what would you do?

Happy Dayz

Happy Dayz

Active Member
Jun 26, 2017
543
Sarasota, FL
Boat Info
'06 260 Sundancer, 6.2, BIII, Kohler 5kw
79' classic Kona Family Cruiser jet boat..
Engines
6.2 w/ BIII, 502 w/ Berkekley
so, i been boating since a kid in FL...

amazing how fast trouble occurs!

afternoon storms coming, we head in to Caladesi Isl State Park for the night...

I take it in slow from the channel, its skinny water heading to their channel. i get in the channel and the storm is here! shallow each side of channel.. have a paddleboard strapped to the bow(same for months).. a hard gust of wind hits the starboard side and lifts the board off breaking the portion the strap held by.. over it goes.. had a rope on it, thought could grab it.. as the wind (now 30+mph sustained heavy thunderstorm, pounding rain instantly) shoves the bow toward port as wife tries to get rope before gets in props... well you know it, out of channel, props in mud.. i shut her down, rush to throw out stern and bow anchors... its blowing so hard each anchor packs up with seagrass and mud, i pull up each 2 times, clear, drop and feel dragging, i can barely see 10' from boat but know we are blowing to shore!! trying to remain calm with lightning hitting close.. i have to jump in and stand on the rear anchor forcing it atleast 1.5' down in the mud till it held... forced wife to get on cabin with daughter.... stood guard in pounding rain till it let up!

fortunately i stopped her in time and hull was just touching the mud.. had to take shoes off for i sank 2' in mud trying to pull her back toward the channel.. sliced foot on oyster but got far enough i could put shoes back on for rest of way... a good 50 yards... rain instantly stopped.. got back underway, beat and tired!!

I didnt like being in the water with lightning but saw no way to stop the boat from beaching unless i stood on anchor...

what would/could i have done besides letting the paddleboard go, which i will do in the future!!??
 
Stayed in port after checking the weather?
 
I don't think I would have gone out in the first place. If you had waited you could have avoided it all.
 
Florida in August is sunshine in the morning, quick thunderstorm about 2 pm and sunshine in the evening. You would never go out if you wanted to avoid thunderstorms. The key is knowing when they are coming and planning. When I was a kid, we used to tie up under a bridge in our bow riders.

If it was me, I would have tried to keep her bow into wind under power. You really got to cover too late to secure the boat.
 
Even though this weather is common does not mean you can not look at live radar on your phone and wait for the cells to push through. We frequently boat in marginal weather and avoid thunderstorms with simple Internet tools like phones.
 
We deal with afternoon storms on LKN, pretty much a 20% change of storms everyday in the summer. If you boat here in the summer you will eventually get caught in one. If the chance is in the 50% range I either stay in or don't go far. It's really no fun being caught in a thunderstorm in a small boat. But, in general an afternoon storm lasts < 30min and in most cases by the time you know it's coming, it's too late to get away from it. I've done everything from put the the bow cover on and stay in place, slipped into an empty boat slip (yes even a private dock) or ducked under a bridge. You get a little wet and then it's over and the weather is usually great for a few hours, plus everyone else has scattered off the lake. In your case I think I would have let the paddle board go and concentrated on keeping the boat in the channel.
 
There's a lot of pop-up storms in SWF, and they call them that for a reason.
 
I boat in that area frequently. The water is still shallow at high tides. Even in the marked channels, I still touch bottom from time to time. With the wind blowing like it was, there wasn't much you could have done besides stay out in the deeper water, nose into the wind, until the storm passed.

You probably would have been OK, had the wind not caught the SUP. I believe this is where it all fell apart fast. Too many hazards to manage at one time. I have the same set up, paddle board tied to starboard rail. I keep it pretty close to the cockpit so it isn't sitting up there on the bow.

I'm not a fan of the wind so I stay at the marina for any forecast of wind over 15 mph.
 
was a beautiful day... yes i watch radar constantly, there was no cell at the time.. saw clouds building and headed in where we were porting for the night on vacation, for which normally was early for the day...

If i were to avoid a thunderstorm, you would never go out in Florida in the summer... if your not from here, you have no idea how fast storms come and go.

guess my question, more so, on how would you have stopped boat from drifting if you happen to end up in situation?
 
