rondds
Well-Known Member
- Oct 3, 2006
- 8,859
- Boat Info
- 2001 380DA
- Engines
- Merc 8.1s (2008)...Hurth ZF 63 V-drives...WB 7.0 BCGD (2013), Garmin 8208 & 740 MFDs, GMR 24xHD dome
Hi All...
Still no power at home so I've been off the radar since the storm. Working on this from the office. I have an interesting dilemma that some may benefit from so here it comes.
My boat was blocked, winterized and covered by October 13. As Sandy approached, the question was to put the plug back in the boat (it's customary around here to leave it out in the winter) just in case of a tidal surge. Since the marina has never in 50 years had any surge capable of floating the blocked boats, most of us left the plug out. BAD DECISION. Our area of NJ was hit particularly hard by the tidal surge. The barrier island had a new inlet blown through it and the tide at the marina rose probably 8' in a sudden tsunami like wave sometime after midnight on the morning of Tuesday Oct 30.
Below is a photo taken around 6pm on Monday October 29th. Looking good. I'm the tall boat with the grey cover to the far right...
Take note of the slip structure and the water level here b/c it becomes relevant soon.
Fast forward to Wednesday during the day. I don't have the pictures here but the tide is covering the land by 2-3 feet. My boat and several others floated as far as the bow pilings of the slips to the right of where she sat and settled on the catwalks of those slips. When the tide dropped to normal level, she broke through the catwalks and came to rest on the bottom, in about 3' of water (yes, shallow at the marina).
And there she sits even as of this writing. Day 11. Untouched.
Why? You ask? How could I leave my boat here? Am I insane? Let me explain....
The marina went on to do a wonderful clean up of all the boats that came to rest on dry land. They were picked up and reblocked very neatly by the end of last week - most with yard equipment (Travellift and hydraulic trailers). The larger boats needed a crane to tip them up to get the slings under them and some waited patiently for the big crane (75 ton) to come and reposition them with it's sling and spreader bars.
While all this is going on I begged the marina to let me put the plug in my boat and pump her out. From pretty much day 2 I asked and was told that no one is allowed in, it's unsafe, blah blah. I continued to ask, I asked the marina do to it, I said I'd sign a waiver, I'd go for a swim. I posed the idea to float all the "sunk" boats and pull 4 pilings to float them over to the travellift. NO. So there she sat, through the 2' tide rise with yesterday's Nor'easter, which put an additional 2' of water into the boat. NOTHING. My boat and 5 or 6 others sat where you see them through it all.
You might say that they were pretty busy correcting all the other damage, which they were. But there were 2 days of zero activity at the marina b/c the big crane hadn't arrived yet. That was Sunday Nov 4 and and Monday Nov 5. I told them you need a diver and some gas powered crash pumps. These boats suffered no hull damage. They are unplugged. I was refused and told the big crane is on it's way. The big crane got there on Tues Nov 6 and got the big boats that were on DRY LAND and were in no peril all set up nicely and they worked til dusk to do it. But they left the 5 or 6 boats soaking up the sea.
I don't really know protocol in situations like this. But it seems to me that it would behoove them to mitigate damages and remove the sunk boats first, or, in this case, make an effort to get them floating. There's probably 1000 gallons of gasoline in these boat (250 in mine alone), all waiting to break free as salt water ravages them. Apparently that is not priority.
I hope that today or tomorrow they will get to my boat. God knows the damage they'll do getting it out of the pickle it's in but in all likelihood, she's a goner.
I'm going to piece together some more pix as I can find them and continue to post as the saga continues to unfold.
Another interesting point. Every boatowner that I know of who's boat stayed in the water suffered little damage. I KNOW there are exceptions in other areas of Barnegat Bay, but in this marina and it's surrounding area, no one I know of lost their boat if it was still floating and tied properly.
A couple of points to ponder....
1. Do you stay in or come out for storms
2. Do you leave the drain plug in or out for storms?
Rhetorical questions but debate and second guess as you see fit. I've wracked my mind for 11 days so there's nothing anyone can say that I haven't thought about!
