Portoferraio, storm on September 17th...
SV Eleonora
Michael A. Andronov
Tue 20 Sep 2022 15:36
|
42:48.395N 010:19.781E UTC 1930 September 17th, Portoferraio,
Elba Something did not work right... Probably, I did something wrong –
unintentionally, without knowing... – and upset the weather Gods... A month ago
– nearly exactly the month ago, August 18th – I’ve been greeted by the storm on
Corsica... Now it is obvious – it has been a warning...
Today, on September 17th -- another storm, and a much more
‘serious warning’... I know that the storm is coming. Despite all nice weather
before, I knew on Wednesday, that the Saturday, September 17th – it would
be a nasty day.... But Wendesday has been so nice... We moved to the Cala Zupignano, about 2 nm away from the Portoferraio bay – just to run the watermaker, to make enough water, and to come to back under the protection of the Portoferraio bay later... The bay has been know for its nearly 360 degree protection for centuries... Yes, there is an entry -- roughly speaking ~25-30T direction... But the winds rarely coming from that direction, and even more rarely the swell... ( At least, that was my theory... ) The bottom – a mix of mud with sand – provides the good holding... And though the modern ferries took a lot of space of the bay – there is still enough place to nearly all boats to sit comfortably in the bay.. As I said – the Wendesday was a beautiful day in Zupignano. Sunny, warm water, dying wind for the night... endless blue sky with a lot of stars... Yes, the weather forecast(s) started to send warning of the bad weather coming... But not for Thursday and Friday... ! And they were changing all the time... Thursday during day -- was even better then Wendesday! Friday forecast – was also good... But the night... We got gusts to 32knts and constant breeze just
below 30... on our anchorage... Sleepless night... But the boat was holding it beautifully, not dragging a single bit... Tired after the sleepless night, checked the forecast... Notice that in a few hours – wind should calm down... and great improvement is coming... And it did!!!! So, instead of what the neighbors were
doing – lifting the anchors at about 25 knts of wind... I waited a couple of
hours... The forecast worked!!! Major calming down... Picked up the
anchor, moved 2nm to Portoferraio... Dropped the anchor – with assumption of the Saturday coming... – a bit outside of everyone... just in case... with a 150+ ft of chain ( ~50 m ) in 20 ft ( ~7m ) depth... Pulled back... Holding... We are good... As we done, the wind gone completely... A few moments later – the
Sun coming out... Everyone around – looked in disbelief – how wonderful
the nasty day became within short minutes... Going ahead, that is
the moment when I should get worried... But I did not... So, wonderful evening, great night skies... nearly flat water with star reflections... 0700 Saturday morning... Yes, we have low pressure reading on barometer... but it is growing up.... The water in the bay – completely flat... Blue skies with no single trace of cloud.... Pressure – 999.4 0800 --- Somebody somewhere pushed the switch... The wind is 15 knts... ( Nearly instantly ). Westerly... But from this direction – everything is protected... No distance to build the swell.... The pressure is still growing up... Beautiful blue skies! Pressure 999.8 0900 --- Wind 20-25 knots constant... Westerly... Gusts above 30... No swell ( as no distance ) Pressure 1000.5 1000 --- Wind constant between 27-30 knts... Gusts above 32 ... The alarm started to sound nearly constantly ( my alarm set at 32 knots... ) Some waves started to appear... But still – it is westerly, no place to build something serious.. I’m sitting in the cockpit – as most
people around – and watching as the situation is progressing... The boat in
doing great... with the wind you are feeling the vibration of the chain... But
the anchor is holding... The GPS anchor alarm not triggered, and so we are
slightly rotating on anchor – everything seems fine... The port authorities are doing
amazing job! A few boats – coast guards / towing company – are out
in the bay, and patrolling the anchorage... a couple boats
dragged... One without people on boat, about 50 ft Lagoon cat... They did
not hesitate to step on board, let more chain... stabilized it... kept
watching... My neighbors – on big 20m boat – started to drag... But they did not hesitate to lift the anchor, move and to re-anchor again... Nice to have such neighbors... The pressure is growing up with each hour... We should be fine! The hell broke loose at noon... Within a few minutes – the wind changed by ~160 degrees... Like a cold front... But there is no frontal weather there!!!! And now it is blowing constantly just below 30 knots ... in 25-30T degrees... Straight through the entry into the bay... Within a few minutes – literally – the swell came in... if it was about half a meter... it became a meter and half... The bow of the boat started to jump violently... Looked behind... I have 2 boats, parallel to me... behind... on port and starboard sides.. But not too far behind... and with no too much space in between... A bit worse – one is 20 meters.... another 10 meters ... and we all moving slightly differently... The swell keep growing... So the wind... At at certain moment – all alarms came alive... -- the wind alarm -- the anchor alarm... The anchor got loose... immediately,
the boat moved log to the wind... and we started to move towards
neighbors... No time to think – I started the motor, and managed to point the boat into the wind... But to keep it this way – nearly mission impossible... I can not keep the boat dragging -- since there is no enough place with other 2 boats... In the ‘ideal world’ I have to go between them, re-anchor, and to keep moving with them... However, in the real world – the chances it will happen that way – slim... The next 2 hours – I spent in the cockpit, maneuvering the boat, trying to keep it more or less at the same spot... The wind keep blowing, the movement of the boat – jumping in all directions... Based on the bow vertical movement – the swell between 1.5- close to 2 meters... Guardia finanza boat – also on patrol to help people... – came by to look on the monkey dancer in the boat, and estimate if he needed help... They came to conclusion to watch me closer... since they started to pass by every 10 minutes... The circus has been lasting for 2 hours... Then the wind dropped to 15 knots... shortly after – the swell went down drastically... My neighbor in 10 meter boat – probably get sea sick , as he lifted the anchor and moved to different part of the harbor... I have gotten space! So, I let the boat to drag... and the anchor grabbed the bottom... Not a perfect position... But... I can relieve and wait until later... A few hours later – the harbor is quite as no storm ever happened... We re-anchored in the slightly different place – in order to relief the neighbor within a big shiny 20m boat... Sunset... Blue sky... stars... Why exactly we like boating so much? Everything is ok and in order on boat. The boat feels well! I’m in true love with her, and feeling well too! Talk soon, Michael. |