Overland Sailing With Helene

[Be Free]

Hi all!

I'm back and not totally buried under hurricane cleanup so I thought I'd share the "journey". We were without power for almost exactly 7 days and still don't have potable water (10 days and counting) but we came through relatively unscathed compared to areas closer to the mouth of the Steinhatchee River and the houses that are on lower ground. Helene left quite a mess here.

We lost our only grocery store, only phrm-xd, and (in my opinion) the best restaurant in town along with a lot of small businesses and houses. Unsurprisingly, we have three marinas. All were damaged; one may not recover. Fortunately, no one was killed or seriously hurt here. We have massive property damage but everyone took reasonable precautions and no one did anything completely foolish. You do have to be a little crazy to live in this town but none of us are THAT crazy.

After carefully evaluating the storm path and intensity I decided that we would NOT ride this one out. We prepared the property for wind, rain, and flood then packed up everything that would be hard to replace and headed inland. Of course, "everything" included the Mac. I had a small tree hit it during the last hurricane but this one is going to be much worse.



Sandbags at the front door. The prediction is 15-20 ft storm surge. I'm far enough up-river that I'm not likely to see all of it but I'm trying to cover my bases as much as possible.


The worst of the wind should hit this side of the house. I really should have storm shutters for these windows. The old Ford has protected them in the last three hurricanes.


This side of my new workshop is also going to see the worst of the wind. Everything inside (that can be damaged by water) is up at least 2 feet off the floor. The sandbags are mostly there to keep rain from blowing under the door.

This side of the workshop faces "uphill" and may see some water flow if the rain or flooding gets bad. The last thing before leaving was to take down the flag and flagpole and store them inside.

We evacuated about 90 minutes inland to the home of one of our sons.

I want to give a special shout out to Richard and Herschel. They each contacted me when it was clear the storm was headed my way and offered help and shelter and then checked in periodically after it passed. Thank you!

Coming soon: After the Storm

[Be Free]

After the Storm

Even well inland we lost power about 60 minutes after we did at home. I was keeping an eye on conditions via a webcam on the outside of my favorite restaurant and my own security cameras when the power dropped.

The next day we kept up with conditions "on the ground" via some of those who had stayed. When they reported that the sheriff's office was allowing residents back in I packed up and headed home to see if we could return. My wife (and the Mac) stayed behind until I verified the conditions here.

There was not a working traffic light or functioning gas station all the way back. There were trees snapped like toothpicks, many of them leaning onto the power lines. Oddly, I did not see many uprooted trees; almost all were snapped off about 10 feet off the ground.


I had to go around trees and downed power lines to get to my driveway. Unfortunately, that was as far as I could get. There was a large cedar and and even larger turkey oak that used to border my driveway down across it.


I took down some fence rails and climbed up the side of the road to get in to the yard. The area just across the fence is where the Mac normally sits. If I'd left it I could not have gotten a vehicle through there.


Lots of trees down and even more small debris but no indication that there had been any flooding on the property. I later walked the neighborhood and found that it had made it only about 2/3 of the way up from the river.


The old Ford did it again. It caught a tree that would have gone through the windows. It suffered a small dent on the right front fender and a slightly larger dent on the passenger door. Even so, it still looks pretty good for a vehicle that will be 30 years old in a few months!


That one landed right where my Xterra is usually parked!


There were a few small trees down in other parts of the yard but most of it was just small to medium sized debris.


No signs of flooding on this side either. Time to get to work!

Up Next: The Beatles were right!

[Be Free]

I Get By With a Little Help From My Friends!


The first order of business.

Next I switched the house over to generator power. My generator can't carry the load of the central AC (or the dryer) but it has no problem with anything else. I moved a small window unit from my wife's potting shed to the bedroom. You can get a lot more done during the day if you've had a good night's sleep! It's also a spot to cool off and rest between projects.





My brother and uncle drove up from Orlando to help on the first day along with some neighbors (with their own problems) who volunteered to help us clear the driveway enough to get vehicles in.




Next, we freed the faithful Ford. Now I can start taking the tree off the house without danger to the truck.


I forgot to get a "before" picture of the tree from this vantage. I have about 30% of it removed at this point.


That's all I can get with the small saw. I'll pick up tomorrow with a bigger saw. It's getting late.


The next day, a neighbor sends over some of his friends to help get the big parts of the tree off the roof.


And the day after some out of town friends show up to finish the job after dropping off the contents a large trailer at one of the local distribution points.


The last job here is to take down the last of the trees that are leaning over the driveway. Over the next couple of days they also helped two other families whose houses were heavily damaged or had large trees on them.

I can not say enough about the people from all over who have come to this small town and helped. They have brought supplies, equipment, and most of all, themselves. I can't speak for the other's that they have helped, but their love and sacrifice have literally given me at least a month of my life back!

[Be Free]

P.S.
In the first post I promise I typed p h a r m a c y not phrm-xd.

[Be Free]

Almost forgot...



Simple Interest back home (hoping that Milton does not come by for a visit later this week).

