Nasty storm...

PascalG

PascalG

Moderator
Member
Joined
Sep 16, 2003
RO Number
12212
Messages
12,219
got caught into a nasty storm last night, coming back from Key Biscayne, a short run across the bay.

i thought we could beat it but it just exploded as we came in the channel to the marina, which is long and narrow; with near zero visibility and increasing winds I decided to turn around and wait in the open bay.

it felt like a very long wait, although it didnt last more than 30 to 45 minutes, keeping the boat more or less pointed into the wind on a NE heading at slow speed. lightning all over, the sea was white and the wind felt far worst than what i felt during wilma or katrina. There was no way to face the wind, had to use a snorkeling mask stay on the bridge as no way to see anything from lower helm.

Lost the bimini, shredded into pieces, but fell lucky that it was the only damage we got. after things calmed down, the uscg was very busy on 16 dealing with boats aground or damaged.

my only regret is not having seen that storm come in earlier, it was a great day and were were anchored close to the mangrove and couldn't see towards the north. i dont' think it woudl have been better if we we has stayed anchored and waited for the storm to pass there... I looked at the radar before leaving and knew it was going to be close but being in a small rocky harbor with 15 other boats and 50 or 60 or 70kts winds is not very appealing either !

one incredible sight was the trail of sparks from teh bbq at the bow. despite the downpour, the 2 hour old charcoal was still lit and picked up by the wind after the cover blew off leaving a near horizontal trail of sparks for most of the storm. it was actaully helpful to keep the boat pointed into the wind but i coudnt' believe how the charcoal styed lit so long with all that rain.
 
Wow! Sounds like a pretty exciting hour or so! Glad your damage was minimal.
 
It's blowing pretty hard in the Carolinas right now. Glad you're back safely. An experience like that would scare the crap out of me!
 
Scary scene - close to shore and no visibility.

Radar should help provide some long range warning. At least it would alert you that something is going on.

Capt Tom
 
Pascal,
Glad you made out without major damage. Snorkling mask on the bridge...that is bad...needing mask AND the actual snorkle...now that would be really really bad!
 
i watched on line radar (intelicast metro radar which gives great details) before making the decision to head back and knew there was a 50-50 chance to beat the storm. The alternative, staying anchored, wasn't very viable either considering the chance of very high winds (we were under tornado warning) and the number of boats in the harbor... even tying up to the dock woudl just have made us sitting duck if others got loose...

Being able maneuver in open waters was a better altenative, but not one i'd have considered with a smaller boat.

looking back, the scary thing is that i can't even tell how bad the chop was because i coudlnt' even see the surface ! the rain and wind driven spray was so thick that it was just a white layer and since we were pointing upwind, there was no rolling... but it had to be pretty choppy considering the wind.

at some point i tried driving from the lower helm but coudln't see anything at all, even with no lights inside the boat. When i got back up on the bridge, and put the mask on, i saw a white light, from another boat, maybe 100 yards away which i hadnt' seen before from the lower helm... they were also trying to hold position and we lost contact a couple of minutes later.

here is a pic of what's left of the bimini... one of the frame is bent a little, 15 deg or so, and these are very heavy 1 1/4 SS frames...

tornbimini1.jpg


interstingly, the web cam and cel link remained up during the whole episode !
 
Wow, sounds really intense. Nice job keeping your boat in one piece. Canvas is an easy replacement compared to other possible damage.
 
Had a similiar experience a couple of years ago and in the process also lost my bimini, and bent the SS bows in the frame. According to the canvas guy, it would have had to be blowing in excess of 60 for all that to occur. Like Pascal, I thought I could beat the storm, but local weather later said a microburst preceeded the main storm front and was not detected by weather radar until too late for broadcast warnings. Glad to hear that Pascals' expereince, like mine resulted in only minor property damage [and some dirty undies].
 
Pascal,
you very fortunate to have a solid boat.
I can't imagine being out in those condition with a new condo type boat.
 
Glad you made it relatively unscathed. That must have been especially unnerving trying to keep into the wind with those ember-sparks coming back toward you. Sounds like the grill was sending it's own distress signal. Good job!
 
That same storm spawned some tornadoes south of Clewiston around 4 or 5 pm. Fortunately in mostly farm land and everglades. Not sure of the wind speeds but the storm itself was moving at 40 mph S.E.
 
You were between a rock and a hard place all right. This is shaping up to be an interesting spring. Listening today to USCG. They plucked out two crews from off NC coast yesterday (heard that on TV), one boat overdue to Bahamas today, another overdue contacted around Key Largo. Locally, boat in ICW lost power around jensen bridge.

Small Craft and Gale warning through Tuesday.

Friend of mine said the same, bimini holds to 60mph or so. You had to be in 70mph winds.

Pascal thanks for posting, it helps us all!
 
There's an important lesson here. If Pascal had tried to continue down the channel to the marina, there's no telling what damage he may have faced. He did, in my opinion, the correct move by heading out into open water to face the beast head on rather than scurry to hide somewhere. The other important lesson, of course, is that storms can come up quickly and be intense. Keeping a weather eye is not just an expression but a requirement for mariners.
 
Pas,

Nice save at the last min. great call ! And now I know I need a snorkeling mask on the boat :)
 
absolutely, trying to get in the channel would have ended in disaster... there is no way to keep a boat in a narrow channel with no visibility and such strong winds. and then what? no way to get the boat in the slip with 50 or 60kts winds anyway so there was no option.

i was lucky, not just with the lightning but also that the storm got bad as i was nearing the channel entrance. had it struck 5 minutes later, we'd have been halfway in with nowhere to go.

I usually keep an eye on the weather, either vhf or web, especially in summer with thunderstorms buidling up inlad but yesterday was a near picture perfect day and being close to the mangrove we had no view to the north till it was too close. lesson learned !!!
 
Pascal - I spent most of last evening during the storm at Dinner Key Marina... what a wind event! Horizontal rain and gusts at least to 40 knots. I got a frantic phone call 30 mins. before it hit warning of the storm. It was definitely unexpected. I'm glad you made it back OK.
 
Wow !! Glad to hear damage was minimal .. Life does not get quite as exciting here on the Mississippi river.
 
Print>>>> I printed this as a reminder of what can happen on the perfect day
 
so you were in the lightning rod position?? [:-scared]
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top