The second thunderstorm to hit Ocracoke today was moving at 55 knots. The VHF said to expect winds in excess of 70 MPH. The crazy thing was how suddenly it came on. The temp dropped and the wind was screaming in an instant.
I held fine with 22 and 44 pound Bruce anchors, but others were not so fortunate. A 40+ foot sailboat dragged into a 40+ foot trawler, and a good sized Hunter ended dragging until it went hard aground, and it is still there hours later waiting on Tow Boat U.S.
I'm sure most all of you know this, but I'm going to say it anyway. When figuring out the scope of your anchor, don't forget that you must remember to add how many feet above the water your anchor roller is.
My Allied has a lot of sheer. The end of my bowsprit is about 5' above the water. So if I am anchored in 10' (at high water), I need to put out 105' of rode to achieve a 7:1 scope.
Good sailing y'all. Next for me is a sail up the Pamlico and Croatan Sounds, then across the Albemarle on my way to the Chesapeake. (I'll hold out for good sailing winds... what's the rush?)
Hope to see some of y'all up in the Bay.
Keith
Hey Keith,
Glad to hear you weathered okay. It was pretty wild here, too. Today, seeing lots more damage and power outages than I expected. For a short blow, it sure was intense.
Before it hit, our temp dropped from 97 deg to 78, then after, another 10 degrees cooler. Amazing temp swing in a short period.
-JR
saw this on http://www.towndock.net/ (http://www.towndock.net/):
Last night 26 riders onboard 12 cars got a longggg ferry experience. The 5:25pm ferry leaving Cherry Branch went aground in the high winds. A tug was finally able to break it free after 1am this morning.
Glad you survived! Winds just up the river in Washington reached 70kts (went from calm & 100F to 70kts & 80F within a minute with the downburst). A lot of small boats were capsized (caught completely off-guard!) and one boater was separated from his boat but picked up by the USCG. There was also some damage at the dock and to a couple boats. No one was expecting this, so nothing was prepped! Food for thought...be ready for the worst!