If I don't get back to this thread for a while it's b/c I don't have internet at home. I will be back though!
Still no power at home so I've been off the radar since the storm. Working on this from the office. I have an interesting dilemma that some may benefit from so here it comes.
My boat was blocked, winterized and covered by October 13. As Sandy approached, the question was to put the plug back in the boat (it's customary around here to leave it out in the winter) just in case of a tidal surge. Since the marina has never in 50 years had any surge capable of floating the blocked boats, most of us left the plug out. BAD DECISION. Our area of NJ was hit particularly hard by the tidal surge. The barrier island had a new inlet blown through it and the tide at the marina rose probably 8' in a sudden tsunami like wave sometime after midnight on the morning of Tuesday Oct 30.
Below is a photo taken around 6pm on Monday October 29th. Looking good. I'm the tall boat with the grey cover to the far right...
Take note of the slip structure and the water level here b/c it becomes relevant soon.
Fast forward to Wednesday during the day. I don't have the pictures here but the tide is covering the land by 2-3 feet. My boat and several others floated as far as the bow pilings of the slips to the right of where she sat and settled on the catwalks of those slips. When the tide dropped to normal level, she broke through the catwalks and came to rest on the bottom, in about 3' of water (yes, shallow at the marina).
And there she sits even as of this writing. Day 11. Untouched.
Why? You ask? How could I leave my boat here? Am I insane? Let me explain....
The marina went on to do a wonderful clean up of all the boats that came to rest on dry land. They were picked up and reblocked very neatly by the end of last week - most with yard equipment (Travellift and hydraulic trailers). The larger boats needed a crane to tip them up to get the slings under them and some waited patiently for the big crane (75 ton) to come and reposition them with it's sling and spreader bars.
While all this is going on I begged the marina to let me put the plug in my boat and pump her out. From pretty much day 2 I asked and was told that no one is allowed in, it's unsafe, blah blah. I continued to ask, I asked the marina do to it, I said I'd sign a waiver, I'd go for a swim. I posed the idea to float all the "sunk" boats and pull 4 pilings to float them over to the travellift. NO. So there she sat, through the 2' tide rise with yesterday's Nor'easter, which put an additional 2' of water into the boat. NOTHING. My boat and 5 or 6 others sat where you see them through it all.
You might say that they were pretty busy correcting all the other damage, which they were. But there were 2 days of zero activity at the marina b/c the big crane hadn't arrived yet. That was Sunday Nov 4 and and Monday Nov 5. I told them you need a diver and some gas powered crash pumps. These boats suffered no hull damage. They are unplugged. I was refused and told the big crane is on it's way. The big crane got there on Tues Nov 6 and got the big boats that were on DRY LAND and were in no peril all set up nicely and they worked til dusk to do it. But they left the 5 or 6 boats soaking up the sea.
I don't really know protocol in situations like this. But it seems to me that it would behoove them to mitigate damages and remove the sunk boats first, or, in this case, make an effort to get them floating. There's probably 1000 gallons of gasoline in these boat (250 in mine alone), all waiting to break free as salt water ravages them. Apparently that is not priority.
I hope that today or tomorrow they will get to my boat. God knows the damage they'll do getting it out of the pickle it's in but in all likelihood, she's a goner.
I'm going to piece together some more pix as I can find them and continue to post as the saga continues to unfold.
Another interesting point. Every boatowner that I know of who's boat stayed in the water suffered little damage. I KNOW there are exceptions in other areas of Barnegat Bay, but in this marina and it's surrounding area, no one I know of lost their boat if it was still floating and tied properly.
A couple of points to ponder....
1. Do you stay in or come out for storms
2. Do you leave the drain plug in or out for storms?
Rhetorical questions but debate and second guess as you see fit. I've wracked my mind for 11 days so there's nothing anyone can say that I haven't thought about!
If I don't get back to this thread for a while it's b/c I don't have internet at home. I will be back though!
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