What a storm we hit!

Gofirstclass

Well-Known Member
Apr 20, 2010
11,656
Tri Cities, WA
Boat Info
Boatless in WA
Engines
No motor
We got caught in a doozy of a storm yesterday afternoon and suffered some canvas damage and lost the radar.

We started out about 3:30 for a dinner cruise with GW's 97 year old mother on board. After a nice leisurely cruise up the Columbia we anchored in a fairly well protected cove. There were some other boats in there but it wasn't crowded.

After about an hour we started to fix dinner. We'd been watching a lightening storm that was passing to the south of us and had grown in intensity. There were almost constant lightening strikes coming down and it was exciting to watch. There was a lot of rain failing form the clouds but it was all to the south and west of us. The wind was blowing from the SW so the storm was moving away...or so we thought.

Here's what it looked like before it hit us. Everything was about a mile to the east of us and moving NW
IMG_20130825_175635_295_zps1e48e337.jpg
....

We were doing fine and enjoying watching the storm and watching to see if any part of it was headed our way. It wasn't, so I felt fine. Then, all of a sudden there was a lightening strike just to the north of us followed immediately by a loud thunder clap, which indicated that part of the storm was very close. At the same time the wind shifted from the SW to blowing hard out of the north. The boat swung on the anchor but we were OK because it put us more toward the center of the small bay.

Then the wind shifted back to the SW and picked up more (now blowing ~25-30 mph) and we started to drag anchor in the muck bottom. We weren't that far off the shore so I told GW I was going to reposition the boat and drop anchor more in the center of the bay.

I had no sooner fired up the engines and lifted the anchor when the wind REALLY started to blow. This little bay is about 150 yard across and there were white caps forming already. The rain had picked up and was coming down HARD, and blowing sideways.

Over the intercom I told GW we were heading for home and to get things ready down below for getting up on plane. She got everything safely stowed and told me when she was ready. I turned on the radar as soon as I had decided to get underway because visibility had dropped to less than a hundred yards.

I turned to the east to head out of the bay and down the Columbia when we were hit by a huge gust on the stbd side of the boat. It ripped the top bimini loose from the plastic channel that holds it in place and tore out one of the side windows. When that gust hit the boat it tilted the boat about 10-15 degrees to port and held it there a few seconds before it passed by and the boat righted itself.

I pretty much ignored the no-wake speed so I could get out of that shallow cove, traveling about 10 kts as I left the area. As I was leaving the no-wake zone the radar timed in so I flipped it to transmit mode and it quickly picked up a boat about 1/2 mile away that was headed our direction. I couldn't see the boat but did steer to avoid it.

As I got out of the no-wake zone the rain was really coming down hard, the thunder and lightening were very close, and it was really blowing. GW brought me up a foul weather jacket because I didn't have a shirt on and the rain stung when it hit.

I got on plane and headed back to the marina. As we were cruising along I had one eye on the radar and one eye trying to peer through the heavy rain. About half way back to our marina there was a lightening strike on shore just off our stbd side. When it hit I was watching the radar screen, which lit up very brightly then went black.

We made it back to the slip without any further problem. By the time we got back there the storm has moved on and the wind had almost completely died. After we got secured in the slip I had a chance to take a look at the bimini. Here's what it looks like now....

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IMG_20130825_182914_117_zpsf3e464b4.jpg


IMG_20130825_182850_984_zpsbe2dea4b.jpg


I'm glad we were able to get back relatively unscathed, but I bet my insurance guy isn't going to like my phone call this morning.
 
Thank God you guys didn't take a direct hit the damage can be fixed you can't be replaced. Good lesson if you can hear or see lightning time to head for shelter. We're just heading out one station says 10-20 knot winds with rain showers late today hope their wrong.
 
I think a lesson can be learned here and don't mean to throw you under the bus but this is the very reason I always ensure proper scope and set my anchor for a storm even on clear days. 20-30 MPH wind is not that much and to drag in that the anchor must not have been set correctly or not enough scope. There are many times we have encounter storms that just roll in and sometime heading for cover is just not the best thing to do. Like in this case, IF you could have reset the anchor with enough scope I think staying might have been better but then again, I was not there so I am not going to second guess the captain. It happens to everyone but as long as you are safe, boat can be repaired but lessons should be learned to either avoid this next time or be better prepared with more scope, better anchorage for holding etc.
 
Well I'll be the first to admit I really hate when people bring up suggestions in hindsight! Earlier this summer, After a friend received fair damage and came close to putting others at serious risk. I said, Sirius Weather module costs less than your deductible and real-time weather allows you to plan accordingly. Just this weekend a dock neighbor said, he would not have went out when we did with 30 mph wind out there. I told him we were back w/ 1/2 hour to spare and threw two extra lines at the dock.
 
Sirius and XM weather is not real time, it can be up to a 15 minute delay. Seen it on friends units. You want real time, turn on your radar, doesn't get any more real time than that.
 
I'll bet GW's 97 yr old mom was nervous. I'm glad you recieved relatively minor damage.
 
Well I cannot see photos in either FireFox or with IE 10.0 anyone have any ideas?
 
