Hurricane Sandy

[DeepFrz]

There is also another big low in Hudson's Bay moving down towards Sandy. Its low pressure is almost as low as Sandy's. With that big high pressing up against it they will probably channel a lot of cold air down into the warm wet air that Sandy is pushing up. Will be an interesting weekend for sure.

[CCBullseye]

Originally Posted by funjohnson

Well, I'm properly freaked out...with or without the new medias help. We are anchored in the Piankatank River (Virginia), and have no idea what to expect. At least we are on the south side of this mess!

Furling sail has been stripped off, main sail, dodger and bimini will be done at first light.

Wish us luck in our first tropical storm!

The Piankatank is pretty good place to be. You might think about going up Queens Creek or Tabb Creek. Or you could go up to the Rappahannock and find some really good holes in the Caratoman River. Where in the Piankatank are you? I used to always go up the Rappahannock River about 70 miles and anchor in the middle of the river for hurricanes.

[Mike Vogdes]

Originally Posted by kmacdonald

I really looks like it is starting to break up. Probably will never make the sharp westerly turn and keep going east to wither out.

Really...?

[Rakuflames]

Originally Posted by DeepFrz

There is also another big low in Hudson's Bay moving down towards Sandy. Its low pressure is almost as low as Sandy's. With that big high pressing up against it they will probably channel a lot of cold air down into the warm wet air that Sandy is pushing up. Will be an interesting weekend for sure.

In addition, there's a low moving across the continent from west to east. This happened in 1991. It just didn't affect such heavily populated areas.

[hpeer]

Here is the WeatherUnderground site.

Dr. Jeff Masters' WunderBlog : Sandy remains a hurricane, slowly leaving the Bahamas | Weather Underground

I think these guys are pretty cool headed.

We still have a couple of days for this thing to do all kinds of stuff.

Not panicking yet, but will be getting the boat prepped tomorrow.

[mbianka]

Just picked up the mooring at !0 PM in the homeport after a week long 200 plus mile cruise to look at the autumn leaves. Pretty much electro sailed the 33 miles from the last port of call with very little help from the wind today. Very calm night on the water. Only me and the ferry were out there. Got back to see the mooring field around me pretty much empty. I like that. Will prep the boat tomorrow after a good nights sleep. An extra line on the mooring, chafe gear and deploying my anchor drogue. A little worried about the full moon high tide on Monday but, the harbor is pretty snug especially my location. Having a lot of the boats pulled for the season also helps to minimize damage. The nearby docks still have bots in them. The boatyard manager pulled them for Irene so I'm thinking thats a good sign too. Good luck everybody.

[Rakuflames]

Originally Posted by hpeer

Here is the WeatherUnderground site.

Dr. Jeff Masters' WunderBlog : Sandy remains a hurricane, slowly leaving the Bahamas | Weather Underground

I think these guys are pretty cool headed.

We still have a couple of days for this thing to do all kinds of stuff.

Not panicking yet, but will be getting the boat prepped tomorrow.

It can't hurt. We're getting a lot of nothing here on the west coast of FL, and yet last night someone's roller furler was coming undone. The owner probably forgot that he'd not left his sheets really taut. The furling line wasn't tight either. The two of us let it out just far enough to get it wrapped up completely, and then we put a second line around the sail itself.

It's just smart to be ready.

[John A]

I think its time to show what can happen in a storm. A hurricane would create even greater problems.
Be safe folks

Dangerous attempt to board Yacht off Pitcairn Island during storm - YouTube

[Sunchaser]

My husband and I made the critical error many sailors make. Leaving impulsively without carefully checking weather. We were doing a no brainer sail between Kemah, Tx and Port A Texas. We went off shore and had a great sailing day. That night we sailed right in to the aftermath of a hurricane that had crossed the Yucatan. Enormous backless waves, blowing like stink, a sea sick kid, and a sea sick cat. Too many other terrifying things to mention. We weathered this for almost 36 hours. This was all in the aftermath of a hurricane. We all survived but our learning curve was really short...It created my philosophy about sailing 1) Impulsive sailors don't do well 2) You can't always have great weather, but you can wait until you do. 3) Never make plans Mother Nature makes them for you. 4) Preparation, in the end may not have been needed, but it won't hurt anything.

[callmecrazy]

Finishing prep this morning. How do you guys handle tying to a fixed piling or dock? I have a floating dock on one side and a piling between me and the other boat on the aft end of the slips. I'd like to leave the boat to fend for itself.

We'll probably have atleast 2 tide cycles during the storm and I don't want the fixed dockline trying to lift the stern out of the water at low tide, or worse, pull it under if the water gets too high. It's a narrow slip only 1 foot wider than my beam.

[belizesailor]

Originally Posted by callmecrazy

Finishing prep this morning. How do you guys handle tying to a fixed piling or dock? I have a floating dock on one side and a piling between me and the other boat on the aft end of the slips. I'd like to leave the boat to fend for itself.

We'll probably have atleast 2 tide cycles during the storm and I don't want the fixed dockline trying to lift the stern out of the water at low tide, or worse, pull it under if the water gets too high. It's a narrow slip only 1 foot wider than my beam.

An old tire dropped over the piling works pretty well.

[smacksman]

We managed well at Utsch's Marina, Cape May last night. Sandy pretty well went right over us at 6pm. Looked up for the stars but saw nothing but the rain stopped for a bit. The wind didn't. Went from north to west pretty quickly. Pressure dropped 0.28"Hg in an hour. No wind instruments but it was very strong. Three transient crews spent the critical hours before and after 6pm in the Ritz (luxurious rest room) overlooking the marina and watching our tormented sail boats behind the luxury of double glazing. Took two men struggling to close the door.

My Sylvia G (Bristol 30) is over 40 years old and I wasn't confident of the strength of her cleats.

So stern lines were taken from a rope strop right round her counter and over the sheet winches. Used the 16mm kedge anchor warp.

Bow lines were taken from the mast. Used the 20mm main anchor warp.

Furled genny and main+cover were left on but additional lines were wrapped round them. Outboard and life ring on pushpit stowed below. Dodger lowered and tied down. Flags lowered.

9.5 feet of storm surge forecast for Monday pm, 9' am, 8' for Sunday. On Saturday I marked the pile at HW and there was 5 foot of pile left. I didn't know what the surge forecast for Sat was but it was a starting point.

On Sunday morning HW there was about 4'-6" of pile left and HW was an hour later than tables. Sunday pm HW was about the same. Monday am HW left 3 foot of pile still showing so as I watched from the Ritz at HW Monday pm I was confident the marina would not float away.

If you are deciding to leave your boat to fend for herself then leave early. The hide tides meant that the ramps down to the floating pontoons were lifted 6 feet into the air by the pontoons rising so needed acrobatics to get ashore.

They forecast 90mph winds but I don't know what we got but Sylvia G's north/south slip did not do her any favours with strong westerly gusts on her beam heeling her 20 degrees and putting huge strains on her lines.

But she came through it. Damage? One handrail stanchion will need re-bedding as I took a spring through it's base. A mistake, as with lines on all corners a spring is not really needed.

Thought about using the forecast SW 15 to 20kn to get up Delaware Bay on Wednesday but local knowledge dissuaded me due to the amount of debris floating. Any reports on this? And could the guy in the marina on the C&D canal please tell me if it is still there or floated away?

[DeepFrz]

Glad you made it through okay smacksman. Interesting room you all had at the ritz...lol