[Rhodes22-list] Mothers Midwest Nature

[Lowe, Rob]

Jay,
Great story, thanks for sharing.

And being new to the list, post all you want.  No real rules here (except no politics please). - rob

-----Original Message-----
From: rhodes22-list-bounces at rhodes22.org [mailto:rhodes22-list-bounces at rhodes22.org] On Behalf Of Jay Curry
Sent: Sunday, September 16, 2012 12:01 PM
To: rhodes List
Subject: [Rhodes22-list] Mothers Midwest Nature

Ok, no questions this time. Just a little sailing story....at the dock.
Anyone one who has lived in the Midwest knows how bad thunderstorms can get.
Those who have lived around Port Angeles all their lives are clueless. The recent "thunderstorm" we had here included intense thunder for nearly 36 hours straight but, there was no wind, torrential rain, hail or swirling cloud formations. So, life long residents here still have no idea what a real thunderstorm is like. This little tale will make you see one reason why Kathy and I are so happy to be here.

It is a late Saturday afternoon. We are at a Port Superior, WI dock on Lake Superior and canceling our normal overnight stay at one of the Apostle islands due to a forecast of severe storms expected for the area. Severe storms by the way, are a nearly daily occurrence in the summer somewhere in that area. You never know when your number is up. Our 33 foot sail boat is docked to starboard. Next to us on our left docked portside is an unoccupied
30 foot sail boat. Between us is only a large shared post for stern dock lines. We are at one of about 6 floating piers of up to 40 boats per pier.
Most are medium to large sail boats. On the sail boat second to our left, the occupant was watching the weather on his lap top. We sat in our cockpit enjoying the day and could see a large black cloud forming to the southwest.
We are beginning to lose our enthusiasm.

The person watching the weather comes out with his laptop waving to anyone who might be around and warning us all that we are about to get our butts kicked. He shows us the weather screen he has displayed and runs back to his boat. The lucky ones that day were on the water and had time to prepare.
Just like them, we had about 5 minutes to get ready, But, we were tied up and there was nothing to do but go below and wait it out.

We had seen the wall cloud leading the storm before going below and now could see nothing. When the wind hit, the boat heeled with a great jerk maybe 20 degrees or more to our starboard and into the dock. We were knocked from our seats. As the boat began its rebound to port, there was another much more violent jerk back to starboard and a loud jarring bang on our port side. We heard the port lifelines snap and start banging in the wind as the boat slammed back to port and settled into a heel against the wind. We could see nothing from inside so I crawled up on deck to see what the had happened.

The stern dock line of boat next to us had been torn completely out of the dock still attached to the large cleat. The 2 x 8 board the cleat had been bolted to was ripped apart. Other boats had been torn loose completely and were floating all over the place banging into each other and the docks. Two piers tore loose from the shore line and were heading toward the breakwater wall. People in power boats, still tied up in slips on those piers were running their engines trying to keep the piers off of the wall. Still more people after securing their own boats, were jumping on loose unoccupied boats or chasing them down in dinghies to guide them to safe stops. Our boat now had a small hole in the port side hull and the life lines were torn from the stanchions. The heel of the boat next to us had allowed its stanchions to come under our life lines and lift our port side as it righted its self until our life lines broke. It was still banging into our side.

I did my best horizontal walk to the next slip to try and get our neighbors stern line tied back up. I was able to get the stern line tied to the cleat on the opposite side of the slip about the time the wind began to abate. We had just experienced about 5 minutes of horizontal torrential rain and hail in 90 MPH plus winds. The chaos continued for about another 15 minutes until the loose boats and piers were secured and everyone could start to asses the damages. Just another little Midwest thunderstorm that occurs a few times every week in the summer somewhere in the upper Midwest. It was just our luck that day to be in its path.

Port Superior, WI is a full service Marina. The crane and shop were working over time for the next several weeks repairing a host of boats including ours. Luckily, our boat damage was minor and easily repaired. We covered the damage with a little hull tape and continued to sail while we waited our turn for repair. Many others were not so lucky. Those out on the water that day, that saw this thing coming and prepared, escaped damage. One or two boats got swamped, but there were no injuries. This is why were are here in Port Angeles folks. Kathy and I both like a little more predictability in our lives. If that means six months of rain and 40 degree weather with a few November wind storms and little threat of a volcano or earth quake, so be it. I will take that any day over full summers of random killer thunderstorms with damaging hail, occasional tornados and weeks of 20 degree below zero highs in the winter. In the mid 90's there were nearly two weeks where the high was minus 35.

This winter when you are lamenting the rain or when you are planning your next sail remember this little tale and be happy. No matter what your complaint, it can always be much worse. I am sure my little tale pales in comparison to many of yours. The purpose was just to relate my distain for Midwest weather. The predictability here is orders of magnitude better than what you face in the Midwest.

Take care. Stay safe.

I am new to the list. If the length of my post or posts is out of line, please advise.

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