Here Comes Isaac

[zeehag]

9000--you done good---documentation was excellent and you di dwhat you could in the situation.
not enough folks double tie their boats--here on pacific side for hurrycames we wrap everything not removed and double line every cleat and we antichafe our piling lines and mebbe anchor into channel to keep off end tie pilings, if needed. and pray . and pray. many fly to the states or canada and watch on tv. we, with boats being our homes, remain behind to witness all....to a point, and to help where we are able.
ye did good.

[terminalcitygrl]

Please folks, before offering criticism, READ THE THREAD! Target has explained that they did what they could in difficult circumstances. Good on you Target.

It's great to see that there are so many of us who are willing to help others out as necessary and when possible to the best of our abilities. Good on us.

[droquette]

Originally Posted by zeehag

there is no ruing saying there is no fone service but i bet ye wont get thru when ye need to ..LOL...is easy to overload circuits. i am glad you were able to make calls in a hurrycame--glad for you also it wasnt in your neighborhood. had it been in your area, you would not have been able to get thru. even on cellular. btdt.

there used to be warnings to public not to use fone in a disaster as the emergency services are having difficulty dealing with commo. is a very good thing tampa bay was spared. no disaster, no problem. you lucked out. not everyone did.

the gods know when to avoid areas of difficulty.

flamer, the only one twisting anything is you.

Well, I wanted to let you know what happens regarding the phones here in Puerto Rico when their are natural disasters. The governments asks people to not use the phones unless its an emergency, instead they ask for people to TEXT MESSAGE each other as this does not occupy the phone system as much. It is not illegal to use the phone, They just ask you to do this so that the system is not jammed for the real emergencies. This makes a lot of sense to me and I hope for you as well.

[goboatingnow]

I dont know , but I was on the west coast of Ireland recently. That type of blow would be termed a windy day.! The harbours have massive breakwaters etc.

Dave

[chris07732]

As I viewed Target9000's videos, I was struck at how bad that marina was built. There were a number of slips with short piles, barely 2-3' out of water. Target was walking on the piers, wading thru maybe a foot of water, making the short piles only 1-2' higher than the pier, some even less. I was amazed. Any boat trying to stay off those short piles was doomed. The storm surge was big, but it happens frequently to more or less some degree. Those short piles needed to be 6-8' higher to be effective.

Target: I'd move to a different marina, quick. Or at least, go for slip with taller piles.

[Rakuflames]

Originally Posted by droquette

Well, I wanted to let you know what happens regarding the phones here in Puerto Rico when their are natural disasters. The governments asks people to not use the phones unless its an emergency, instead they ask for people to TEXT MESSAGE each other as this does not occupy the phone system as much. It is not illegal to use the phone, They just ask you to do this so that the system is not jammed for the real emergencies. This makes a lot of sense to me and I hope for you as well.

Honestly they didn't say anything like that here when the center of the cone of concern ran right into Tampa Bay, but it's really useful information. I think it's important to check up on some people when such bad weather strikes. If they don't know how to text them, maybe part of one's emergency preparedness would be to teach those people how to do it. Virtually every cell phone can send texts -- it's just easier on some than others.

[Rakuflames]

Originally Posted by goboatingnow

I dont know , but I was on the west coast of Ireland recently. That type of blow would be termed a windy day.! The harbours have massive breakwaters etc.

Dave

Which type of blow -- Debby or Isaac as a TS, or Isaac as a hurricane? How would Ireland cope with 15' storm surges and 20" of rain?

[Rakuflames]

Originally Posted by chris07732

As I viewed Target9000's videos, I was struck at how bad that marina was built. There were a number of slips with short piles, barely 2-3' out of water. Target was walking on the piers, wading thru maybe a foot of water, making the short piles only 1-2' higher than the pier, some even less. I was amazed. Any boat trying to stay off those short piles was doomed. The storm surge was big, but it happens frequently to more or less some degree. Those short piles needed to be 6-8' higher to be effective.

