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OLarryR
Master Marine Consultant

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USA
3439 Posts

Initially Posted - 08/28/2011 : 12:13:48

Okay - Thought it time to collect our status reports as some of our sailboats are now getting past the hurricane/storm. Rcmd list location, nature of docking situtation (floating, rigid, mooring) and current status after checked out.

I wasd own to my boat this morning and removed the second set of docking lines, snubber, lashings to sails, etc and reinstalled my lifesling 2 and owl.

Sailboat location: Anacostia River adjacent to Potomac River in the upper Potomac River area in Wash DC between Ft McNair and USCG Hqtrs

Docking: Very good floating docks in semi-protected area and inner part of marina.

Boat Status: No damage. 5 spongefuls of water in the bilge. That's it. Removed all conservative measures taken and boat back to normal dock set up. Marina river water - Muddy, muddy color. Expect debris will be floating down the river next couple of days and unlikely to go sailing unless debris is light.

Larry
'89 Robin's Nest#5820, Potomac River/Quantico, Va
http://catalina25.homestead.com/olarryr.html

Edited by - OLarryR on 08/28/2011 12:14:44

islander
Master Marine Consultant

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USA
4018 Posts

Response Posted - 08/28/2011 : 13:35:21

I finally was able to get to the boat but had to make many detours to get there. Trees down, traffic lights out, Flooded roads. The winds are subsiding, Down to 30-40mph range. When I turned into the Marina I was happy to see that everything looked normal. I walked down the dock to find Impulse sitting just like I had left her, In fact there were not any boats that were damaged. This is a 700 boat Marina, Amazing. I'm one happy camper!

Location- Brewers Marina Glen Cove N.Y
Docks- Floating, Well protected from waves.

Edited by - islander on 08/28/2011 13:40:23

TCurran
Admiral

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USA
588 Posts

Response Posted - 08/28/2011 : 14:00:04

Great news...

Edited by - on

bigelowp
Master Marine Consultant

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USA
1773 Posts

Response Posted - 08/28/2011 : 14:10:56

Much difficulty making it to the club, but was happy to see Limerick floating nicely on her mooring - the only apparent issue is that the engine (Tohatsu 9.8 hp xl) was no longer in the "up" position. I will not be able to inspect until Monday. While 2' swells are still rolling in and with the wind just shifting around to NE, Irene is not out of here yet. However all appears fine. For the storm all sails were removed and I did add a storm bridal around the mast.

In the cove that is home to three yacht clubs, only two power boats flipped at mooring and went down -- an improvement over the last major summer storm.

Edited by - on

Voyager
Master Marine Consultant

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USA
5352 Posts

Response Posted - 08/28/2011 : 17:54:36

Passage: Milford CT, Weepawaug River aka Milford Harbor. She was floating fine this afternoon after the storm..

I'm normally moored to a standalone floating dock - really a glorified mooring with a deck. I share it with a 25' MacGregor. They bailed -- they pulled it out on their trailer before the storm.

I had two concerns about staying on the floating dock:
1. A 7 foot storm surge above an astronomically high tide was predicted for 11pm at the height of the storm -- this could have swamped or submerged the floating dock. I thought that if I had snugly tied Passage to the dock with only a little slack, the submerged dock could have forced Passage under water.
2. Last time we had a major hurricane, many of the boats on the moorings ended up on a nearby lawn.

On Friday night, I was trying to figure out what to do with Passage. As I was unloading the sails, gear, food and stuff at the dock, I noticed the transient docks at the head of Milford Harbor. I also saw the dock boss there and asked whether any slips were available. He asked for my name and radioed the office, and two minutes later I was all set.

The head of the harbor is three turns away from Long Island Sound, so the surging waves would not make it that far up. Just next to me in the slip was a couple on a 35-37 Carver who were going to ride out the storm aboard. I gave them my cell number and asked them to call me if there was a problem.

This morning when I got to the marina, there was Passage exactly as I had left her, and I asked the couple how their night was. They told me that the waves weren't bad, but the surge took the dock to within a foot of the top of the pilings.

It's a good thing that "close" is only good for horseshoes and hand grenades. A miss is as good as a mile.
When I went down to the floating docks, several boats were swamped, but floating, and many who had not removed sails will find shreds.

Edited by - on

redeye
Master Marine Consultant

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3476 Posts

Response Posted - 08/28/2011 : 18:34:46

Wow.....great news.

