Isaac

[Terry in Naples]

Spent the day removing my sun shades, dodger, Bimini, mainsail and genoa off the furler in preparation for isaac. Hopefully it will stay offshore and spare us again. We will know more in a day or so. Tomorrow we will start getting the plywood out of the storage shed , checking the generator, filling fuel tanks and so it goes.

 

[Don S/V ILLusion]

Hope the effort was a waste of time for you Terry. This will be our first one since moving here (if it actually affects us) so I will be following everyone's advice and example.

 

[Rick I]

Last time I was in FL during hurricane season was 2004, one of the busiest years. Stripped the boat and even put the boom down below. Good luck. No use waiting till the last minute. Better safe than sorry.

 

[kloudie1]

Best wishes to you guys, Terry ! We on the Pontchartrain are watching carefully.. by Sunday, we should know if I have to start that same routine..

 

[Bill1565]

Spent the day removing my sun shades, dodger, Bimini, mainsail and genoa off the furler in preparation for isaac. .

You must be younger and stronger than we are. Got the main and genoa off and folded and stored in the garage. Bimini and dodger Saturday if needed. Both 11 am and 4 pm u[p dates have moved center of cone west. Hope it keeps moving.

 

[Benny17441]

This one still has a couple of tough hurdles to get over and it is still quite far away. I will wait till the weekend to see what track it may follow after it clears, over or away, from Hispaniola and Cuba. Have been dodging Hurricanes here in Florida for many years and have seen them fizzle out or die in the mountains of Haiti. I'm well drilled in the final preparations and feel confident that in two hours time I could have it ready to face the storm. On the other hand in latter years the forescats have been getting much more accurate so I will keep a sharp eye for the latest advisories. My insurance is paid up for the year.

 

[higgs]

Good luck, you guys. I have a Condo in Ft Myers and am keeping an eye on things.

 

[njwtech]

I'll be going to my boat in Port Charlotte tomorrow to take off the sails and bimini as well and also add some dock lines. Hopefully it just sideswipes us and moves fast - unlike Debby that sat out there and hammered my boat against the dock for days... Good luck everyone.

 

[seadaddler]

Hoping

I am hoping it go's westerly away from Fl,the boat is all stripped but I am in Arizona and keeping my fingers crossed and praying.
Nick

 

[sailormanbigd]

yes, I will be reducing windage and shoring up as well. In the past I think the problem has been with those owners who for some reason don't prepare for the worst. Boats breaking free and blowing/smashing down on the rest of the fleet. Damages to other boats/docks and such have been the catalyst for the push for legislation?

 

[Sailm8]

I can strip the boat in about 2 hours if I need too but am going to wait until Saturday afternoon to decide what to do. Dock lines are already prepared. With the westerly track update it looks like a rain event here.

Maybe when the convention starts in Tampa the hot air will steer it further west.

 

[anchorclanker]

When you say strip, are you taking down the mast and rigging? Ive always been amazed how resilient sailboat are to severe weather,...... as long as they can remain anchored. They dont always seem to do as well out of water.

We flew around Key West in 06' on a sightseeing flight, and could clearly see 100's of scrapes from sailboat keels in the sea bottom, some running for thousands of feet and possibly miles. In 05' I believe they had 5 named Hurricanes cross through or skirt South Florida and so many sailboats broke free and were driven downwind. The scrapes were everywhere and quite visible. I believe the State of Florida can fine boat owners for that kind of environmental damage, citing responsibility of the boat owner to secure their boat. Makes one wonder if it would be better to make a run South southwest a few hundred miles and try to weather it out.

 

[Sailm8]

Strip for me means removing anything that the wind can pull off the boat. '04 was the real bad year. I had $11,000.00 in damage from boats that were not properly secured. One trawler pulled out its pilings and sank 5 boat all around me. Ended up stuck up in the cockpit of an IP with its anchor through the companion way.

I wish shore side augers and chains were required for boats in slips.

 

[Terry in Naples]

Updates are not looking good tonight. I will be moving my sailboat out into the center of my canal with lines cris crossed on each seawall. I am to bare poles. Also will be deciding on boarding the house up by tomorrow eve. I live on a cul de sac in the canal so am very sheltered. Doing this for 10 years now and am noticing sails, and equipment seems to be getting heavier. Hoping for small surge as house is at 6.5 feet elevation. If we are at level 1 i don,t expect a problem.