Target: I'd move to a different marina, quick. Or at least, go for slip with taller piles.

I used to live at a place that had docks. The docks were supported by 2 X 10's. I thought about its southern exposure and moved my boat.

[IslandHopper]

Originally Posted by chris07732

As I viewed Target9000's videos, I was struck at how bad that marina was built. There were a number of slips with short piles, barely 2-3' out of water. Target was walking on the piers, wading thru maybe a foot of water, making the short piles only 1-2' higher than the pier, some even less. I was amazed. Any boat trying to stay off those short piles was doomed. The storm surge was big, but it happens frequently to more or less some degree. Those short piles needed to be 6-8' higher to be effective.

Target: I'd move to a different marina, quick. Or at least, go for slip with taller piles.

Exactly what i first thought when i saw the footage, and what it reminded me of below....

In this case they had pontoons that rode up and down with the tide, when the storm surge from the cyclone hit the pontoons just rode right over the top of the pile's taking the boats with them....

The frustrating thing in this case is a study of the marina was done a number of years prior to the event, and it was pointed out to the owners at the time that the piles where to short....

You can see the pontoons amongst the wreckage in this photo, most had their boats still tied to them....



....and the empty piles...



Not all of the boats were tied up to pontoons, some like the ones in Target9000's marina where tied directly to piles and suffered the same fate....

[Mr B]

Where was that piccy taken,

[IslandHopper]

Originally Posted by Mr B

Where was that piccy taken,

Port Hinchinbrook Marina....

[Mr B]

That would make a grown man Cry,

[Rakuflames]

Originally Posted by IslandHopper

Exactly what i first thought when i saw the footage, and what it reminded me of below....

In this case they had pontoons that rode up and down with the tide, when the storm surge from the cyclone hit the pontoons just rode right over the top of the pile's taking the boats with them....

The frustrating thing in this case is a study of the marina was done a number of years prior to the event, and it was pointed out to the owners at the time that the piles where to short....

You can see the pontoons amongst the wreckage in this photo, most had their boats still tied to them....



....and the empty piles...



Not all of the boats were tied up to pontoons, some like the ones in Target9000's marina where tied directly to piles and suffered the same fate....

What amazing photos. My dad worked for a tugboat company through the 1960's, when forecasting wasn't as good as it was today. When they judged a serious hurricane threat, they would take the tugboats into the Everglades and lash them to mangroves. We never had a direct hit and it's not really an option here -- that company's tugs worked out of Fort Lauderdale, and the Everglades extended almost to the coast then.

I imagine they were followed in by john boats or something but I never knew the logistical details.

[Mr B]

Hinchinbrook looks pretty protected in there behind the island, From the winds any way,
The storm surges up there are pretty high, 6 metres,

The company I worked for in the Valley in Brissy went under, 1973, It was 2 metres deep in the factory, I dont know how far above the river it was,

Might be the best bet to get up a river or creek and hide in the Mangroves, with lots of lines out, When a storm is imminent.

Better safe than sorry,

[Rakuflames]

Originally Posted by Mr B

Hinchinbrook looks pretty protected in there behind the island, From the winds any way,
The storm surges up there are pretty high, 6 metres,

The company I worked for in the Valley in Brissy went under, 1973, It was 2 metres deep in the factory, I dont know how far above the river it was,

Might be the best bet to get up a river or creek and hide in the Mangroves, with lots of lines out, When a storm is imminent.

Better safe than sorry,

Being sheltered behind an island will protect some from winds and waves, but not storm surge. Water will seek its own level, go around the island, and continue to rise. I'm sure it went right over whole banks of mangroves. Once that's happened, they will still protect some from the waves, but no longer the wind.

The storm surge is the real killer. No marina where I am has pilings high enough to protect against that kind of storm surge, and any floating docks in the area would have ... well ... floated.

It's scary to think that a storm that's barely a Cat 1 can do that. In a lot of severely damaged areas "all" they got was tropical storm, not hurricane force.