Edited by - redeye on 08/28/2011 18:39:16

Stinkpotter
Master Marine Consultant

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Djibouti
9075 Posts

Response Posted - 08/28/2011 : 20:29:14

Bruce: Good work taking care of my "old girl"! I'm glad to hear she's unscathed. I think she and we spent a night in the same transient dockage (on the west side?) during our infamous delivery voyage when we first bought her. Nice spot.

I visited Sarge for the first time (post-Irene) just a few minutes ago--in the dark... (The dock was pitching too much during daylight.) She appears happy and healthy. Our docks only rose to about 4' below the tops of the pilings in about a 4' surge (rough guess). While Irene wasn't at hurricane force here, I think this location turned out to be a pretty good hurricane hole. Down the river toward the sound--not so much. I'll probably wander down there on Sarge tomorrow to view the carnage.

Now I'm watching local news reports of people caught in their beach houses as the surge started tearing them apart, who had to be rescued by the police... Makes me want to yell at them through the TV screen!

Edited by - on

Steve Milby
Past Commodore

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USA
5895 Posts

Response Posted - 08/29/2011 : 04:52:53

The problem here is that there is no electricity, and, since our water comes from a well with electric pumps, we have no water, and, with no water, the marina has no toilets and showers. I'd guess it'll take a few days to restore electricity, due to the massive damage to power lines in the area, but I can use the boat's head for now, and bathe at the beach.

It's impressive to see how industrious and fastidious we humans are. A day after the hurricane, the streets are cleared again, trees are being cut up, debris is being removed, and neatness is being restored. Even a street sweeper came through this AM to clean the leaves and twigs off the streets. It's no wonder our species have been successful. It's amazing how much work can get done when everyone does his part.

Edited by - on

Stinkpotter
Master Marine Consultant

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Djibouti
9075 Posts

Response Posted - 08/29/2011 : 06:15:49

<blockquote id="quote">quote:<hr height="1" noshade id="quote">Originally posted by Steve Milby
 It's no wonder our species have been successful. It's amazing how much work can get done when everyone does his part.<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"></blockquote id="quote">Almost as industrious and successful as termites, although we are considerably more destructive to the world we live in.

Edited by - on

Joe Diver
Master Marine Consultant

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USA
1218 Posts

Response Posted - 08/29/2011 : 07:37:28

Really happy that everyone has fared so well so far.

Edited by - on

dmpilc
Master Marine Consultant

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USA
4593 Posts

Response Posted - 08/29/2011 : 10:48:06

Sounds like good news so far, glad you folks and boats are okay.

Edited by - on

Stinkpotter
Master Marine Consultant

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Djibouti
9075 Posts

Response Posted - 08/29/2011 : 11:14:11

Reality check:

Across the CT shore, from NWS buoy and station data I've looked at, Irene's "sustained" winds were occasionally in the 30s gusting into the 40s (mph)--higher here than west of here toward the center. We had some 40s gusting to 50s, but only for a few minutes across the time-line, which barely qualifies as a "tropical storm." (NWS reports in knots--I'm converting to mph for my less nautical neighbors and such.)

An actual hurricane is at least double that, which means four+ times the force and a much larger surge. In other words, as we're staring down the barrel at the next bullet we hope to dodge (but might not), we shouldn't take Irene as a lesson in hurricanes. She was a walk in the park--here. Not that she didn't do some damage, but everything's relative.

BTW, view the wind-speed reports from TV, radio and newspapers with some skepticism... They're often from amateur household "weather stations", middle schools, etc., and often include some "wishful thinking"--just like they always do for snow depths. The NWS isn't wishful, and their data is raw--straight from professional quality instruments.

Edited by - Stinkpotter on 08/29/2011 11:30:00

redeye
Master Marine Consultant

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3476 Posts

Response Posted - 08/29/2011 : 13:33:59

<< shouldn't take Irene as a lesson >>

That is exactly right. Irene was a big storm. Get winds over 125 ish and you see and hear things you've never experienced. My sister was at the beach one time when it was really blowin, and said she wasn't too terribly scared but then she looked outside the window ( of the trailer no less ) and watched a boat fly by.. then she was scared.

"I don't know Where I'm a gonna go when the volcano blow."

My boat is inland now, so I just worry about Tornadoes. And I've had 2 at my marina. At the beach we'd talk about the storm ( or Hurricane ) and look at the news, and several people would have been killed by a tornado that came with it.

Our new modern corporate marina owners called the more recent one a "Wind Event"...knocked down about 16 trees.

