Tropical Storm Ian Prediction as of 0200 EDT.

What is amazing is that Ft. Myers is up river and "inland." That water had to travel quite a ways to do that damage. Mother nature is a SOB.
Did you see the picture of Charlotte harbor with no water in it? Just mud and the navigation poles. Similar thing in Tampa Bay where the seawall was dry... that water had to go somewhere...
 
Actually just saw a post that they think they found it, but not where they left it, and not in good shape. It is, however, mostly above water. Ironically, it is in the picture @Shoyrtt posted above.

My friend is a snowbird liveaboard and VERY experienced boater. He has the boat in Marathon, and every previous year he has brought it up north to Ft. Meyers for the summer and kept it in a Cat3-rated storage facility. This year he decided to leave it in the water.

Ugh.
View attachment 134676

We looped with Phill and Lynn. Great people. Shame
Every time I see another photo of Legacy posted, I see another boat I know. It’s very popular with gold loopers. Sad.
 
I am not a fan of relocating with a storm coming. Several thoughts go into my logic.

Where do you go? A friend of mine who is a broker told me he knew of several boats relocated from Tampa to Fort Meyers for this storm. Have a host of other stories about the relocation failures over the years.

If your in Fort Meyers, can't go to the Keys. You find out on Tuesday that the storm is now coming in there on Wed. You leave immediately for an overnight run, now you are running south into a storm going north. Outer bands that you are headed into are increasing as it is strengthening. That's a problem.

Or you left Tampa, and went south to Fort Meyers. Long day (or night). You arrive low on fuel. Fuel docks have shut down because the people who work there are either focused on marina prep, electricity has been shut down to the docks, or they have left to go to their homes to get ready for the storm. Your choice is a slow trip north conserving fuel, hoping the storm doesn't wobble again, with the approach angle a wobble could move landfall 60-70 miles back to the north.

I doubt there is a transient dock taking arrivals anywhere on the west coast of FL from Sunday on. Many marinas and fuel docks don't wait until the day a storm supposed to arrive to shut down.

So you moved, got there and was able to get a transient slip. A lot of transient slips are not something I would want to be in even in just a tropical storm. You just don't know what your tie up options will be, etc. etc.

The time to pick a slip that you can weather a storm in is when you decide where to keep your boat. I made a decision a few years ago to keep my boat behind a close friends house. I knew before I moved in that I could not keep the boat there during even if it was just a cat 1. I bought a haul out contract that I kept for the time there and actually at one point exercised it. That slip was great except it would not work for a storm.

A lot of people on here know one famous former delivery captain for SR who could pull this off. The difference he had was his personal relationships with marinas all over FL built over years and years of constantly going through those marinas. If he called a marina on the other side of the state and asked if he cut through the lake, what could they do with a slip (same day). He knew the layout of the marina, he could talk with the staff of exactly the location in case the weather surprised everyone. It's amazing, the marina that has nothing, oh wait its you, yes, would you be happy if I put you over on the east side along the wall.

More importantly staff would hang around if they knew he was coming in, they wouldn't necessarily for you or I. And, if anything was changing, for example the marina owner was forcing fuel shut down - they would pick up there phone and call this captain while he was in route.

I am not saying it cannot be done, just that it is rare and I choose not to.
 
I am not a fan of relocating with a storm coming. Several thoughts go into my logic.

Where do you go? A friend of mine who is a broker told me he knew of several boats relocated from Tampa to Fort Meyers for this storm. Have a host of other stories about the relocation failures over the years.

If your in Fort Meyers, can't go to the Keys. You find out on Tuesday that the storm is now coming in there on Wed. You leave immediately for an overnight run, now you are running south into a storm going north. Outer bands that you are headed into are increasing as it is strengthening. That's a problem.

Or you left Tampa, and went south to Fort Meyers. Long day (or night). You arrive low on fuel. Fuel docks have shut down because the people who work there are either focused on marina prep, electricity has been shut down to the docks, or they have left to go to their homes to get ready for the storm. Your choice is a slow trip north conserving fuel, hoping the storm doesn't wobble again, with the approach angle a wobble could move landfall 60-70 miles back to the north.

I doubt there is a transient dock taking arrivals anywhere on the west coast of FL from Sunday on. Many marinas and fuel docks don't wait until the day a storm supposed to arrive to shut down.

So you moved, got there and was able to get a transient slip. A lot of transient slips are not something I would want to be in even in just a tropical storm. You just don't know what your tie up options will be, etc. etc.

The time to pick a slip that you can weather a storm in is when you decide where to keep your boat. I made a decision a few years ago to keep my boat behind a close friends house. I knew before I moved in that I could not keep the boat there during even if it was just a cat 1. I bought a haul out contract that I kept for the time there and actually at one point exercised it. That slip was great except it would not work for a storm.

