Fay First Boat first storm

[johnar]

Rick im very happy you made it without damage, I am very lucky the guys here at the marine help me out in tieing off and all my lines are new, I feel safe if the dock makes it. lol We also have been getting very high winds but i heard so many differant numbers i honestly could not say. today was the worse so far and within the last 30 min it is getting better.

John

[Tropic Cat]

It's still raining here (near Cape Canaveral) but the winds are down to 25 mph gusting to 40 mph. Compared to Tuesday and Wednesday, this is a walk in the park.

That darn storm stalled just north of the Space Center yesterday and has dumped 20 inches of rain on us. In a Cat 1 hurricane there's not even 1/2 as much rain as we received. Water level in the marina rose to the point that it almost covered the fixed docks and fingers. Several water driven piles were washed away.

All in all the damage to facilites and boats was minimal as all the folks at the marina pitched in to adjust everyone's dock lines as necessary.

[Fishspearit]

This is somewhere around my 10th named storm, but my first on this boat, and without a doubt the longest lasting one I've seen. 48 hours now of the boat shaking in it's stall, like a frustrated racehorse trapped in the starting gate. Fay managed to show me a few more hatch leaks that I didn't know I had, and the 36 hours of strong east winds here in St. Augustine pushed a lot of water up the rivers. Seeing the floating docks 5 feet from the top of the pilings has me thinking that this marina won't be here long in a Cat. 3 storm.

[imagine2frolic]

LOLOLOL,

Well John is doing well today. His nerves have unraveled a bit. He came over last night, and was on edge. Reminded me of myself during my first hurricane. Talk about on edge. I didn't like it, but here I am still in Florida.

Everything is passing except for the heigth of the river. Last night I started the motors, and let them idle in forward to take the pressure off the forward lines. As always experience, and preperation helps a lot. It's nothing you can ever be mundane about.

Hope all is well for everyone. Fay seems to be a bit dizzy, and can't seem to make her mind up where she will go...... THIS BOATING STUFF IS FUN

[AnchorageGuy]

We too made it through the night with gale force winds against the strong currents from midnight to 6 AM and it was bumpy. We need to rethink this marina or at the very least our slip in the marina. It is too exposed and we were concerned about that but not expecting this kind of weather this long. Location is everything.

[Southern Star]

Glad to hear that all here have survived Fay and are doing (reasonably) well. And thank you for sharing your experiences and yes, emotions. We all need reminders from time to time that boating is not all fun and sun and that you have to be prepared for the worst.

Brad

[scallywag]

The winds are still pounding us in St. Augustine. Not as bad as yesterday but still blowing hard. Lost 3 boats so far. 64 ft 100 year old wooden boat landed on Vilano beach. It broke apart due to the surf. Yesterday, 2 other sailboats broke loose dragging their anchor and hit the temporary bridge just north of the Bridge of Lions. I do not know how many anchors each boat had out. Never anchor north of the Bridge of Lions when a noreaster is expected. So far I have collected approximately 8 inches of rain in the old gauge. The tide yesterday was about 3 feet above normal here in Crescent Beach. When the wind lets up I have to reposition the bow line to be ready for the expected south westerly winds. The winds hve move from the northeast to the east and now are coming from the south east. The radar shows the rain bands coming from the south.
John

[johnar]

I am so happy every one is ok, Yes Imagine is right it did get to my nerves a bit. I do have to say i am proud that i stayed with the boat and did not hide. I took some pictures of the damage in the marina ill try and post later, for now i think i will sleep until the water starts to go down. every few hours last night i would get up and walk the dock just checking boats and making sure everything was ok. i am very shock how many boats that are here that the owner never came to get the boat ready or even check on them. I know i will be moving Dutch to the main pair and away from this floating dock. I took this slip because i have a bad back and was thinking it would help me boarding but i now believe you have to give up some things for safty.

Well thank god you all are safe, nap time

John