Sydney low pressure hit

Just had awful news, our friends` 32 ft sailboat broke its mooring and was driven ashore by the severe weather lashing NSW state coast. We cruised together last month, my heart goes out to them, they love their boat.
A slow moving severe east coast low formed off the coast. The offshore weather buoy quit after registering 11M waves. No volunteers to check why, and a cruise ship is stuck outside Sydney harbor as the pilot can`t safely get out to bring it in. The seaworthy Manly ferries which cross the seaward opening Sydney Heads are suspended. Wind gusts as high as 135knm/80mph have been recorded, and there are areas of flooding. It could get a little worse today before it gets better.
According to a call to a radio station, the usually protected peaceful inlet at Brooklyn where Doriana is currently moored, has 1M waves, and 2 boats were loose last night, not necessarily affecting my boat. No calls from the Marina, it`s doubtful I could drive there at present due to road issues, and I figure the Marina guys will be busy enough without me calling them.

Awl man ....worst fears realized an can't do anything about it. Makes me all the more grateful that we keep our boat out back.

How sad for your friends...

Bruce,
Sure looks pretty bad over the East and Newcastle area is coping a pasting.
Hope Doriana is safe and sound.
We are getting some decent rain over here in the West and this is usually as dry as a dead dingos donga. Has been raining for 3 days and more to come. A couple of jobs out of the port cancelled due to strong winds.
Cheers
Benn

Sorry to hear about your buddy's boat. Hope yours rides the storm without damage. At least you're not stuck onboard in these conditions.

Do you think your new slip is more protection than the old mooring? Sounds like it might have been a fortuitous move on your part.

I just saw pics on FB of the boat, mast down, pressed against a stone seawall. Hard to look at pics like that of a boat you know. I can`t summon any words which work for my friends.
Tonight is still bad. I hope Doriana is ok, no news is good news, I `d like to go to the marina tomorrow but there have been big trees down across the freeway. It feels as severe a low as I`ve seen, but the barometer sits stubbornly at 1020, I don`t understand it.
About to watch the News for film of the Celebrity ship hanging around outside the harbor. Would not want to be one of the cleaning staff onboard.

News helicopters can`t fly, so no pics of the wallowing cruise ship, except some FB film taken onboard. Sadly, film of my friends boat made the evening News, and it is one of many.Tonight will be worse. The weather system is slow moving and may be with us for days.
No more whining about boats at risk, 4 people drowned in flash flooding at a rural town called Dungog where houses were swept away. Cars, fortunately empty, have been crushed by falling trees, brick walls, even by a power pole. This is not over. We have some large trees around the house, but I think we are quite safe. I hope everyone stays safe tonight, it will pass.

Bruce

As I recall you have a large wash or gully near your house. Much water showing up there? Does this weather system mimic the one that nailed the Sydney Hobart race of a few decades ago, albeit in a different location. Best of luck to you and yours mate.

Gracious. GRIBs show a deeper low showing up a few days after the current low leaves...

Take care down under!
Dan

Dang, you're still getting blasted by some sustained winds...27 kts, gusts to 40! How does it look this morning? Any hail damage? Maybe another day of this before improvement?

Greetings,
Mr. BK. Stay safe please. Material objects can be replaced. Sounds kind of crass but not meant that way. Best wishes sent your way...

Stay safe. We lost one house to fire and one house to hurricane. Mr RT is correct. Your best service to your friends is a short grief period, then get them to work. My wife is fond of saying "men plan, and God laughs".

Sure hope Doyle's is not damaged. Great food !

Yes it has been an intensive couple of days here. I am up on the northern beaches of Sydney overlooking Pittwater, and we have coped an absolute pounding, trees and power lines down everywhere.

Spent yesterday morning up on my ex wife's roof with two of my boys securing tarps over two skylights that a tree took out, that was fun!

Bruce it must of been your friends Yacht I saw on the news last night, it was just getting hammered against the break wall, awful to see a boat destroyed like that.