A lot of people on here know one famous former delivery captain for SR who could pull this off. The difference he had was his personal relationships with marinas all over FL built over years and years of constantly going through those marinas. If he called a marina on the other side of the state and asked if he cut through the lake, what could they do with a slip (same day). He knew the layout of the marina, he could talk with the staff of exactly the location in case the weather surprised everyone. It's amazing, the marina that has nothing, oh wait its you, yes, would you be happy if I put you over on the east side along the wall.

More importantly staff would hang around if they knew he was coming in, they wouldn't necessarily for you or I. And, if anything was changing, for example the marina owner was forcing fuel shut down - they would pick up there phone and call this captain while he was in route.

I am not saying it cannot be done, just that it is rare and I choose not to.
I wonder how many who were with their boats got them up towards Okeechobee and secured somewhere up in the river. Being faced with the North/South prospects that probably would have been my decision hoping the locks were open.
 
I wonder how many who were with their boats got them up towards Okeechobee and secured somewhere up in the river. Being faced with the North/South prospects that probably would have been my decision hoping the locks were open.

That's definitely a consideration if you are sitting in Fort Meyers and can turn and burn up the river. Lot's of yards can haul out.

Was trying to share my interpretation for my situation. Everyone is different.

The challenge I face is I am not local. The timing is a huge consideration for me.
 
As I posted earlier, my friend took his trawler from Ft Myers Beach to Alva.
Google maps shows it to be approx 28 miles.
I don’t know if he was at a marina, anchored out, stayed with the boat or not.
Turned out to be better then staying in Ft Myers.
He said it is like a war zone.
 
That's definitely a consideration if you are sitting in Fort Meyers and can turn and burn up the river. Lot's of yards can haul out.

Was trying to share my interpretation for my situation. Everyone is different.

The challenge I face is I am not local. The timing is a huge consideration for me.
A lot of yards have storm haul-out options; our's does but for one named storm haul a year for over a grand - you are SOL if there is more than one storm and you have to get the boat to the haul out pit. But in this case (Ft Meyer) a haul and block might not have done any good. Yea, being remote and leaving a boat in other's care is a tough one - need Plan B, Plan C, and Plan D. Maybe there is a business case to have a contract with a captain that can respond and get the boat moved and secured at first notice. I'm just not sure a lot could have been done for many of the boats in slips. Heck, I'd say half of the boats in our marina are either six knot sail boats or power boats with mechanical issues. I gotta say however, that I was more nervous than a long-tailed cat in a room full of rocking chairs when that storm crossed the west part of Cuba - I was moving to get my boat prepped on the East coast.
 
More marine footage from a boat in Ft. Myers:
https://www.youtube.com/shorts/b6KzfGRuCbc

And a couple of pictures:
Ian19.jpg


Ian20.jpg
 
A lot of yards have storm haul-out options; our's does but for one named storm haul a year for over a grand - you are SOL if there is more than one storm and you have to get the boat to the haul out pit. But in this case (Ft Meyer) a haul and block might not have done any good. Yea, being remote and leaving a boat in other's care is a tough one - need Plan B, Plan C, and Plan D. Maybe there is a business case to have a contract with a captain that can respond and get the boat moved and secured at first notice. I'm just not sure a lot could have been done for many of the boats in slips. Heck, I'd say half of the boats in our marina are either six knot sail boats or power boats with mechanical issues. I gotta say however, that I was more nervous than a long-tailed cat in a room full of rocking chairs when that storm crossed the west part of Cuba - I was moving to get my boat prepped on the East coast.

@ttmott I respect and value your comments and opinions. You are one of those people that knows what they are talking about.

We actually talked on the phone once, a few years ago. I was headed to the Chesapeake for the summer, lost one of my AC Compressors coming across the lake. Was targeting your area for overnight, possible repairs, Rusty gave me your contact info, I reached out. I remember you stepped out of a meeting you were in and called me back and shared local contacts.

A little bit more about my situation. I have a Captain on retainer year around. He knows more about securing a boat for a storm than I will ever learn. @fwebster gave me a lot of very good advice while deciding to move up to this size boat and going through the purchase process. A point that Frank made was sometimes Captains you hire to care for your boat have multiple boats in their care, your only getting a portion of their time/priority when a storm is coming. I am fortunate on two fronts. My guy is now semi retired, he only takes care of my boat and one other. The other boat are folks that only winter in FL. When June gets here he takes their boat to a slip in the boat yard, has an automatic haulout whenever the yard feels it is warranted. Goes back in November and moves the boat back to Clearwater. So my guy takes care of my boat and his house only during the hurricane season. The other consideration about him is he performed the same service for the previous owner for 5-6 years. Net is he has been on this boat for 11-12 years.

