Yesterday we cruised from Shelter Cove Marina to Windmill Harbor Marina. We had arranged with our Buyers to move Tide Hiker to Windmill, and our time was up at Shelter Cove. Windmill is some what of a "hurricane hole" - on the lee side of the island and completely landlocked. The entrance is via a lock that allows the marina to maintain a constant water level, independent of the tide.
However when we arrived and locked thru into the harbor, I realized that the lock gates are only about 4 feet above high tide and so a 5 foot surge will fill the harbor quick smart. And that becomes a big problem because the docks are concrete and fixed.
Wednesday: We spend a lot of time watching Irma and the forecast track. Yesterday the forecast put the eye passing a bit south of the southerly tip of Florida, then maybe turning north and inland - not bad for us. But this morning the new forecast had Irma turning earlier to the north - bad for us. And during the day the turn became more pronounced - very bad for us. We are located right on the coast at the Georgia/SC line - Bulls Eye! But it will change again!
Based upon the current map we have until about Monday lunch time to get Tide Hiker prepped and then to decide to stay locally or run. We sat down after breakfast and made a list of jobs and then got busy crossing them off. It was a sweaty day with a few thunder storms.
Today I focused on improving the dock. We purchased two vertical dock fenders and arranged for the marina to install. I bought some hardware from Lowes and attached our 14" finders to the face plate. (there is no point having fenders mounted on the boat when you are at a fixed dock, especially when expecting a surge.) Sadly, the face plate will probably fall off when the fenders attached if they are stressed.
Cruising friends turned up in town this afternoon, so we took a break for dinner with them back at Shelter Cove. On the way back to Tide Hiker we gassed up the car.
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| These bloody things cost an extra $100 each. And if the surge is more than 6 feet we will float over the top of them anyhow! Note the good looking legs of the supervisor on the right. |
Thursday: Today was mainly canvas and lines day - we borrowed a step ladder from the marina office and removed the canvas from the fly bridge and stored the pieces in the pilothouse. Then stripped and/or covered and/or taped and/or zip-tied everything remaining on the fly-bridge.
I dug out all our lines (and anti-chafing gear) and laid them out on the walkway so I could allocate them around Tide Hiker. By tonight they were all roughly in position and so tomorrow we will finalize the set-up, anti-chaff and attachment. Some how we have to set up the lines to hold Tide Hiker to a fixed dock in an unknown amount of surge.
Big day - I am at 14,600 steps for the day and I have not left the dock. Deidre was really pooped and her hip was hurting.
This afternoon the forecast track moved a bit west, so we are now about 50 miles east of the track, with 2+ days remaining. Savannah (about 40 miles away) is being evacuated. We are thinking we will leave Friday night.
Friday: Good news (for us) this morning as the forecast track was moved another few miles west, and that change remained in the 2 PM edition. But we are still "in the bubble" and so preparations continue. All the screens are off, the doors and windows are taped etc etc
Its a nice quiet day in the marina. I estimate that less then 25% of the boats have been visited and prepped so far. Fortunately both our neighbors have been on their boats and done some prep work (although the arrangements on the Searay on the other side of our dock are rather pitiful.)
With the improved forecast Deidre and I are debating when to leave. We have an offer from friends to share a second floor condo near Shelter Harbor and I am keen to stay - Deidre not so much.
Saturday: Last night the governor declared a compulsory evacuation of the barrier islands, so we are resigned to leave Tide Hiker. I spent most of the day tweaking the lines in anticipation of "some amount" of surge.
We left about 3 PM and were settled at a friends home in Charleston by 6 PM.
Sunday: Breakfast with Kylie and the kids. Lunch at "Five Guys" and dinner out at a local French Bistro with Mark and Donna. This is our version of "stocking up with food"
Monday: Not much weather overnight but a large amount of wind and rain today. Its still raining cats and dogs now at 6 PM, The power has been on and off, and is out again now. The center of the hurricane is now about 600 miles from us, but still having a strong effect on the SE coast. The big issue is the surge. In Charleston today the surge was reported as 6' and much of downtown and the shoreline around us was flooded. We took the car to have a look around and everywhere we ventured a police car of some sort pulled up behind us with lights flashing. Otherwise the streets were rather deserted.
We have received some reports and one photo of Tide Hiker, and she seems to have done OK. As expected, the surge let water over the lock wall and flooded the marina so that the docks and walkways were covered - not sure by how much. So far it seems that Tide Hiker has fared OK. We have a photo sent by a friend, but I have to figure out how to get it into the blog.
You can see the dock on the left is about 6" under water when this photo was taken (and I do not know when that was). I estimate this water depth would represent between 4' to 5' of surge.
And here is a video of the "lock breach"
https://www.facebook.com/robinfirestone/videos/vb.768935373/10159378906845374/?type=2&theater
Tuesday: Early this AM the governor gave the OK to return to HHI. But before we could leave we received a "baby sitters" call from Ryan and since that took precedence we headed over to Kylie's to sit the kids - she was at work, day care had not re-opened and Ryan's parents needed his help at The Creek, which was flooded again. We had a wonderful time with the kids for a couple of hours. Ryan was back about 2 PM and we headed south.
Hi Bob thinking of you at this time Graham
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