Edited by - redeye on 08/30/2011 04:08:04

glivs
Admiral

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USA
836 Posts

Response Posted - 08/29/2011 : 19:08:51

All's well this end...but glad Irene was a mere storm. I doubled my mooring pendants (5/8" + 3/4" backup) and stripped or lashed down anything moveable. Waves in our mooring field were 3+' when winds were out of the NE early in the evening (our most vulnerable side). NWS anemometer just outside our bay quit recording at 45 kts NNE at about 17:00 . Winds increased considerably (predicted 45-55 kts sustained) just before midnight but by then had shifted west where we were well protected. Reported wave heights on the main lake were 6-8' although predicted to be 8-12'. Few incidents on our side of the bay but on the NY side facing a long northern fetch, there were numerous reports of boats breaking free or swamping (ski boats). Hope our friends and members on the west side of the lake came through OK.

A few additional lessons learned not already noted by others:

Min. 5/8" - 3/4" mooring pendant for 25' boats w/ chafe guard - doubled up. (Some boat owners swear by double sheathed pendants from Hamilton Marine).

Remove anchor if on bow roller.

Some recommend removing any swivels - typically the weak link in the mooring system - between pendant and mooring chain. However, doubled up pendants can easily wrap so I'm not sure on this one.

OT -- water level from local stream came within about 3-6" of washing out our driveway but it held! Close one.

Edited by - on

bostonsailor
Deckhand

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USA
5 Posts

Response Posted - 08/29/2011 : 19:28:13

I was perfectly fine. As a new boat owner I was worried but this was all hype.

I am out of Hawthorne Cove Marina in Salem, MA and no damage occurred to any boat though one did drag it's mooring without actually causing any damage.

I took down the jib, wrapped the mainsail cover with clothesline, chafe-protected the mooring lines and duct taped the ports. Everything was groovy today. Nice weather.

Edited by - on

Stinkpotter
Master Marine Consultant

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Djibouti
9075 Posts

Response Posted - 08/29/2011 : 19:38:43

<blockquote id="quote">quote:<hr height="1" noshade id="quote">Originally posted by bostonsailor
 ...I was worried but this was all hype...<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"></blockquote id="quote">I have to take issue... 24-hour news channels "hyped" it because they have nothing better to do for 24 hours a day. But when NOAA says they think a hurricane is going to hit somewhere, we should pay attention. Their forecasts are uncertain--they explain and graphically show the uncertainty... They walk a fine line between "crying wolf" and not giving us enough warning, and have revised their "watch" and "warning" policies as their predictive models have improved. They were 90% right on this one--many will focus on the 10% and call it "hype". Some will ignore warnings on another storm some day, and that storm will crush them. A hurricane is many times more powerful than what we in New England just experienced--even those of us on the CT coast. It has happened, and it will happen. Ignore NOAA at your peril.

I don't recall that Lake Champlain was never even in a tropical storm warning--it was on the back side (the most rainy side) of a huge, nasty rain event that was walking the VT-NH border as it moved NE. The damage in southern and central VT from runoff is horrific--I have friends there who I was very worried about. I don't think anyone predicted it to be this bad.

Edited by - Stinkpotter on 08/29/2011 19:55:02

OLarryR
Master Marine Consultant

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USA
3439 Posts

Response Posted - 08/30/2011 : 03:12:45

One thing you learn is to respect the sea and the other thing is that when a hurricane or significant storm is coming, if the track changes overnight, it is too late to do conservative measures on your boat. So, we have to assess the risk we are willing to take versus the potential conservative measures that can be taken in advance and we are willing to accomplish.

I agree that the media sometimes hypes up the reporting of impending doom but that should only cause us all to further scrutinize the marine forecasts and the predicted hurricane models that provides likely hurricane paths and percentage chance of high winds for a given area. Many have gained past experience of when hurricanes/storms all of a sudden take a detour from what was expected but we all breathe a sigh of relief when these hurricanes do indeed follow the predicted paths.

Also, we certainly commiserate with all boaters and home dwellers that did not fare so well during this week and I am sure many of us that came out relatively unscathed were then surprised to learn that when it seemed the hurricane was downgraded and past most of our areas, though still a very large storm, caused so much havoc that is still ongoing in Vermont. Just watching the news of the bridges lost and a car or two shuttling down rivers and creeks is certainly an eye opener as far as what just the rains brought on and here I am considering myself lucky that I only had 5 spongefuls of water in the bilge.

Edited by - OLarryR on 08/30/2011 03:14:04

Davy J
Master Marine Consultant

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USA
1511 Posts

Response Posted - 08/30/2011 : 04:00:32

<blockquote id="quote">quote:<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"> I was worried but this was all hype.<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"></blockquote id="quote">

Television stations and media outlets will over sensationalize a hurricane, they want ratings. NOAA is where I go for predictions and warnings. But of course, I still watch the weather channel.

