Last year we had a close brush with Hurricane Earl (link), this year we got hit pretty hard by Hurricane Irene. Here's a predicted track for Irene from about five days before impact. Woould you be worried to see a Category 2 hurricane hitting your town dead-center? This prediction proved very accurate, the Irene's eye passed Cape Lookout and about 30 miles east of New Bern.
We had ~90 mph winds (generally we measure wind in knots, but for now we'll use more common terms) and a 7+ foot storm surge.
.
Our new Sailing Squad Commander, Cadet Andrew Ferree, made plans & worked to secure the boats before the storm. All the boats' masts were taken down & secured, gear was removed from the hulls, ground anchors checked and everything strapped down.
Our hosts, Bridgeton Harbor Marina, had a dock severely damaged and the shop flooded; they were still without electricity as of this posting.
.
Almost done securing the boats before the storm!
This is a good example of a little work (or perhaps a medium amount of work) saving a HUGE amount of trouble. Our boats were not damaged by Hurricane Irene, and with some work to re-rig them, we will be sailing! Contrast this with the amount of work needed to make repairs, or worse yet, to raise funds to replace the boats... that could take years.
... posted by Assistant Coach Douglas King
Glad to hear there was no damage, it's tough to plan for these things
ReplyDelete