Here Comes Isaac

[Mr B]

The mangroves here are High enough to protect you from the wind, Even in a Cyclone, The storm surges up stream arent too bad if your tied to enough trees in the middle of the creek or river,

You just have to be out of there before the floods come down from inland, about 2 or 3 days,
They go ever the top of the Mangroves,

Hyacinth getting caught on your anchor will pull you under, Failing that the flood waters will leave you parked on top of the mangroves,

It also depends on where you are at the time, and where the storm is coming from,

[impi]

Originally Posted by Rakuflames

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?

Yeah, I kinda had the same feeling about the wind when I first saw it ... thought it looked pretty tame .... used to seeing much heavier winds and seas in Cape Town, but what 'blew me away' was watching those ships in Tortola dragging anchors and colliding with one another right in front of my eyes.

Only then I realized how strong the seas were and are easily underestimated by us foreigners ... and that was before Isaac classified as a hurricane!!!

[Rakuflames]

Originally Posted by impi

Yeah, I kinda had the same feeling about the wind when I first saw it ... thought it looked pretty tame .... used to seeing much heavier winds and seas in Cape Town, but what 'blew me away' was watching those ships in Tortola dragging anchors and colliding with one another right in front of my eyes.

Only then I realized how strong the seas were and are easily underestimated by us foreigners ... and that was before Isaac classified as a hurricane!!!

If Issac hadn't been declared a hurricane things wouldn't have changed much for the Gulf coast. Its slow movement allowed the storm surge to keep piling up and move more and more, and higher and higher. Where storm surge wasn't a big problem, the 20" of rain -- again because of its slow movement -- was devastating.

[Target9000]

All of the comments about the marina being subpar appear to be true. The piles are too short. And the marina staff should be more proactive. However, it is what we have. It isn't exactly like there are plenty of marinas to pick from around here. And those other ones that we have looked at (all of them) are in almost the same sort of conditions.

The north shore is more protected but a long ride away.

As to you guys saying it didn't look bad... Thats fine. I suppose it was just a little breezy and I'm just some wimp that can't take a bit of wind. I'm sure you guys in Ireland and Scotland and Cape Town laugh in the face of 70mph breezes. And us lowly people down here just don't know any better but think the world is ending when the water is up that high.

I suppose we're just befuddled little people that are overly concerned when our 15ft deep lake has 10ft waves in it.

Oh well. We'll keep on trying.

[angelfish2]

"Before you criticize a man, walk a mile in his moccasins."

Tate, it is hard for others who haven't lived in NO to understand wind combined with rain, and that dreaded storm serge. I lived right down the street from Pontchartrain and it was plain scary during hurricanes. I also lived in Miami during some of the worst hurricanes in history.

I wouldn't take too much said here to heart. Under the circumstances, you guys did the very best you could, with what you had to work with. Well done!

[Rakuflames]

Originally Posted by angelfish2

"Before you criticize a man, walk a mile in his moccasins."

Tate, it is hard for others who haven't lived in NO to understand wind combined with rain, and that dreaded storm serge. I lived right down the street from Pontchartrain and it was plain scary during hurricanes. I also lived in Miami during some of the worst hurricanes in history.

I wouldn't take too much said here to heart. Under the circumstances, you guys did the very best you could, with what you had to work with. Well done!

What happened in NO and the surroundings is particularly terrifying because that was a "minor" storm that barely made it to hurricane status before coming ashore.

Speed counts. it was moving soooo slowly that it was possible to get the worst of everything, and that's what happened. Probably a stronger storm would have moved faster, so six of one, half dozen of another.

But anyone who thinks that Isaac was like any pop up storm of the coast of wherever just hasn't been paying attention to what just really happened in Louisiana and Mississippi.

[Mimsy]

Tate, Mark worked in the North Sea and grew up sailing in Scotland and regularly witnessed winds over 80 mph. What freaks him out here on the Gulf Coast is the surge. Those who have never experienced a storm surge in an area already just at or below sea level have no idea.

I now want a t-shirt that says 'Its the surge, stupid!".

[Mimsy]

Also keep in mind that we here on the Gulf Coast have not fully recovered from Ike and Katrina and for those of us impacted by Katrina, we might never 'get over it'.

[Rakuflames]

Originally Posted by Mimsy

Tate, Mark worked in the North Sea and grew up sailing in Scotland and regularly witnessed winds over 80 mph. What freaks him out here on the Gulf Coast is the surge. Those who have never experienced a storm surge in an area already just at or below sea level have no idea.

I now want a t-shirt that says 'Its the surge, stupid!".

I want that shirt too, and it's not just true for boat owners. The whole thing about staying safe in a hurricane isn't getting away from the storm. Often you'd have to drive hundreds of miles to do that. It's to keep from drowning. In 2004, lots of people in the Tampa area drove inland to Orlando only to be faced with tornadoes. Charley never came into the Tampa area and had a minimal effect there.