In 2004, Hurricane Charley was predicted to make a direct landfall in Tampa. With a predicted storm surge of 14’, we boarded up the house, tied off the sailboat, pulled the powerboat on its trailer. We removed all personal belongings that could not be replaced and on August 13th left for the east coast. We fully expected to return to a destroyed home.

As we traveled across the state, I noticed people cutting their lawns, doing yard work and generally going about their business. I thought to myself, what are these people doing, don’t they know a hurricane is coming ?? Well Hurricane Charley did not follow its predicted path. It took a hard right turn at Punta Gorda, FL. People there did nothing in preparation because it was not forecast to go there.

On the return trip to our home we passed many of the homes where people did not prepare. Houses missing roofs, windows, trees down, cars smashed. There was a line about three miles long to get into the only gas station that had power. And this wasn’t even close to Punta Gorda. I visited that area about a week later. It looked like a war zone. Complete neighborhoods gone, just gone. Every telephone pole was cut in half. I saw a couple of concrete block buildings just a pile of rubble. For miles and miles, every house still standing had blue tarps on the roof. The east coast got lucky this time, but I think it should be a wake up call. If a cat 3 or 4 makes landfall it could be much, much worse.

Edited by - on

redeye
Master Marine Consultant

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3476 Posts

Response Posted - 08/30/2011 : 04:34:34

Well.. I hope JohnP is OK.

Edited by - on

dberlind
Deckhand

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USA
8 Posts

Response Posted - 08/30/2011 : 07:07:23

Haven't actually made it out to my boat yet (Capri 25 moored in the Merrimack River in Newburyport, MA). I was pretty terrified of the storm. I just bought this boat in the spring. It's the first boat our family has owned.

We were in Europe when I got an email from our yacht club's commodore saying to "get your boats out of the water." There was no way for me to do this so I asked the guy who has been helping us out (getting to know the treacherous Merrimack) if he could batten the hatches on her for us.

He did a great job. He went out.. taped the hatches, tightened all stays, removed the sails, the boom, and all canvas (we have a cabin cover to protect against seagull poop) and moved all the halyards to the bow and stern rails (to give the mast some extra support).

Our plane was one of the last to land at Boston's Logan Airport on Saturday night before they shut things down. Sunday morning, we got up an I turned my marine radio to the emergency channel and within a few minutes, I hear the Coast Guard calling TowBoat because a sailboat of approximately 26' in length (from our yacht club) has broken free of it's morning. The description matched our Capri to the "T" so I ran down to the waterfront to take a look and thankfully, it wasn't our boat.

Eventually, we went over to the yacht club and discovered about have the members were there on the porch watching the fleet, biting their fingernails. One after another, boats (mostly the bigger sailboats) broke free from their moorings (the report was that the thrashing caused their chains to snap) and would start bobbing around, endangering the neighboring boats. As soon as these boats came loose, someone would call TowBoat and I have to say, those guys were (a) amazing in recovering the boats, (b) lightning fast -- they were usually at the drifting boat with in 5-7 minutes, and (c) probably made a boatload of money that Sunday (akin to when a snowplow guy cleans up from a snowstorm).

A 38-footer that was one of my "neighbors" came off it's mooring and tangled with another one of my "neighbors" (a 27-footer) and their combined weight snapped that mooring sending both boats adrift. Thankfully, neither one impacted our boat and that left our boat pretty much alone with no one around her.

But watching her pitching and rolling was definitely nerve racking. We're going to re-rig her tonight in preparation for the upcoming weekend. I'm hoping that I don't get out there to find some damage that's not easily spotted through our binoculars.

Edited by - on

pfduffy
Captain

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USA
317 Posts

Response Posted - 08/30/2011 : 07:13:05

Clearly we dodged a bullet with this storm. My slip does not have floating docks, so I loosened all of my lines expecting a 5' - 7' surge. As a result the boat did rub against a piling leaving a mark in the gelcoat. Based on the location of the mark, there may have been about a 3' surge. A small amount of rain water was driven into the cabin, but other than that - no damage.

My thoughts during and after the storm echo Dave Bristle's observations. Irene is not really a case study in what can happen during a major hurricane. USGS weather station at Barnegat Light recorded about 12 hours of winds between 25 and 35 mph with gusts to no more than 55 mph. The center of the storm tracked very close to Barnegat Light. Feeling pretty lucky today!

