Date: 10 October 2022. After Hurricane Ian  (part 2)

© janice142
 

Watching Hurricane Ian as he headed north off the coast of Florida was nerve-wracking. Securing Seaweed with every line in my lockers was a given. Additionally all my fenders were deployed. Safety gear stored is stupid. EVERYTHING gets utilized when a storm is bearing down. Hurricane Ian was no different from others I have experienced over the years. Fortunately I "dodged a bullet" when the hurricane turned inland south of me.
 

With all my years of experience I missed a couple of things.
One of those mistakes left Seaweed with minor damage. Argh!!!

This is a chart provided by the Navy Hurricane hunters planes.

A fellow on this canal has a dad who was a navigator on one of the Navy hurricane hunter planes. How cool is that?!?
 

Wunderground had the best graphic for the storm of any I could find. Frankly I prefer the dots showing the exact location of the storm eye. I loved that Wunderground had their dots denote the wind speed and storm strength too.

One thing that concerned those of us here on the beach was the storm
surge that was predicted. We were all watching as the Ian approached land.
 

As during Hurricane Irma, we experienced extremely low tides. Fortunately the weather was calm  (no waves) thus the boats at my friend Cheryl's property though sitting on the bottom suffered no damage.
S/V Alchemy	S/V Island Time	Multiple lines secured the vessels to the dock and pilings.

Like at Cheryl's place the tide was low here too. The water receded at the seawall by the mangroves.

 

Of course I was anxious to check on ↓ SEAWEED.  Once the winds had abated, I went outside
to see the boats. Fortunately my wind generator blades are visible to the far left of this picture:

All the boats were floating, which was a good thing.
 

Due to the low tide I was delayed returning home by a couple of long hours waiting for the water to rise. I could not safely get aboard my boat. Still, being here where I could see and check on my girl immediately was such a relief. I cannot imagine ever dealing with officials forbidding me to return for HOURS. Hurricane Irma taught me that! Why yes, I am still bitter.

Details on that can be found in the Hurricane Irma Saga series.
 

Irene of course stayed aboard her boat at anchor. After the storm she did have a visitor check on her.

Note that Irene has her dinghy secured to her home by TWO lines. Smart boaters never use a single line to tie a tender to the main vessel.
 

In the meantime I spotted this picture from a live camera on Flagler Beach. A friend had fled there. He is a surfer so I looked for him.

 

While waiting to return to Seaweed, I spent the time checking on friends far and near. I was relieved that S/V Grace had cruised up the east coast, and thus was out of the epicenter of Hurricane Ian. Unfortunately many fine boating areas suffered severe damage.
 

Finally the tide had come in enough that I could return. Thank goodness!!! It felt so good to be finally home where I belong.

Skipper immediately fell asleep...

Look at my first visitor after returning home:

Seeing the manatee, first one, then two more was wonderful. It was such a relief to be home.

What made this particularly delightful is that I love manatees. They are interesting to watch.

As you can tell the water is rather murky. It is not the green I have come to enjoy.


There are two manatees in this picture:

The manatees did not seem to mind the condition of the water. They know the mangroves and regularly come by to munch on the leaves.
 

Interrupting for a proud grandma moment...
 

My Original Grand had to create a poster about an endangered animal. She chose the manatee. Here is her project:

She is in fifth grade now. Where does the time go??? I love that her handwriting is neat too.

But I digress...

Of all the boats on the canal only one received any damage. That would be my Seaweed!

The worst part about the damage is that the reason is entirely my fault. Although I had added every line in my locker and put out all my fenders too, I had failed to secure one set of fenders. Thus, as the boat moved around those two fenders slipped out of place and my boat scraped against the boat next to me. Argh.

Utilizing two of the eyebolts already in the perfect spot would have made a world of difference in keeping the fenders where they needed to be.
Years ago I had installed eyebolts around the overhangs on Seaweed. Originally they were used to hang Christmas lights. I deliberately chose to have the part that protrudes inside and under the overhang.   The primary reason I chose to have the "eye" under the overhang is to prevent injury. Just as one protects toddlers from harm by keeping sharp pointed objects covered, the same principle is applied aboard Seaweed.
If I slip due to an unexpected event (a wave rocks the boat) I do not want to hurt myself. The eyebolts can not harm me due to the simple swap of installing them "backwards" to what one might normally do.

The damage to Seaweed was entirely my fault. I have eyebolts and using
same would have prevented this. Alas, I simply did not think to utilize them.

One is always smarter after the lesson. Well, I have learned. From now on I will ensure my fenders are secured so they can protect my Seaweed.

Although I immediately spotted the damage when I got home, seeing the manatee behind my boat made my world perfect. It seemed as if the manatee was welcoming me home. Though I tried to get a picture of that first manatee, within minutes two more arrived. Life is indeed good.

In the meantime, Skipper snoozed on her pillow.

 

Skipper continued to rest while I took off the spare
lines and returned Seaweed to her ready to move status.

Memory Lane: When I was growing up aboard our 40'er, Daddy was adamant that we be able to get underway in less than 15 minutes. I have maintained that practice. In practicality, this means that I try to keep everything put away enough so that nothing will fall over if I get waked.
 

What surprised me most in the aftermath of the storm was how exhausted I was. In speaking with others, they too experienced the same. I know I was plain worn out. It seems that recovery takes longer now than it used to...
 

The manatees were great, and finally my Buddy appeared too.

Now, finally, all is well with my world.
 

I thank you for reading.
 

Have you experienced a hurricane or another serious storm?
And, is there any particular advice you can offer regarding your experience with storms?
 

COMMENTS:
 

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