It really is also about boarding up. If you break a window, the hurricane is now IN your house.



8,000 people drowned in Galveston, Texas in 1905.

[Rakuflames]

Originally Posted by Mimsy

Tate, Mark worked in the North Sea and grew up sailing in Scotland and regularly witnessed winds over 80 mph. What freaks him out here on the Gulf Coast is the surge. Those who have never experienced a storm surge in an area already just at or below sea level have no idea.

I now want a t-shirt that says 'Its the surge, stupid!".

We had winds of 80 mph here a year ago April from a thunderstorm. 8 boats went aground (some quite badly) just in one small section of the bay.

But it wasn't sustained for hours and hours, as it would be in a major hurricane, and it wasn't accompanied by a storm surge.

There really is a difference between bad but short-lived storms and a slow moving hurricane.

[angelfish2]

Oooops...I meant storm surge and not storm serge. I can't edit yet...sorry!

However, a slow moving cat 1 or 2 hurricane is pretty terrible especially for all you guys who went through Katrina. It was like that in Miami after Andrew. What a mess!

[chris07732]

Originally Posted by Target9000

All of the comments about the marina being subpar appear to be true. The piles are too short. And the marina staff should be more proactive. However, it is what we have. It isn't exactly like there are plenty of marinas to pick from around here. And those other ones that we have looked at (all of them) are in almost the same sort of conditions.

The north shore is more protected but a long ride away.

As to you guys saying it didn't look bad... Thats fine. I suppose it was just a little breezy and I'm just some wimp that can't take a bit of wind. I'm sure you guys in Ireland and Scotland and Cape Town laugh in the face of 70mph breezes. And us lowly people down here just don't know any better but think the world is ending when the water is up that high.

I suppose we're just befuddled little people that are overly concerned when our 15ft deep lake has 10ft waves in it.

Oh well. We'll keep on trying.

Target9000: Don't misunderstand me, I was not being critical, you did all you could. Having been in similar situations, it's foolhardy to try to fix things mid storm. You are not going to materially improve the situation with a 15ton boat bobbing about. Your are only going to put yourself at risk. My comment about the short piles is more directed at the marina, not your choices. Having said that, will the marina allow you to "improve " your slip. Installing 4 taller piles for your slip wouldn't be very costly: maybe $200/pile + $3-400 to jet them in. Considering how nice the Sundowner is, it might be a small price to protect your boat.

Also, another thing I noticed is no one used a fender board to keep their boat off the piles. In those tidal/surge conditions, it is almost impossible to accurately locate the boat such that the fender aligns with the pile.

[Target9000]

Originally Posted by chris07732

Target9000: Don't misunderstand me, I was not being critical, you did all you could. Having been in similar situations, it's foolhardy to try to fix things mid storm. You are not going to materially improve the situation with a 15ton boat bobbing about. Your are only going to put yourself at risk. My comment about the short piles is more directed at the marina, not your choices. Having said that, will the marina allow you to "improve " your slip. Installing 4 taller piles for your slip wouldn't be very costly: maybe $200/pile + $3-400 to jet them in. Considering how nice the Sundowner is, it might be a small price to protect your boat.

Also, another thing I noticed is no one used a fender board to keep their boat off the piles. In those tidal/surge conditions, it is almost impossible to accurately locate the boat such that the fender aligns with the pile.

There were a few boats that had fender boards in use at the beginning of the storm (3 on my pier). A quick walk about the marina today and I noted of the 8 fender boards I saw in use, 7 of them were cracked in half.

I wonder what the appropriate length/size of a fender board is to deal with the strain of a storm. Maybe people around here are just doing it wrong? At what intervals do you place fenders behind the board?

[zeehag]

i find fender boards are a great way of losing fenders and causing more damage in a storm.
raftups, yes. storms--no.

spidey webs of lines works ...so far...

[bobconnie]

Don't let these dummys bother ya guy !! They have no Idea the half ass marina docks and pilings ya guys have to work with !! and any time your on the wrong side of the storm in that area you are in trouble !! we were in the direct path this time (as almost always !) but we have tide gates to help us ! If you folks have never seen or docked in New Orleans ya dont know about Lake Poncatrain !! and the Bad surge ya folks get there !! Yea sure it's easy to say just jump aboard and tie it right ! LOL big joke !! just try it in 70 mile an hour winds and waves 4 to 8 ft high right in the Marina !! next time come on down to the Bayou and tie up behind my place and let thes heros fix everything up right !! while we have a cocktail in my genny air conditioned house and let the wind blow !! they will never understand what its like where ya were !! Just sayin till ya been there don't say what ya will do !! just my 2 cents !!!