Storm of '18

[w00dy]

Hey everybody

We've been living aboard in Boston this winter and today we are sitting out a particularly nasty storm. The storm surge combined with a spring tide, along with some large gusts, is driving water up into our corner of the harbor. It's hard to say for sure, but there's a chance our floating docks will come up off the pilings and drift free. If that happens, we may lose our boat today, or suffer extensive damage.

Please keep your fingers crossed for us. If there's anyone else that's weathering this noreaster, hang in there and don't get your feet wet.

[Norman]

The big winds are here too, the neighbors 12X8 sheet metal shed did a 360 off the floor, and an hour later, rolled over the chain link fence into his rear neighbors yard, probably to stay there, wedged between the fence and a tree.

I hope that Mona pulls through fine.  You and Ralay have been pretty quiet lately, too busy to talk sailing?  Hope all is well with both of you, plus the storm comes up short of the tops of the pilings.

Norman

[Frank]

I'm sure the high tides being so close to full moon don't  help....

Hope it all goes well and things stay secure...
Keep us posted...

[Jim_ME]

Hey James & Rachel, Was just making a quick check before bed and saw your post from this morning.

Hoping, too, that you and Mona are okay.

Update us when you can.

[Bob J (ex-misfits)]

I thought you guys were heading back to the Lone Star state.
I've been in Boston half a dozen times over the winter. I would have tried to hook up with you guys for bite somewhere. 

Hope you faired well during this blow. There's been some pretty impressive reports on the news this morning regarding the storm & Mass coastline.

[w00dy]

Thanks for the wishes, all.

Misfits, we are likely staying here in Boston through the summer season to work. If you're in the area, give a shout.

I'm drinking a cup of coffee and waking up after a much needed rest. The boat is still there and dock is intact.
I will write more later and upload some pics.

[Frank]

Good to hear...
Things could have been a lot worst...
Hope it lets up soon

[Bubba the Pirate]

Glad to hear you guys and Mona are OK.

[Frank]

Just in town and saw some video of the storm damage
Wow....  This isn't hurricane season but sure looked like the aftermath of one! Storm surge and all! Throw in colder temps and it must have been (or still is) UGLY out there!

[Jim_ME]

...The boat is still there and dock is intact. I will write more later and upload some pics.

Good!  :)

[Bob J (ex-misfits)]

Glad to hear you guys are OK?
Yea, definitely will plan to get together.

[w00dy]

Raylay will probably write up a newsletter at some point but I will give a quick recap.

We have spent the winter at Brewers at Marina Bay, in Quincy Ma. It's located on the southwestern corner of Boston harbor, south of Dorchester bay, just east of the month of the Neponset river.

This is a large marina, but the sole protection from N and NE winds comes from a rock pile breakwater that was not quite high enough to cope with the spring tide + storm surge. The marina isnt totally exposed as there is some coverage from the outlying harbor islands, but I'd you look a the chart it's not hard to imagine huge rollers from offshore in Mass Bay finding their way in to this corner of the harbor.

When I heard that we would be expecting a NE, I seriously considered moving the boat to another location. We still are covered in shrinkwrap and were not ready to get up early,  so it would have meant an exterminator concerted effort at the last minute to do so. Instead I weighed the risks and decided to let the boat stay. The storm surge was forecast to reach record levels, but still close to what we saw during the last storm in Jan. I calculated that we would have enough margin to stay put, so we put on extra lines and prepared for the storm.


What I didn't count on was the poor condition of the docks, the poor mounting of our cleats in said docks, and the overall effect of the swells in slowly but surely dismantling the entire structure.

In the end, our hull suffered a few scratches when a spring line broke and our fenders were no longer properly placed, but I was able to retie the boat during a lull and overall, she fared well. Many other boats here suffered damge though, some extensive. One large ketch simple broke free after ripping it's poorly mounted cleats and the power pole right out of the dock. It simply sailed and spun around in to the empty dock astern of it, where it lay pinned against the stern and took out another power pole over the course of the storm.

Our dock is holding together for now, but several fingers broke away from their pilings. The water got very close to the tops , within 18", and any more surge would have been a catastrophe for us here. The main structure is broken and wracked in places, and overall, the marina sustained hundreds of thousands in damages.

At the peak of the storm on Fri, we watched as a small sailboat hit the rocks and got jammed up under a gangway. It suffered major damage to the rig and hull to deck joint.

Here are some pictures :

https://ibb.co/mW5cq7
https://ibb.co/iZOmiS
https://ibb.co/dyatV7
https://ibb.co/esRYV7
https://ibb.co/ffDoV7
https://ibb.co/ngffcn
https://ibb.co/kZv2q7
https://ibb.co/gjocOS

I'll try to post a video too.

Takeaways from this are:

If possible, move your boat to a safer location. Much better than watching and waiting for it to be smashed for 2 days in a row.

Check the cleats and the supporting structure of your dock/slip. Many cleats here were bolted through deck planks that werent well secured to the main load bearing members of the dock.

Tie your boat up with multiple lines, use chafe protection. Also use spring lines to keep your boat from surging back and forth. The less momentum the less load on the lines and hardware.

Dodged a bullet this time. Hope we don't get another one of these anytime soon.

[Bob J (ex-misfits)]

If you plan on staying in Boston for another winter consider Admirals Hill or Constitution Marina.  It's in Chelsea/Charlestown over by the CG station. Pretty protected from NE blows if memory serves me well. Glad you came out of this unscathed.

[w00dy]

https://youtu.be/mDEPbVOhXgg

[Frank]

Glad the worst is behind you and only a few scratches.

[jotruk]

doesn't look like fun and down right cold.

[w00dy]

Thanks for the good wishes everyone. It sounds like a lot of people on the East coast were affected by this storm.

Many people forget about the fact that we are beholden to our climate and weather patterns, as well as how fragile our civilization can be. I saw lots of evidence of resilience though and am reminded that all storms eventually pass.

[w00dy]

Anyone sailing offshore in the mid-Atlantic, look out!

http://gcaptain.com/maersk-line-addresses-loss-of-containers-from-ship-off-united-states-east-coast/

[Frank]

Hope round 2 was/is easier than round one was....
Crazy weather!

[Bob J (ex-misfits)]

We ended up with 15" of heart attack, axle breakin snow.
It hasn't been a very snowy this past winter, paying for it now.