The surf rolling into our beaches up here has been amazing, it will take quite a while for them to recover the sand that has been washed away.I suspect those with houses right on the beach will be a little uneasy.

Thanks for the kind messages. Yes, our friends` boat made the evening News, being battered against a seawall. Last night they reported it sinking. We had dinner on it, just a month ago.
Andy, send the boys on the roof. Gentlemen of a certain age, (includes me if not you), should not climb roofs or ladders.
Today there was early heavy rain, there is thunder right now but no hail. A new storm cell is forecast this morning followed by a pm improvement,but contrastingly the Harbor is reported as reopening having been closed, Carnival Spirit may be coming inside now, Manly ferries are operating after a no pax test run. For those who have been to Manly, the small dam in a recreational park near Manly is overflowing, there are evacuations, it is being well managed.
There is a small creek in a bushland reserve about 100 meters from our house,the land drops steeply towards it, fortunately I see no risk from it, but I sure hear it running.
We are urged to stay off the roads unless really necessary, checking the boat can wait.
No more drownings reported, but 2 overnight rescues of people driving into deep water covering roads and discovering engines don`t work underwater. These people endanger rescuers as well as themselves.I`m hoping we are over the hump.

Hi to Bruce and all other T.F. members in the firing line.

I wish you all safe passage through this storm and hope that all of your family and friends come through this little tirade of Mother Nature safe and sound.

Weather will do whatever it wants to do and not man nor beast will stand up to it. Here in Queensland we see this type of conditions often and the damage to property mounts up.

The best way to stay safe is to stay indoors and let the weather pass, most people who are killed or injured are those who wonder out to have a look at the damage and carnage or those unfortunate enough to have been caught without cover.

Once again I hope all come through without mishap and that all the vessals are found to be safe when the weather calms.

Kind Regards to you all from a fellow Aussie.

I`m relieved to report no apparent damage, and none I could see on boats nearby on the marina, though a boat on a swing mooring had all its canvas covers blown off. A great relief, and thank you all for the kind words. I felt embarrassed telling our friends, who lost their boat, that ours was safe.

Very good to hear, Bruce. The loss of both boats would have been twice as bad. No doubt your friend would agree.

BruceK said:

I`m relieved to report no apparent damage, and none I could see on boats nearby on the marina, though a boat on a swing mooring had all its canvas covers blown off. A great relief, and thank you all for the kind words. I felt embarrassed telling our friends, who lost their boat, that ours was safe.

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Bruce, glad you and your boat were able to weather the storm. Happy your friends are safe, the most important thing. So very sorry for their loss! Of all the possessions one can loose, your boat, the escape from the reality of every day life, would have to be one of the toughest to loose.

Ted

BruceK said:

I`m relieved to report no apparent damage, and none I could see on boats nearby on the marina, though a boat on a swing mooring had all its canvas covers blown off. A great relief, and thank you all for the kind words. I felt embarrassed telling our friends, who lost their boat, that ours was safe.

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Relieved on your behalf Bruce. It was clearly some really nasty weather. I have found out the only reason it was not called a cyclone and give it a name is because it did not develop in the tropics. A moot point when the winds were as for a cat 2 cyclone or hurricane, and in some of the worst flooded places the rainfall was over 200mm in less than 1 hour. No wonder there were images of houses floating by.

A word about Club Marine (Allianz),and my friends who lost their boat. Day after, the boat was craned out of the water onto a truck for removal(? risk of diesel pollution). In less than a week, they were paid the insurance sum for total loss.
Always like that? Can`t say, I`m with them, hope so. It`s said the best reference for an insurer is a well resolved promptly paid claim.

Bruce,
I have had 2 claims with Club Marine and both were promptly dealt with.
Mistake (on my part) made with one and they responded very quickly with the cash upgrade.
Cheers
Benn

The one claim I made, some years ago now, when someone knocked a davit off getting their boat out, they came through quickly and no questions asked. I've been with them from the beginning, in 2002.