Bad storm hit Chatham MA harbor (video)

Feb 10, 2004
3,917
Hunter 40.5 Warwick, RI
Friends were in Vineyard Haven on Martha's Vineyard on their 44 foot Hunter and they observed the same kind of storm that lasted 15-20 minutes. Their bimini was partly destroyed as well as some other lesser damage but they are OK. They dragged their anchor about 40-50 feet but other boats near them dragged more. Really ugly.
Sailing Def.: "Hours of boredom punctuated by moments of terror."
 
Oct 30, 2017
183
Catalina c 27 Lake Pueblo
It must have been a bad weekend for weather.

We had a severe thunderstorm hit our marina in Colorado

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I went down yesterday to check my boat and all was fine. But plenty of other were a complete mess.
 

TomY

Alden Forum Moderator
Jun 22, 2004
2,758
Alden 38' Challenger yawl Rockport Harbor
The attached news article describes a tornado touched down on the Cape. Is that true? Reports of 80+ mile an hour winds sounds like more than a typical squall. There are not that many 'hurricane' holes on Cape Cod. I know, I tried to find one for Earl and the best we found was Tashmoo under the conditions. Good thing Earl didn't materialize as predicated 24 hours out.
 

ToddS

.
Sep 11, 2017
248
Beneteau 373 Cape Cod
TomY, I'm headed to the Cape today to check on (and use) our boat... I heard from boaters nearby that things were pretty dicey, but generally the harbor escaped any obvious/serious damage. Luckily we're at the opposite end of the cape, pretty far from where the Tornadoes touched down. Our mooring is in a fairly protected harbor, (regarding most storms... not sure if that means anything at all when applied to tornadoes though). I've been anchored in Tashmoo a couple times for squalls and T-storms, and I'd say it's about as good as you're going to find... as long as you're in a spot with space to swing and nobody nearby that's foolishly anchoring on a 2:1 scope. 40+kt wind and didn't drag an inch... and not much fetch for waves to build most of the time.
 
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Jul 1, 2010
962
Catalina 350 Lake Huron
We were anchored in a weedy little cove in the Detroit river when the squalls and t-storms came through that area then (on our way between Lake Erie and the North Channel of lake Huron where we are now). 50-60 mile per hour winds.

We held for most of it, then I noticed we were dragging. Got the motor on just as we went into shore. My wife held us off as I tried to get the anchor up but couldn't due to the tree sized ball of weeds on it. We managed to drag the whole mess out to deeper water, and I spent the next half hour in the rain getting the weeds of a piece at a time with a boat hook. Pretty unnerving end to a long day of slogging up river. The moral of the story is if the cruising guide mentions it is weedy anchorage, it probably is. Even the 45 lb Mantus on our boat couldn't put up with that. The pic below shows just the tip of the iceberg.

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Oct 22, 2014
20,989
CAL 35 Cruiser #21 moored EVERETT WA
Wow. Makes me want to pick up a weed wacker or maybe a machete.