We are in a similar location where moisture heavy air from the sea gets near a land mass and the rising heat from 92-95˚ air temps over the land mass creates sometimes violent squalls. My method for avoidance is to watch the radar.......not on your phone or tablet but on your marine radar where you have gain controls and filters that allow you to really see what is approaching. Very light rain won't show up on the weather channel or weather underground radar but if you turn up your gain and lower the rain filter setting you can see the showers that almost always precede a thunderstorm.

The wind and sea breeze will also direct the storm'ss path. I locate 2 heavy points on the thunder storm cell and set radar heading indicators on them.......then I set the range rings on those 2 points. That tells me the direction the storm is moving and how fast it is approaching. I'm in a much better position to decide to either run or hunker down if I know how big the cell is, where it is and where it is headed.

Part of solving problems like this is anticipating them before hand, and this is how I do it. Keep in mind that no matter how good you anticipate, you will occasionally get caught. If I am safely anchored, I generally won't run for the marina and more protected water unless it is a real bad squall that is big. Sea Rays are very sea worthy so if you can see thru the rain and spray, your boat will get you home.......it is the other boaters trying to out run you or cut you off that you should worry about.
 
I was out in Sarasota yesterday and got clipped by the edge of a significant storm - not the first time and not the last. Storms do come up very fast. I was watching the radar and saw it coming but it shifted my way in no time. It is easy for me to say let the board go after the fact but I probably would have done what you did. I'm glad everyone was safe.
 
I think maybe the most important decision point was whether or not to enter the Caledesi channel with rain/wind approaching. Even without the board causing issues, just trying to traverse it in the rain and wind would be difficult. That being said, you safely handled the situation once it did occur, you managed it and did not incur any damage to the boat, passengers (get the cut on your foot treated!), or any other boats.
 
Yes - Let the board go - Hear stories all the time (even on here) about people trying to "save" dinghys, cushions, etc and putting themselves/crew in danger - its not worth it -
 
sbw1 said:
Even though this weather is common does not mean you can not look at live radar on your phone and wait for the cells to push through. We frequently boat in marginal weather and avoid thunderstorms with simple Internet tools like phones.
Click to expand...

I picked this quote, but could have been others. Don't agree with the above statement. South Florida summer pop-up storms happen anywhere, fairly fast, then dissipate. They are not predictable moving along a frontal boundary.

And - they happen every day - yes every day. Some will be a quick rain shower, some will be a wicked lightening and wind event.

@Happy Dayz I am familiar with the Caladesi Island area. I think what I would have done different would have been waiting to enter the island area till after the storm had passed. When you headed in (assuming off of the ICW side), you went into limited space to maneuver.

I would have probably moved into the area nearby where there is considerable room to maneuver, circled in that area till the storm passed. If that area left me under the storm, I would have gone further north or south to get out from under it. Circled, then gone in.

After you were in the situation - sounds like you worked your tail off to minimized damage.
 
Ididntdoit said:
Yes - Let the board go - Hear stories all the time (even on here) about people trying to "save" dinghys, cushions, etc and putting themselves/crew in danger - its not worth it -
Click to expand...

Ditto. Focus on your priority, the people onboard, and this includes you. Without you, your family is in greater danger.

Let the board go. Go looking for it post-storm.
 
I dont think a single screw 260 would be something I'd want to battle 30mph winds in. Those things are like sails!

While reading your story, I would have almost thought to put the drive up and run into the mud to stay put - assuming it was all just soft mud. But I probably wouldn't have went into tight areas with weather picking up. With wind blowing, I would have just dropped the front and maybe rode it out?

I think we all can arm chair quarterback this thing till the cows come home, but you were the captain and made the best choice you could with the conditions you were confronted with - and everyone is still around to share the story.

Maybe next time tell them to jacket up though? And you too.
 
If you could raise the drive, yes, beach it.

I agree with above. Chase the board down later.
 
I have an 80 lb danforth that I've not had to use its the everything has con to crapp holy shit in case of losing power or helm in stormy weather . I hope I never have to use it but I'm sure that I could get it to hang onto our 268 in whatever weather or bottom we encounter
 
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