwise came through Hurricane Irene largely unscathed.

The exception was along the south shore, where erosion brought several homes disturbingly closer to the ocean. Chilmark building inspector Leonard Jason confirmed that one house has become precarious.

On Oct. 19, 1991, 11 days before a piece of “the perfect storm” hit Martha’s Vineyard, three people left the Menemsha harbor on their way to the Bermuda. Nine days later, 100 miles from their destination, the three abandoned their sinking sailboat and all of their belongings to climb aboard a mammoth British container vessel that hours before had picked up their faint mayday call.