Hurricane Florence

The message I got from the FEMA quote was even if this is a cat 2 instead of a Cat 4 - it is still bad.






Take care and don't let the weakening lull you into a false sense of security.

psneeld said:

Undredged shoaling?

After Sandy, there were cars, trucks, homes, boats, docks, whole trees, shopping carts, tin sheds, regular sheds, etc...etc.... You name it, it was in the NJ ICW.

Can't dredge till that stuff is out and that took many months....

I am already planning how to bypass most of that ICW next month...hard for me, but doable...not looking forward to going out to the Frying Pan Shoals cut though.

Click to expand...

Yes exactly - here is a picture of a boat on the RR tracks up the Hudson after Sandy , we knew the owner.

https://grist.org/article/a-boat-on-the-train-tracks-and-other-transportation-effects-from-sandy/

psneeld said:

Undredged shoaling?

After Sandy, there were cars, trucks, homes, boats, docks, whole trees, shopping carts, tin sheds, regular sheds, etc...etc.... You name it, it was in the NJ ICW.

Can't dredge till that stuff is out and that took many months....

I am already planning how to bypass most of that ICW next month...hard for me, but doable...not looking forward to going out to the Frying Pan Shoals cut though.

Click to expand...

Looking forward to learning from your trip. We are targeting early Nov to leave from Norfolk.

Atlantic Beach

https://www.wnct.com/weather/webcams/live-eye-9-from-the-seahawk-inn-villas-atlantic-beach

Parks in New Bern already flooded.

Kitty Hawk

Cool website I happened upon


SURGEDAT: THE WORLD'S STORM SURGE INFORMATION CENTER


real time update on surge levels

sdowney717 said:

I have noticed boats with plastic water systems, the water can be foul. Turn on the water on one for sale, and the stench was unbearable. And if the water system lets in any light, that's bad as algae will grow. I have seen a few boats with clearish opaque tubing.

Click to expand...

Correct, and I'd say that atleast 95% of the 45' and under trawlers we looked at had clear tubing for the freshwater systems and all had poly tanks except the 44 Defever which had its original SS tank.

It sounds like your system is used frequently enough for the tap chlorinated water to keep your tank happy n clean! I'm sure its the same where you are, down in SW Fla I'd say atleast 1/2 of the 30' and over cabin boats don't leave there dock more than two-three times a year! And then only to go see fireworks or a boat parade. And on those days Sea-Tow and Boat US get ran ragged!

I'm aware of the anti-microbial qualities of copper piping. The only boat we looked that had that was an older immaculate Bertram cruiser. She ticked all our boxes except for two....no cockpit and she had twin 5xxHP DD 6v92s!

But the Mainship we ended up with had some green showing in the FW tank. Three days of fill the tank, treat with bleach, sit overnight, drain next morning,Repeat, and it was clean clear and we never had any issues afterwards. I did replace all the tubing with the reinforced kind and changed the pressure pump.

would it make sense to add some copper to a plastic tank ? something like some coils of wire, or tubing ?

Just heard the President of Duke Energy and he stated that as many as 75% of their customers (7 million) could lose power and he stated that restoration wouldn't be days, but would be weeks.

BandB said:

Just heard the President of Duke Energy and he stated that as many as 75% of their customers (7 million) could lose power and he stated that restoration wouldn't be days, but would be weeks.

Click to expand...

LOL, I much prefer to hear a truthful assessment like that, but you know lots of folks are saying he's just being mean and trying to scare us into leaving!

If you've never been through a hurricane (literally THROUGH one's eye walls) its hard to tell people how scary it is, and that it lasts for several HOURS typically. They are saying some areas will be exposed to hurricane force winds for up to 2 DAYS with this one! A strong tropical storm will make you question your house's integrity. That's the frightening/dangerous part of storms. The days/weeks afterward without electricity/water are misery. Folks don't think about having to go for DAYS without A/C or even a fan in peak summer temps. Throw in the lack of ability to cook for most with total elec homes, and no water to bathe or flush.....suddenly you're living in a primitive cave with glass windows!
I've known numerous families that moved onto their commercial shrimp boats after storms for those creature comforts

that's Jersey, this is Tarheel Country!

Seahawk05 said:

that's Jersey, this is Tarheel Country!

Click to expand...

I lived there. North and South Carolina. There's plenty of runaway retired Yankees all along the SE coast! But I've lived in St Pete, Miami, Homestead, Key Largo, and Cape Coral. I miss having the water right outside my back door but I sure don't miss the crowds.

Seahawk05 said:

that's Jersey, this is Tarheel Country!

Click to expand...

So it will take even longer I guess....

More cars on cinder blocks in the front yard to float away.....in addition to all those outhouses....

psneeld said:

So it will take even longer I guess....

More cars on cinder blocks in the front yard to float away.....in addition to all those outhouses....

Click to expand...

Ha, shows what you know...we take the tires off so they won't float!

And I'll have you know we don't have outhouses. We have outtrailers!

BandB said:

Just heard the President of Duke Energy and he stated that as many as 75% of their customers (7 million) could lose power and he stated that restoration wouldn't be days, but would be weeks.

Click to expand...

Local news in North Texas, 200 local repair trucks left this morning headed that direction. They will overnight in TN and await to be dispatched.

I saw that Tampa had sent a group of repair vehicles to the Carolinas.

It will be a significant task getting power restored.

Also, got a note that Dockwa has added a damage tracker section on their website listing status of Marinas.

twiisted71 said:

I lived there. North and South Carolina. There's plenty of runaway retired Yankees all along the SE coast! But I've lived in St Pete, Miami, Homestead, Key Largo, and Cape Coral. I miss having the water right outside my back door but I sure don't miss the crowds.