He and I have had the move for a storm discussion several times and are on the same page. A lot of the page I am on was shaped by his experience.

Without detailing each scenarios, most of them were decisions of the captain or upon advice from the captain to the owner. A dedicated captain and crew can move boats instantly - wherever the owner wants - or the captain decides. A part time captain cannot always move a boat when the owner wants it moved.

At this stage, we do not want a full time crew when we are on the boat, just the 2 of us. Who knows what the future holds when my wife doesn't feel like dealing the fenders and lines.

The boat that is next to me is a 78 foot brand new (not just new to the owner, rather just commissioned from the factory new) delivery.

Monday my captain and recruited deckhand were executing our "storm coming" portion of the hurricane plan while I am watching on camera and on the cell phone with needless advice.

The permanent captain/crew of the boat next to us showed up. He shared that he was moving the boat to the upper side of Tampa Bay for the storm. By the next morning, the marina they were moving to was the absolute worst place to be in the area related to the possible storm surge. I don't know if it was the owner saying "I want the boat here" or if that was the captain decision.

I have brought up being a remote owner, but there is also another consideration which is location. I am in Clearwater. If I was in a marina on the calahoochie river, heading up the river to the lake or the other side would be an option for sure. Your right, locks and timing are a consideration. But if you make the first one, then you have protection for surge impact, just dealing with wind.

By no means would I advise anyone that my way is the only correct path. Just sharing what I believe based on my situation. As we see all this carnage from IAN, we need to remember we don't always know the full data about each situation.

We all should strive for what works for our situation.
 
@ttmott I respect and value your comments and opinions. You are one of those people that knows what they are talking about.

We actually talked on the phone once, a few years ago. I was headed to the Chesapeake for the summer, lost one of my AC Compressors coming across the lake. Was targeting your area for overnight, possible repairs, Rusty gave me your contact info, I reached out. I remember you stepped out of a meeting you were in and called me back and shared local contacts.

A little bit more about my situation. I have a Captain on retainer year around. He knows more about securing a boat for a storm than I will ever learn. @fwebster gave me a lot of very good advice while deciding to move up to this size boat and going through the purchase process. A point that Frank made was sometimes Captains you hire to care for your boat have multiple boats in their care, your only getting a portion of their time/priority when a storm is coming. I am fortunate on two fronts. My guy is now semi retired, he only takes care of my boat and one other. The other boat are folks that only winter in FL. When June gets here he takes their boat to a slip in the boat yard, has an automatic haulout whenever the yard feels it is warranted. Goes back in November and moves the boat back to Clearwater. So my guy takes care of my boat and his house only during the hurricane season. The other consideration about him is he performed the same service for the previous owner for 5-6 years. Net is he has been on this boat for 11-12 years.

He and I have had the move for a storm discussion several times and are on the same page. A lot of the page I am on was shaped by his experience.

Without detailing each scenarios, most of them were decisions of the captain or upon advice from the captain to the owner. A dedicated captain and crew can move boats instantly - wherever the owner wants - or the captain decides. A part time captain cannot always move a boat when the owner wants it moved.

At this stage, we do not want a full time crew when we are on the boat, just the 2 of us. Who knows what the future holds when my wife doesn't feel like dealing the fenders and lines.

The boat that is next to me is a 78 foot brand new (not just new to the owner, rather just commissioned from the factory new) delivery.

Monday my captain and recruited deckhand were executing our "storm coming" portion of the hurricane plan while I am watching on camera and on the cell phone with needless advice.

The permanent captain/crew of the boat next to us showed up. He shared that he was moving the boat to the upper side of Tampa Bay for the storm. By the next morning, the marina they were moving to was the absolute worst place to be in the area related to the possible storm surge. I don't know if it was the owner saying "I want the boat here" or if that was the captain decision.

I have brought up being a remote owner, but there is also another consideration which is location. I am in Clearwater. If I was in a marina on the calahoochie river, heading up the river to the lake or the other side would be an option for sure. Your right, locks and timing are a consideration. But if you make the first one, then you have protection for surge impact, just dealing with wind.

By no means would I advise anyone that my way is the only correct path. Just sharing what I believe based on my situation. As we see all this carnage from IAN, we need to remember we don't always know the full data about each situation.

We all should strive for what works for our situation.
The reality is there isn't much anyone could do with IAN. It was just too big and too powerful. A lot of boats on the hard, on trailers, etc. where swept away. Nowhere was really safe. Plus, many of the boats we saw floating around were still attached to the dock. :)
 

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