Hurricane Sandy

[Ian McColgin]

Hurricane Sandy is a bit like a war - it's so big and there's such diversity of experience that you can't imagine how any two accounts came from the same event. Marmalade and I sailed from a good mooring in Vineyard Haven back to Hyannis Inner Harbor and our winter slip at the Ocean Street dock nice and early. The easterly gale gave us plenty of side loading and a two foot surge at the noon high, but the wind dropped and backed after dark and the midnight high was no threat. But just around the corner in Hyannis Port, the HPYC dock was swept away in the early afternoon.

Pictures I saw and reports from friends in Vineyard Haven indicated that the storm there was survivable albeit a bit exciting. Had I stayed there, perhaps I'd have gone into the Lagoon Pond.

The surge was higher as you look west, to the rather massive problems at the west end of Long Island Sound and NYC. Friends on the Island are still without power and we here but sporadically from the Port Jefferson-Mt Siani area on the north shore and any of the Great South Bay communities. Lots of coastal flooding on the Connecticut shore but folk in the harbors I know found shelter to ride it ok. Friends along the ICW indicate that things got manageable down past the Delaware Bay.

Aside from the loss of two in the sinking of Bounty, I'm not aware of any losses among folk protecting their boats. Sandy is causing more death and destruction along the shore line and up the west edge of the NE states.

[Ian McColgin]

The TV news has great reporting but for unvarnished, no big perspective but this is happening to me, and some photos you'll not see in the media, the WoodenBoat Forum has a number of threads on Sandy.

http://forum.woodenboat.com/showthre...e-FrankenStorm

and

http://forum.woodenboat.com/showthre...urricane-Sandy

For thoughts on the loss of Bounty:

http://forum.woodenboat.com/showthre...urricane-Sandy

[Auspicious]

I spent the hurricane aboard well up Back Creek in Annapolis.

Of note is that comparing the reported wind at Thomas Point Light in the open Bay with what I saw aboard the shelter and protection of hills, trees, and buildings resulted in attenuation of nearly 20 kts on average.

Surge seems to have peaked at about three feet. Power outages and consequent Internet outages are driving people quite mad.

[benz]

Here in Newport, RI., we were spared too much distress. Winds in excess of 70 reported from a megayacht's masthead, but lower down there was a good lee in the harbor. Still it looked frightening enough whenever I popped out of the shelter of the boatshed where I work to check on my own boat, riding out her second hurricane on a 1200-lb mooring. By the way, rather than try using chafing gear through a hawsehole, I fashioned a dacron selvagee going from the bitts to just outside the hawsehole, then made a mooring fast to that with a huge shackle. I found that while a couple of strands of the selvagee showed light wear, it was for the most part in great shape. Anyone else tried this?

[marujo.sortudo]

Mimi Rose was unscathed in Port Washington, NY where 11 boats broke free from their moorings. We came close to marinas floating over their pilings here. Thankful for an oversized, well-maintained town mooring and taking the time to install lots of extra chafe gear before leaving the boat. Several of boats here apparently chafed through mooring pendants that came in contact with bow mounted anchors. Feeling lucky and thankful.