Just gonna leave this here, re: MATTHEW

[Captain Smollett]

Been raining cats and dogs off and on all day...wind picking up a bit now and rain coming with a purpose.  Storm center still a few hours away.

Got a little mood music going:

(1) Riding the Storm Out (REO Speedwagon)
(2) It's the End of the World as We Know It (REM)
(3) Rock You Like a Hurricane (The Scorpions)
(4) Riders On the Storm (The Doors)
(5) Hard Rain's A Gonna Fall (Bob Dylan)
(6) Fire and Rain (James Taylor)
(7) Have You Ever Seen The Rain (CCR)
(8) Thunderstruck (AC/DC)
(9) No rain (Blind Melon)
(10) Rain (The Beatles)
(11) Rain on the Scarecrow (John Mellencamp)
(12) Smokey Mountain Rain (Ronnie Milsap)
(13) Southern Rain (Cowboy Junkies)
(14) Dreams (Fleetwood Mac)
(15) Blowin' In the Wind (Peter Paul and Mary)

Take care, Kurt.  Hope it's okay.  Anxiously awaiting details.

[Frank]

Thunderstruck will get you out scrubbing decks in the middle of it all 😄😄

[Captain Smollett]

Add Thunderstruck by The Two Cellos...man, that's awesome.  My son's Art teacher introduced us to that, and it's just great:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uT3SBzmDxGk

[SeaHusky]

Stay safe everyone!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K-Op1Mng4oY

[Norman]

The radar did look very bad in his area for quite a while.  Good to hear he is OK!  Thanks CJ!

[Bubba the Pirate]

Since we're having a Thunderstruck marathon, here's one I just ran into:

https://youtu.be/e4Ao-iNPPUc

[Frank]

Nana na nana nah NAH

[Captain Smollett]

Since we're having a Thunderstruck marathon, here's one I just ran into:

https://youtu.be/e4Ao-iNPPUc

Oh yes!

Heard this one a while back. Awesome stuff.

I love the creativity that has been coming out lately. 

[Frank]

Any updates ?

[Jim_ME]

Heard on the news while sleeping in this morning that Matthew had made landfall in South Carolina and that there was a considerable storm surge at Charleston...and knew that Georgetown was not far away.

Was out for the afternoon and evening, with thoughts of how you were doing, Kurt, and hoping for the best. Will continue to do the same...anxious to see your next update.

Charlie, glad that it missed your family in JAX; your boat, Todd, and Allure in the Bahamas, Frank.

The comments on storm music led me to seek out one of my favorites...and discovered a fine new-to-me version...
Full Force Gale by Van Morrison
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u2AT0rbDx9A

[Frank]

Great tunes !


Kurt.....how are Ya doing?

[maxiSwede]

Dito the "Kurt! how are you doing?"  Maybe Internet is out?

Hope youre OK!


...and wondering why i didn't find this thread yesterday, and started a ner one!  ...never mind, fr.o.m. What i can see online now Matthew is not quite a Monster anyone, is that correct?  I certainly hope so!

[Frank]

Maxi....good to see you back!

Matthew is now downgraded and moving offshore, but not before doing lots of damage between wind, rain and a massive storm surge in some locals from Florida up to NC.
Last count was 15 dead in the USA, hundreds further S.
Poorest of the country's-Haiti, was the worst hit and largest death toll.

[CapnK]

After last report summation:

Eye went right over us. A blessed 20 or so calm minutes before about 8 hours of backside hellaciousness. Local airport which is *always* far underreporting wind speed (it is miles inland, in forest) clocked a gust at 65, while Myrtle (usually more reliable) had one at 74, but someone here in town reported over 100, which I think not far fetched as I saw 20' high clouds of whiteout spray lifted off the surface more than once. A lot more.

It was dicey for the first hour of backside as winds clocked 180 degrees to the WNW and then built fast. I was unprepared for that quick of shift, but luckily only 2 of the 4 boats I was tending - mine and the P/A35 in the next slip - were out of any wind shadow (I had moved Katie and Skiff to inner slips Friday). Lucky in that the "normal" dock lines didn't part while I shifted around all of my Please, Jesus lines, even tho both boats were heeling 20 or more in the very frequent gusts.

Even luckier, immediately after getting things in control (relatively...), I went below to take a break. No sooner than I had unzipped my jacket, there was a loud report and then something hard hit the deck, port side. I thought something must have fallen off the A35. Jumped out on deck to look for big piece of debris, and there was none to be seen. Perplexing.

Until I saw the twin turnbuckles of the doubled intermediate and cap shroud dragging an upper portion of what had been chain plate around on deck as the boat moved...

Gadzooks! NOT what you ever want to see. Makes a praying man out of you right quicklike. ;D

But I had some fat line sitting right there in the cockpit, so I jumped out and made up the jury rig you see in the attached pic, and that held for the rest of the storm, and I am tired of typing on this tablet screen so I reckon that's all for now. :)

[CapnK]

Re: songs - you missed "The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald".

Because...  "When the waves turn the minutes to hours?"

That line kept playing over and over in my head the whole time. It really did. :)

And waves/wind - well, same, in effect.  ;) lol
Its too bad that you cannot heave-to at dockside!   ;D

[Frank]

Geez

Musta been kinda "intense" for a few hours!

Glad you're ok and damage is relatively minimal all things considered

Get some rest...

[Norman]

It sure is good to see you posting on this side of the storm!

Lucky that the shrouds came loose after the worst of the storm had passed, not just luck that you were there to save the rig!  That would have been much more difficult with the mast thrashing around, and near impossible to get tight .

Norman

[Norman]

I have never seen a better reason to have that style of toe rail!  Plenty of places to tie, and distributed as well.

As a retired electric utility employee who worked storms on the system for 40 years, well understand the stress of this kind of event.  I worked when Agnes went through Washington DC, a retired name for good reason.  When things happen, they are rarely expected, but the response must be right and fast.  We had more than 5 hurricanes here in those years but the big A was the worst, $220 million damage in MD alone.

Is Barque back on board?

[Captain Smollett]

Kurt,

Glad to hear you weathered okay, if a bit battered. Ya'll got smacked.

We ended up with a little more wind than I was expecting, but sustained topped out at just under TS strength recorded at the airport.  I think we had some gusts in the 45-50 kt range.  Rain was intense at times, but not constant. 

But, we seem to have been in a little bubble of sorts.  Places 30+ miles farther inland than us got hit harder which is a bit strange and counterintuitive.  Well, it was a weird storm in several respects.

Headed to the next town East from here this morning.  Little visible storm damage unless you really looked.  Except for one thing that was pretty telling: concrete embedded light pole in a grocery store parking lot leaning over with concrete ripped from the ground.  I'm guessing some kind of 'microtornado' or some such?  Very 'local' damage.

Other than that, a few road signs down and only saw one downed tree of size.  No puddled water, either or clear signs of flooding.  Roads dry.  Again, west of here had Interstates closed due to flooding, but not here.

Just wild.

Again, Kurt...good to hear from you. Thanks for the update.

[Bubba the Pirate]

Sounds harrowing.
Glad you're alright CapnK!