Alex F
Senior Member
A friend of mine got into unpleasant situation while making his way from Lake Boca southbound on ICW, last Friday (7/31/20). Next thing you know, Camino Real bridge was in closed position and not responding. He decided to go on the outside and come in via Hilsboro Inlet. Upon arrival, he got caught with another surprise, that bridge was closed and not responding as well. Based on the radio traffic he realized that there were several bridges closed as well.
He manged to find an alternative, but was under some stress due to rough seas and said that number sailing vessels were seeking shelter and couldn't come in due to bridges being closed.
This begs the question, why were the bridges closed without any advanced announcements and if they made any, where would you obtain that info, other then calling each bridge directly?
I scanned latest LNM: https://www.navcen.uscg.gov/pdf/lnms/lnm07302020.pdf
and here's the only info I could find.
"Drawbridges along the coast may deviate from normal operating procedures. Drawbridges are authorized to remain closed upon approach of
Gale Force winds of 34 knots or greater. Extended closure periods may be authorized up to 8 hours prior to arrival of Gale Force winds to
facilitate evacuation of land traffic. Due to the uncertainty of hurricane movements and bridge closures, mariners are urged to seek passage
through drawbridges well in advance of the arrival of Gale Force winds."
Those that are not from the area, Tropical storm Isaias was expected to make landfall on Sat evening. So, if the situation took place on Fri early afternoon, that's more than 24hrs prior expected landfall.
When arrived to a FTL city marina, my friend talked to few people, including a local CG guy and everyone was stumbled about the event.
Does anyone know what happened? What are we missing in this puzzle? Is there another policy (other than what's posted in LNM) which states that bridges should close much more in advance than 8hrs?
He manged to find an alternative, but was under some stress due to rough seas and said that number sailing vessels were seeking shelter and couldn't come in due to bridges being closed.
This begs the question, why were the bridges closed without any advanced announcements and if they made any, where would you obtain that info, other then calling each bridge directly?
I scanned latest LNM: https://www.navcen.uscg.gov/pdf/lnms/lnm07302020.pdf
and here's the only info I could find.
"Drawbridges along the coast may deviate from normal operating procedures. Drawbridges are authorized to remain closed upon approach of
Gale Force winds of 34 knots or greater. Extended closure periods may be authorized up to 8 hours prior to arrival of Gale Force winds to
facilitate evacuation of land traffic. Due to the uncertainty of hurricane movements and bridge closures, mariners are urged to seek passage
through drawbridges well in advance of the arrival of Gale Force winds."
Those that are not from the area, Tropical storm Isaias was expected to make landfall on Sat evening. So, if the situation took place on Fri early afternoon, that's more than 24hrs prior expected landfall.
When arrived to a FTL city marina, my friend talked to few people, including a local CG guy and everyone was stumbled about the event.
Does anyone know what happened? What are we missing in this puzzle? Is there another policy (other than what's posted in LNM) which states that bridges should close much more in advance than 8hrs?