Hurricance Sandy 26 - 31 Oct 12

Tashi Delek
Mike & Carol Kefford
Wed 31 Oct 2012 21:59

Deltaville Marina, 37:23.941N 076:19.783W

 

Quite a lot has happened since the Olympics and we are very behind with the blog.  We will catch up over the next week or so but for now thought an update on our Hurricane Sandy experiences was a good idea.

 

We had been back a week and worked hard to get everything done ready for the launch date we had booked, Wednesday 24 October.  Once we were back in the water the weather stayed fine while we started to get the lines and the sails back on but there were rumblings about Hurricane Sandy heading our way so we, like everyone else here, started to re-think our plans.

 

The centre of Sandy was forecast to pass very close and the main concerns were over tidal surges and the torrential rain rather than wind speeds as the boatyard and marina are quite sheltered.  It wouldn’t have taken much of a surge to put all the boats in the car park bashing themselves on piles and pontoons on the way so our options were to head out into a creek to find shelter at anchor or be hauled back out into the yard.  Having heard dire warnings about the premium the yard charged per foot of boat for an emergency lift we decided that it was still less than the insurance excess on a damaged yacht and decided we preferred peace of mind over thrift on this occasion.  Once Mike asked the man in charge what the hurricane lift out fees were it turned out to be a very reasonable £220.  Done.  We were on the list.  Two boat lifts worked continuously for two days until the yard was full and the marina pretty much empty.   

 

 

 

It is all a bit surreal at this stage.  Frantic activity with everyone stripping everything back off their boats and lashing down what they can’t take down while the weather is perfectly benign and balmy.  The news reports of the damage and destruction elsewhere were enough to remind us of what could be coming so everyone kept at it.  Lashing down the wind generator took particular care given that the whole point is for it to turn in the wind, except that we did not want the energy of the hurricane winds to be transferred to the wind generator as blades have a tendency to fly off in winds in excess of 75 mph!

 

 

 

On Friday it started to rain, very, very hard and it didn’t let up for three days while the wind got stronger.  We ventured out once or twice just to keep the stir-craziness at bay and have a look at what was going on.  The water level was considerably higher, lapping over the side of the marina in places, and flooding parts of the yard and car park so welly boots were worn for the first time ever on Tashi Delek.  Mike had several unscheduled visits outside to sort out the power supply as it tripped from time to time along with everyone else’s due to so many yachts using too few supply points.  Luckily the overall supply was never cut as had been predicted and as has happened over vast areas of the country.

 

The wind blew hard but we only got shaken about a few times; nothing like as much as we had expected or experienced before so we didn’t have any particularly scary moments but the rain never let up.  From the forecasts we knew that eventually the worst was moving north past by but the particular problem in this case was the vast area of land that was going to be affected by flooding and power outages so we could easily have been caught by that.  We were keeping in touch with Mikes sister, Lesley, and family in New Jersey where they too had torrential rain and winds but also lost power early on and it still isn’t back.  Our nephew Adam and his family and friends in Washington DC escaped the long power cuts but got the rest of it.

 

The worst thing for us was how cold it was, and still is.  Around 7 degrees C day and night.  Tashi Delek is not designed for cold weather and we have no heating.  In addition, because of the rain blowing at us from every direction we couldn’t open any hatches which altogether meant condensation and more condensation.  We had towels everywhere and were still getting dripped on because we couldn’t keep up.  Fans going, air in from anywhere we could without sucking in more rain but still we got soaked inside as well as out.  The first thing that happened when the rain stopped was everyone flung open every hatch and hung out towels, blankets, jackets, flannels, cushions.  We’d all had the same problem.

 

We expected there to be an almighty rush to get back into the water once the wind stopped so had reconciled ourselves to a couple more days in the yard but to our surprise we were early on the list and so launched within hours of the yard operating again. 

 

There is still a lot to do but we are gradually drying out and now have a few fine days to get the sails back on and ready to leave which we expect to do early next week.

 

Cold and wet but nothing more than that.  We would have liked some moments of high drama for our efforts; maybe a couple of photographs of wardrobes and dustbins getting blown past the window but actually, no.  We have been extremely fortunate and this has been a very minor inconvenience compared to the disaster it has been for others.  We are certainly very glad not to live in an area where this is an annual threat.  We have benefitted from huge kindness from locals and not so locals and heard many stories of others receiving extraordinarily generous help.  One English couple had been lent the holiday home and car by someone they had met by chance who was very concerned that they wouldn’t be comfortable staying on their boat.  Wow.