Dock broke free

[spikedaddy99]

I can't believe I forgot to post this last summer. I guess I was too busy enjoying the boat, and now I'm bored. Our dock broke free in a storm last summer. If you are familiar with Sturgeon Bay at all, the storm was blowing from the west. Once the storm subsided, it was the current flowing back toward the west that broke the dock free. If it had broken during the storm our boats would have been destroyed by the Mi. Street bridge.

https://fox11online.com/news/local/dock-breaks-away-from-sturgeon-bay-marina-during-storms

One couple was on their boat.

 

[mrsrobinson]

Oh boy! Scary stuff.

This kind of reminds me of my last boating trip 2+ years ago before I sold the last boat. We were returning from a weekend trip, high winds, high waves, taking water over the bow. We made it to the entrance of the creek and thought "Phew we are good now". Not so much. Immediately hit 2 feet of water, boat stopped and shut down. I dropped the anchor as we were blowing back out into the river, quickly. Anchor was not holding well and we were literally floating back into the river, no engine power.

I called BoatUS, they would not leave their docks. I called the Coast Guard, they talked me threw how to get the engines restarted (outdrives, I had picked up a crab pot) and the shifter was hung up. Got both engines started, only one had prop power, the other had a crab pot wrapped around it but that was the power steering pump engine so I kept it running. We limped back into the creek in 2 feet of mud for about 1 hour, normally 15 minutes to the marina.

Coast Guard asked me "why did you go out during a nor'easter knowing the creeks drain". My answer "Yes, the river was rough but manageable, I had no idea the creeks drain out". I had visions of us floating down the river to who knows where.

 

[Fill Ess]

Yikes

 

[Jaybeaux]

To echo what mrsrobinson said, this is our Marina, a bit further up the Potomac on the Occoquan River during a Nor'easter in March 2018

 

[Blueone]

At least you could hop down and get all your tools, brushes, buckets etc …. Any damage?

 

[Jaybeaux]

No kidding! No damage. That Spring, I just paid some extra attention to blowing out the seacocks back through the hull with my shop vac to make sure they were clear.

 

[mrsrobinson]

Yeah I had no clue these nor'easters blow out the creeks. We were so excited to be off the river, in about 10 seconds we were sitting on bottom.

 

[blaster]

At least you could hop down and get all your tools, brushes, buckets etc …. Any damage?

Maybe wearing hip waders. That mud makes a nice suction and is about 18”deep.

 

[J.Wilt]

We were on that dock durning one of those bad Western storms, boat was a rockn’ and not in a good way.