Sally was a surprise. The day before, Sally was heading to New Orleans, then it stopped moving, and when the wobbling was over, it was heading right for Flora-Bama with the worst of the storm east of the eye. The Fort Walton Beach area took a beating. The forecast went from 30ish knt tropical storm winds to hurricane force winds with record breaking flooding. Yes, our club is also good at requiring all vessels to vacate when a hurricane warning is issued, and if one does not leave, then the club would anchor the vessel out, charge the owner for the service, and, as per FL law, not be liable for any resulting damages. But it all happened so quick that it was just too late. We had to weather it out at the docks. The flooding was several feet higher than anything I seen there before, but surprisingly not too much damage except for shredded canvas as many dodgers and biminis were left out fully opened. We benefited greatly from the wind direction coming from the south-east with the clubhouse and a small strip of land providing some protection. But we also feel that because the water level was several feet over the docks, that the wooden docks took less of a pounding compared to some recent tropical storms. I am sure that for the next gulf storm our commodore will order an evacuation much earlier even if the storm ends up in Brownville, TX. Life is full of lessons.
- Paul E. 1981 C&C Landfall 38 S/V Johanna Rose Fort Walton Beach, FL http://svjohannarose.blogspot.com/ > On Sep 16, 2020, at 7:06 PM, cnc-list-requ...@cnc-list.com wrote: > > Date: Wed, 16 Sep 2020 22:17:28 +0000 (UTC) > From: cenel...@aol.com <mailto:cenel...@aol.com> > Subject: Stus-List Hurricane prep. > To: capt...@gmail.com <mailto:capt...@gmail.com>, cnc-list@cnc-list.com > <mailto:cnc-list@cnc-list.com> > Message-ID: <2127038029.3198586.1600294648...@mail.yahoo.com > <mailto:2127038029.3198586.1600294648...@mail.yahoo.com>> > Content-Type: multipart/alternative; > boundary="----=_Part_3198585_162278239.1600294648846" > > ------=_Part_3198585_162278239.1600294648846 > Content-Type: text/plain; charset=UTF-8 > Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable > > Hopefully the damage to your boat and dock=C2=A0won=E2=80=99t be too extens= > ive. > Our club requires boats over about 24 ft to vacate their slip when a hurric= > ane warning is issued for the county. Most anchor in a nearby fairly wide a= > nd deep (in NC deep is 7 ft or more!)=C2=A0creek that our marina abuts. Som= > e get hauled out at local boatyards. Either way, the dock has a better chan= > ce of surviving without the boats. > Of course, anchoring is also=C2=A0a crap shoot since other=E2=80=99s boats = > can drag and take another ashore or aground. > I anchored=C2=A0Water Phantom before Iasias came thru. Since=C2=A0I was tra= > veling for the next several weeks (during=C2=A0the peak hurricane season) I= > left her=C2=A0there (saw her yesterday!)=C2=A0with 2 anchors (~60 lb and 3= > 0 lb danforths). My plan is to leave her there until early October. Current= > ly she shares the=C2=A0creek with only 1 other boat. > =C2=A0I=C2=A0took the=C2=A0headsail down and wrapped, secured mainsail and = > boom (good) and=C2=A0turned everything but=C2=A0the ACR off (bad) since it = > was =E2=80=98new=E2=80=99 to me and as I left the boat didn=E2=80=99t reali= > ze that it drew some amps(about 15 mA)=E2=80=94hopefully after 10 weeks I w= > ill still have some battery power left! > Good luck to all in any hurricane=E2=80=99s path=E2=80=94no matter how well= > you prepare your boat, ultimately it comes down to luck and your insurance= > .=C2=A0=C2=A0Unfortunately, neither=C2=A0life nor anchoring is risk free. > Charlie NelsonWater Phantom
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