Click to expand...

WOW, you have been kicked out of a lot of places..

diver dave said:

WOW, you have been kicked out of a lot of places..

Click to expand...

And thats just the ones that don't have a statute of limitations that I can mention!

FootballFan said:

Local news in North Texas, 200 local repair trucks left this morning headed that direction. They will overnight in TN and await to be dispatched.

I saw that Tampa had sent a group of repair vehicles to the Carolinas.

It will be a significant task getting power restored.

Also, got a note that Dockwa has added a damage tracker section on their website listing status of Marinas.

Click to expand...

The no power late afternoons become a great time to bond with the neighbors. Fixing and refueling generators, sharing BBQ food, etc. It's pretty fun until the lift stations get full and there is still not power. That is when it gets BAD....

https://codepen.io/alexneises/full/qMKROv/

screen full of mayhem.

Apparently FPL (Florida Power and Light) has sent 500 repairman North in preparation for the upcoming power outages.

Ted

I think it’s great that the power companies all send men, trucks and equipment toward the area even before the damn thing hits. Last year Florida took the hit. Now it’s our turn to send help.

We lost power for ten days after last years little hurricane and for ten days after Andrew. I saw trucks from a lot of different states helping out.

Those utility linemen are studs. Their productivity has to be seen to be appreciated. The power companies have robust and (more amazingly) workable mutual aid agreements. Hats off to them.

the blue dot is the GPS from my phone

still have line power, generator standing by

on high ground.

psneeld said:

So it will take even longer I guess....

More cars on cinder blocks in the front yard to float away.....in addition to all those outhouses....

Click to expand...

sigh, you are not from around here, are you?

HopCar said:

I think it’s great that the power companies all send men, trucks and equipment toward the area even before the damn thing hits. Last year Florida took the hit. Now it’s our turn to send help.

We lost power for ten days after last years little hurricane and for ten days after Andrew. I saw trucks from a lot of different states helping out.

Click to expand...

1996, hurricane Fran, 9 days without power.....the linemen that turned us back on were from Texas!! Love our lineman for sure!

(Hope they are near New Bern this week!)

Besslb said:

1996, hurricane Fran, 9 days without power.....the linemen that turned us back on were from Texas!! Love our lineman for sure!

(Hope they are near New Bern this week!)

Click to expand...

Well, listening to the mayor of New Bern right now and having seen video earlier, a lot of cause for concern. New Bern power is 100% out due to flooding. More surge expected. At this point the outages are not from downed trees and lines.

OK, all you actual sailors and boat owners. Explain this stuff to a wannabe.

What sort of wave/wind conditions are dangerous in port or at sea? When is it best to haul out?

Merchant and naval ships head to sea to avoid storms. (The idea is that they do not want to be bashed against the shore.) Do yachts, or megayachts do that?

We had fair warning this storm was coming (although we thought it would hit north of Duck, not south). Would a wise skipper try to dodge the storm or would he take the warning time to haul out and head inland?

breezy

psneeld said:

Limbs?

Isnt that area pretty famous for tall, thick pines with a propensity to blow over due to small root balls and sandy soil?

My sister in Wilmington had one come down on her townhouse during one of the last, lesser canes. Its the only thing really worrying her this go around too.

Click to expand...

We have all sorts of both hardwoods and softwoods on our property. We get a lot of limbs down from the deciduous trees as a result of normal thunderstorms. And the pines around here are tall and thin, many as part of tree farms which is a big business. Yes the ground is very sandy and already very saturated from a very wet summer.

Our property is above the theoretical surge mark (I posted links to the surge maps earlier) and we do not have diurnal tides here, only wind tides which can swing about 3 ft normally.

As for us personally, I have been in Los Angeles since Tuesday on business, and will be out in California for at least another week, and original itinerary doesn't have me coming back until 9/30. Ann went up to Virginia on Tuesday to stay with one of her best friends. We don't play games with these storms.

Paul in Saudi said:

OK, all you actual sailors and boat owners. Explain this stuff to a wannabe.

What sort of wave/wind conditions are dangerous in port or at sea? When is it best to haul out?

Merchant and naval ships head to sea to avoid storms. (The idea is that they do not want to be bashed against the shore.) Do yachts, or megayachts do that?

We had fair warning this storm was coming (although we thought it would hit north of Duck, not south). Would a wise skipper try to dodge the storm or would he take the warning time to haul out and head inland?

Click to expand...

I always had my Hatteras pulled for any named storm in the neighborhood. Glad I did. The ships do not head into the storm, they leave early and steam away from it. It's all a matter of timing.

I think the problem with running away from a storm is two-fold. Familiarity and the squirrel connundrum. Presumably you're really familiar with your home port, know what its like in most conditions, have spent time scoping it out etc, and hopefully made plans and arrangements. If you try to outrun the storm you could very well find yourself in an unfamiliar area and in over your head without a lot of options.

The second problem is which way do you run ? 3 or 4 days out there is still a fairly wide cone of uncertainty.....every hour you wait for better intel on the storm path, the closer the storm is. If a storm is 2 days away, you could get 300 miles away, but a storm can be 3-400 miles wide....a slight shift in the track of the storm, and you're dealing with very bad weather on the move, wishing you were back at home.

Normally I would think a haul out would be the safest. ( Logistically and financially complicated though ) Around here most of our marinas are about 10 feet above sea level. I can't imagine a 20 foot surge. As the water level rises crowded storage yards would have boats bouncing up and down on their jack stands and holing the hulls.