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Sounds and looks nasty, I imagine MIL was a tad edgy. Pleased to hear that you all arrived back safe which is the main thing, you can fix your bimini etc. :)
 
Well twiddle my thumbs, now the photos are showing and nothing has changed from my end that I am aware of?
 
Glad the only repairs needed are on the boat and not you guys. Glad you made it home safe Mike.

Mark


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk - now Free
 
well that could have been ugly, glad it turned out well all around.
 
I,m Glad all are safe, the boat can be repaired. It's amazing that mother nature can cook up such a thing so fast. I've been in a couple over the years, and don't like being there if I can avoid it. Sounds like you di the best you could with the circumstances.
 
trt21 said:
I think a lesson can be learned here and don't mean to throw you under the bus but this is the very reason I always ensure proper scope and set my anchor for a storm even on clear days. 20-30 MPH wind is not that much and to drag in that the anchor must not have been set correctly or not enough scope. There are many times we have encounter storms that just roll in and sometime heading for cover is just not the best thing to do. Like in this case, IF you could have reset the anchor with enough scope I think staying might have been better but then again, I was not there so I am not going to second guess the captain. It happens to everyone but as long as you are safe, boat can be repaired but lessons should be learned to either avoid this next time or be better prepared with more scope, better anchorage for holding etc.

No problem second guessing me. I'm certainly not the best skipper out there and can always learn from others. When I first set the anchor there was almost zero wind, and there were other boats fairly close (25 yards) so I kept the scope fairly short. We had anchored a short distance off the north shore with the bow to the north. I set the anchor hard and it stuck well. Then the wind changed on us and the boat swung toward that near shore. That's when I decided to reset it. It was when I got the anchor up that the wind really kicked in and that's when we headed for deeper water. The question of stay vs run for home is always a tough one. The area we were in is not a place I'd like to be if the sustained winds were very strong. It's shallow and the bottom slopes up gradually to the banks.

Your comment about Sirius or XM Weather's delay is a good one. This storm cell was moving so fast and changing so fast that any broadcast weather would have been useless.

GW's mom loved it. She was so excited about the storm, she thought it was great. She couldn't stop talking about how fast the lightening strikes were coming and how close they were. The thunder that accompanies a lightening bolt was not a "rolling thunder", it was a damn loud bang! On the one that knocked the radar out, we had a parrot hanging in the salon. When that bolt hit the parrot was knocked down from the place it hung.

I stopped by the canvas shop this afternoon. I'm going to meet him at the boat tomorrow so he can see what it needs and get started on the repairs. We'll be out of town for Wed-Fri so he can work on it when he has time. He doesn't need us to be there to get it back together. The problem is going to be getting the radar fixed. There's nobody this side of Portland, OR that can install a new radar system. I still haven't talked with my insurance company yet to see how they want to handle the repair.
 
Glad to hear that everyone is ok. We were hanging in the back yard and I thought that it was passing far enough south and didn't think much of it, then all of a sudden the lightening and thunder was here. We lost the top half of our approximately 70' oak tree.
It was one heck of a storm, short in duration but damaging none the less.
 
That sounds like it would not have been the most comfortable run home
 
I would not second guess anyone in that situation as I was not there and have faced similar situations as anyone that anchors out will eventually. When this happens to me, and once everyone is safe, I try to learn from the experience. I have anchored in what I assume is a similar situation, seems protected, boats close by, light winds and have had the anchor slip when things turned ugly. When I go back to a similar situation, I always tend to anchor any from others now and put out a lot more scope than anyone else. Again, the important thing is you made it back safely so it is hard to argue your approach and again, I am not second guessing. For others reading I just wanted to point out that thing change quickly and the more planning you can do for nasty weather ahead of time will only help when weather switches. I am sure, the next you do it you will do it a little different and again, for other reading that aren't as comfortable anchoring this might be a good time to let them know what you would do differently so everyone can learn. That is the best part of a forum and this forum is one of the best sites for that as it seems no one here lets their ego get in the way. Trust me, it has happened to all of us. I know when I was new to anchoring, hearing what you would change NEXT TIME you are in this situation would stick in my mind for my anchoring out. I apologize if I seemed crass as that was not my intention.
 
Canvas is easy, if the radar is smoked, that's where the insurance comes in handy. Hmmmmmm, HD radar in your future?
 
First class, you did good ,I'd have done the se and yes you are a good Captain you got your boat home safe , if you'd have stayed you'd have been onshore with a Mucky bottom anchors don't hold and a 150 yard bay, there's no room to drag an anchor, Kudos to you my friend as for hindsight, nobody knows what they'd do
 
Thanks Boltman. With 20/20 hindsight I think the decision to leave that bay was the right one. There's not a lot of water depth and not a lot of room to maneuver. It's the choice I felt at the time was the right one and I still think it was the best one.

I met with the canvas guy this afternoon. $495 to repair the damage and do a couple of other small canvas things on the boat. That's about what I figured, so no big surprises there.

Tomorrow we're headed to Portland, OR to meet up with some friends. The place I'd have do the work on the radar is down there so we'll stop by and talk with them to see what they have to say.

Haven't talked with the insurance company yet. I wanted to get some figures lined up before I talk with them.
 

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