Sporty day on the coast of Maine...

nat55

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Feb 11, 2017
210
Gulfstar 1979 Gulfstar 37 BELFAST
belfast storm.jpg
nomore nomad.jpg
You might have heard that a big storm blew through here last night and this morning, Belfast Harbor is wide open to the southeast there were 4-5 ft waves breaking in the harbor. At last count there were 3 boats off their moorings, one a 45' powerboat ended up against the breakwater and is a total loss, in fact it is in bits and pieces, you can see what was left of it on the windward side of the breakwater.
 
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JRacer

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Aug 9, 2011
1,380
Beneteau 310 Cheney KS (Wichita)
Sporty, indeed! Hope you and your equipment are OK.
 

TomY

Alden Forum Moderator
Jun 22, 2004
2,769
Alden 38' Challenger yawl Rockport Harbor
It was some blow, Nat! These Halloween gales are too much the norm on our coast. The Perfect Storm is just one example of these fierce storms that happen close to, or on, Halloween.

I'm still in the water so it was particularly unnerving, even though it was well forecast. The amazing thing is how quickly they build. The gale was in Rockport Harbor at dawn, strong winds and waves, then the wind speed spiked, rapidly!

When these storms clock around (and they consistently do), once it goes SE to SW, our funnel shaped harbor (the opens due South), get's it all. Somebody clocked a 70 mph gust in the harbor. I watched full waves go over my boat out on a mooring.

October 30 gale+ shredded jib.jpg
When the wind finally dropped, it plummeted from the highest gusts, down to the mid 20's, in a matter of minutes.
plot_wind_pres.png

20 knots of wind, never felt so calm,...

Sorry to hear a few boats were lost in Belfast. Except for a small skiff, all boats stayed put here.
 
Feb 6, 1998
11,722
Canadian Sailcraft 36T Casco Bay, ME
When we get power back & internet back, longest we've lost it since the great ice storm, I can post some pics... The cell towers here have been so jammed up this is the first time I have had data all day.. it has literally been 1X data all dat and just now poked up to 3G. It's usually showing LTE... Cumberland county & Casco Bay got slammed with wind speeds upwards of 70. Some of the islands saw over 80 and Mount Washington over 130...

We live about 100' from Casco Bay and our house was literally shaking last night. It sounded like a freight train.. It was only predicted to be "gusting" to 40 and turned out to build and build way beyond that.. There were a number of boats & docks destroyed in Casco Bay. One of my customers, who was supposed to be hauled two weeks ago, lost his boat because the mooring cleat ripped clean out of the deck, and there were not two pendants... She washed up on solid granite and the granite won. All I can see of one sailboat is the spar. She sunk in the middle of the mooring field..

As of yet we have no prediction of when power may be restored & the utility trucks have not even been out to assess it. So many trees were down I could not even get out of the neighborhood until about 5:00 pm for more generator gas. Once I got out onto our main access road I was counting a tree across power lines at about 2-3 every quarter mile. Huge 200+ year old trees up rooted or snapped clean off... Reminded me of The Perfect Storm the way is was under predicted and in how quickly it built...
 
Feb 10, 2004
4,171
Hunter 40.5 Warwick, RI
Yikes! We supposedly had 2-4" of rain and wind at 30, gusting to 50+ yesterday. I left on Sunday after covering our sailboat. I think I would have heard from my yard if there was any damage.
Nowhere to run, nowhere to hide........
 
Feb 3, 2012
72
Corbin 39 Pilothouse Cutter Lyme, CT
Looking for a Morris 30 I sold last summer. Last I saw on AIS was in Belfast. I hope all is well with her... Boat name is Chenega. Any info appreciated.
 

nat55

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Feb 11, 2017
210
Gulfstar 1979 Gulfstar 37 BELFAST
I don't recognize the name, that doesn't mean she hasn't been here...any idea who the buyer is/was? I do know of one local that bought a Morris 30 recently, not sure if it was Chenega.....no Morris 30's were among the ones damaged in the storm.
 
Feb 3, 2012
72
Corbin 39 Pilothouse Cutter Lyme, CT
I don't recognize the name, that doesn't mean she hasn't been here...any idea who the buyer is/was? I do know of one local that bought a Morris 30 recently, not sure if it was Chenega.....no Morris 30's were among the ones damaged in the storm.
Thanks for the update... I’ll have to check on owner name. She’s a special boat...
Cheers