We already have Debby and Helene debris on the roadside waiting for pickup. We don't need more. We don't need what we have scattered. We could really use a break.

[pitchpolehobie]

Happy youre safe and relatively unscathed. Hope cleanup goes well.

[Russ]

Wow!

Thanks for documenting all that. Looks like you were wise to place the truck in front of those windows.
Why is there no potable water?
Nice that you could take the Mac out of there. Glad you could get out of harms way.

Now we have Milton. Stay safe.

[Be Free]

Your guess is as good as mine re: potable water. Here's the last communication (other than hand-lettered signs on the side of the road in front of the office).

"When power is restored to your area, please understand that water and sewer repairs are still being made. We cannot turn on water meters or grinder pumps at this time. Water may be running through the lines for leak checking purposes only and will not remain on. All sewer lines and equipment will have to be assessed prior to the system being placed into service. Please remember that we are under a boil water notice until rescinded."

[NiceAft]

Bill,

Sorry to read of what you went through, and so glad it was not so much worse. Now, let’s hope Milton is kinder.

[Russ]

Your guess is as good as mine re: potable water. Here's the last communication (other than hand-lettered signs on the side of the road in front of the office).

"When power is restored to your area, please understand that water and sewer repairs are still being made. We cannot turn on water meters or grinder pumps at this time. Water may be running through the lines for leak checking purposes only and will not remain on. All sewer lines and equipment will have to be assessed prior to the system being placed into service. Please remember that we are under a boil water notice until rescinded."

Wow! That means the water will not be safe until lines are purged.

And now Milton is a Cat5. Hold on and be safe.

Thanks for posting.

[Be Free]

Thanks for the good words.

Milton should miss me by at least 100 miles. I have plenty of water and other supplies and enough fuel to run the generator for a week if I'm careful.

It should lose a lot of speed by the time it gets that far inland but it's not going to be pretty. I hope everyone from Naples to Homosassa Springs gets out of the way! We have a lot of members in that area.

[The Islander]

Hey Guys,

It appears the Mac has been doing some interesting "land sailing" recently.

I am due, to take my 26M into the wind of "Uncle Miltie" soon. Yes, right into the projected path of Milton come Wednesday PM.

I have a thought and a few questions.

1. Could the front portion of the 26M stock trailer, with the 26M boat on its back, be made to rotate so that the Mac is always pointed "into the wind" while the hurricane winds change direction over a period of 4 hours? Automatically. I am not going to sit in my truck and move the truck and trailer while 115 MPH winds pummel the area. Maybe a certain sail setup that would work? This would be some really cool land sailing if we could figure it out!

2. Or, Just let it sit with tie downs at all four corners and hope for the best?

3. Or, Have a few beers and watch video of your sailboat being swept away while on land?

Thanks, Ed

[Russ]

Hey Guys,

It appears the Mac has been doing some interesting "land sailing" recently.

I am due, to take my 26M into the wind of "Uncle Miltie" soon. Yes, right into the projected path of Milton come Wednesday PM.

I have a thought and a few questions.

1. Could the front portion of the 26M stock trailer, with the 26M boat on its back, be made to rotate so that the Mac is always pointed "into the wind" while the hurricane winds change direction over a period of 4 hours? Automatically. I am not going to sit in my truck and move the truck and trailer while 115 MPH winds pummel the area. Maybe a certain sail setup that would work? This would be some really cool land sailing if we could figure it out!

2. Or, Just let it sit with tie downs at all four corners and hope for the best?

3. Or, Have a few beers and watch video of your sailboat being swept away while on land?

Thanks, Ed

1) No. I guess you could anchor it to a post and let it blow like a tell tale. Again. No.
2) Tie downs yes. Maybe drive stakes into the ground to attach. Park away from trees.
Remove anything that catches wind.
Seal up that gap in the companionway hatch.
strap the boat to the trailer.
FILL THE BALLAST with water from a hose to add weight.
3) Yes, from a safe location out of the path.

Good luck. Keep us posted. Most importantly, stay safe. Your life isn't worth protecting property.

[pitchpolehobie]

For the price of a tank of gas u could drive your boat inland to a walmart in ft lauderdale in 2.5 hrs and sleep in it and drive back post storm.

[Be Free]

Hey Guys,

It appears the Mac has been doing some interesting "land sailing" recently.

I am due, to take my 26M into the wind of "Uncle Miltie" soon. Yes, right into the projected path of Milton come Wednesday PM.

I have a thought and a few questions.

1. Could the front portion of the 26M stock trailer, with the 26M boat on its back, be made to rotate so that the Mac is always pointed "into the wind" while the hurricane winds change direction over a period of 4 hours? Automatically. I am not going to sit in my truck and move the truck and trailer while 115 MPH winds pummel the area. Maybe a certain sail setup that would work? This would be some really cool land sailing if we could figure it out!

2. Or, Just let it sit with tie downs at all four corners and hope for the best?

3. Or, Have a few beers and watch video of your sailboat being swept away while on land?

Thanks, Ed

1. No.
2. Yes
3. H*** no!