Edited by - on

bostonsailor
Deckhand

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USA
5 Posts

Response Posted - 08/30/2011 : 08:51:06

<blockquote id="quote">quote:<hr height="1" noshade id="quote">Originally posted by Stinkpotter
 <blockquote id="quote">quote:<hr height="1" noshade id="quote">Originally posted by bostonsailor
 ...I was worried but this was all hype...<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"></blockquote id="quote">I have to take issue... 24-hour news channels "hyped" it because they have nothing better to do for 24 hours a day. But when NOAA says they think a hurricane is going to hit somewhere, we should pay attention. Their forecasts are uncertain--they explain and graphically show the uncertainty... They walk a fine line between "crying wolf" and not giving us enough warning, and have revised their "watch" and "warning" policies as their predictive models have improved. They were 90% right on this one--many will focus on the 10% and call it "hype". Some will ignore warnings on another storm some day, and that storm will crush them. A hurricane is many times more powerful than what we in New England just experienced--even those of us on the CT coast. It has happened, and it will happen. Ignore NOAA at your peril.

<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"></blockquote id="quote">

While I felt the predictions were a bit (ahem) over-blown I certainly did not take things lightly and completely stripped the inside of my boat. I did not mean that there was no reason for the hype. The real hype was what was causing people to buyout all of the batteries in MA. My family still doesn't have power in CT and they may not for a few more days so there was reason for concern obviously.

Edited by - on

Prospector
Master Marine Consultant

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Canada
3159 Posts

Response Posted - 08/30/2011 : 10:30:14

dberlind, I hope all is well. I hate winter, but at least I don't have hurricanes to deal with. When I win the lottery, I may buy a place in the tropics, but this time of the year, I'll come home to where its safer.

Edited by - on

TakeFive
Master Marine Consultant

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2272 Posts

Response Posted - 08/30/2011 : 19:58:18

My boat was fine. I actually got onto the floating dock to see it Sunday afternoon - the breeze died down much sooner than expected. Yesterday evening I removed the doubled lines and snubbers, returned the boat to its normal position along the finger pier, reconnected the shore power, and got the dehumidifier running again. This evening I fully dried the bilge and scrubbed the topsides, which I wanted to do while the boom and bimini framework were out of the way.

I was the only person in my marina to strip the sails. The others who left them up were fine. But I had wanted to clean the sails for awhile, so it was a good excuse to remove them. Even the powerboats who left their canvas covers and biminis up were fine. Philadelphia Airport, which is right next to the marina, recorded max sustained winds of 32 mph and max gust of 50. I was prepared for worse than that, but glad I did not have to test whether my preparations were adequate.

There is A LOT of debris floating down the river. Fortunately none has come through the fairway into my slip. I'm sure the outer docks - A and F - are getting a lot. But I'm right in the middle on dock C, so I'm protected. A strong southerly wind might push some into our fairway, but that's not in the forecast.

My fears of the docks floating off the pilings were totally unfounded. In fact, high tides have only run 1-2 feet above normal. We had higher tides after a brief rain storm last April 17 (which washed debris that lingered for 2 months). Looking at NOAA's tidal station, there did appear to be a storm surge that traveled up the river, but it came through close to low tide.

Edited by - TakeFive on 08/30/2011 20:00:17

JohnP
Master Marine Consultant

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1520 Posts

Response Posted - 08/31/2011 : 05:00:08

My marina is on a river off the Chesapeake Bay and had no significant storm surge, only 24 hours of 30-50 mph winds with higher gusts. There was a lot of rain and many trees down in the whole region. My boat is still in the marina parking lot and I assume it's ok. i tied down my sunbrella cabin covers and taped the anchor locker and forward hatch.

At home we did not lose power and only suffered damage to some tomato poles, although there was a tree down in each of 3 of our neighbors' yards.

Hope they can launch this week for the Labor Day holiday!

Edited by - on

JohnP
Master Marine Consultant

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1520 Posts

Response Posted - 08/31/2011 : 05:09:08

The Chesapeake Bay was spared a devastating storm surge, like there had been in Hurricane Isabelle in 2003, because the storm passed to the east of the mouth of the Bay, and the counterclockwise rotation of the wind pattern was able to push water out of the Bay.

If it had struck to the west 100 miles, it would have been the opposite, with the wind pushing water into the Bay.

"Emergency officials in the City of Annapolis and Anne Arundel County did not field reports of significant coastal flooding from Irene. Annapolis City Dock -- which often has minor flooding even for regular high tides or typical storms -- didn't even flood."

We lucked out this time!

Edited by - on

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