Some Answers
Keith,To answer your first question. My boat only has about a foot clearance on either side of it in the slip. You're right. If I would have left enough slack in my lines to account for the storm surge, the boat would have been damaged by slamming against the pilings all day. Owners who weren't there did the best they could. Some have much more clearance in their slips than I and could get away with leaving ample slack in their lines without worrying about getting slammed into the pier. Others left what they could, but it some cases it wasn't enough. You could see many boats that were floating lower than they normally would, because their dock lines had reached their limit and started to pull the boat under. To answer your second question, my guess is that's what happened to the boats that sunk. We had no waves and the wind wasn't bad enough to sink a boat. Most boats have thru-hulls not too far above the waterline and if these get submerged the boat will start filling with water. With the power out at the marina, once the bilge pump depleted the batteries, the boat would eventually sink. Another boat in one of the pictures was in the process of sinking, it's the white and teal power boat in the center of photo16. If you look closely you can see that the water is above it's waterline. The owners were able to get to it in time and bail it by hand before it went all the way down. They still had some damage though, because the boat had to be towed away on Sunday. Marty