Today we had all kinds of issues but nothing horrendous like the significant loss of life and property damage on the other coast. Our time in the beat down chamber will be tonight through tomorrow evening. We have had some very eery things happen.
Wind speeds have averaged 24 knots with a highest recorded wind speed today at 41 knots. Tonight’s low tide is at 1834. The next high tide will be 2002 September 30th at 0022. Right after midnight. It will be a late night because that is when (in the depths of darknesss) we may see significantly more storm surge. The tide is only 7ft 2 inches, which is a full foot less than 8ft 2inches of this afternoons high tide at 1202.
We’ve been listening to the USCG try and find a cargo ship that left port in the storm. The Vessel Miranda was found this evening with 12 people aboard. We listened to the USAF hurricane hunters doing their hurricane mission talking to the ship. The ship is currently underway but does not appear to be making way and it is pretty obvious that they are in 56 knots winds, that will likely grow to 75 plus knot winds, and they will be direct hit by the hurricane. They are currently just south of Jacksonville and about 100 miles off the coast.
I can’t imagine what is going through their minds right now. That kind of storm and they are out in a normally very busy seaway all by themselves. All ports within hundreds of miles are set by the USCG as condition Zulu which basically means nobody can enter, leave or transit the port area.
We’ve a YouTube Sailing Channel here in the Marina. Last year they were on the dock with us doing repairs prior to going cruising. This year we’re a few more docks in than they are. They’ve been covering the events of the Marina up until today. Since the party I’ve not seen them wandering around.
Right now our basic problem isn’t the wind. It will be uncomfortable and possibly contribute to other issues. What we have to worry about his storm surge and the possibility of the finger piers floating off the pilings. This is always a huge risk to marinas and can destroy a marina PDQ. We will be staying up until midnight and waiting to see what happens. The fact the tide basically didn’t go out is very concerning. We’re seeing about 2 feet of surge if our piling calculations were correct this evening at low tide. We are very lucky that at the point of highest tide tonight we will have a north western wind rather than a southerly which would increase fetch. If we make it through tonight no issues then we can sleep well until morning.
What happens if the piers float off? We have two choices and neither is good. We can run (in a tropical storm and attempt to dodge what will be pandemonium). Our only good option would be to go anchor down the channel and in the lee of the land. There is a wall that seems deep enough just south of us that might work also but there are going the a couple hundred boats driven by wind in our direction. In a few minutes of thinking you get to a “this would suck pond scum” kind of realization. With 4 feet of surge we should have 2 feet of piling so we hope for the best. We’ll know in about 4 hours.