Riding Out Hurricane Ian On My Boat In Tampa Bay. Reverse Storm Surge!
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- čas přidán 6. 10. 2022
- The boat is going down!!! Most people associate Hurricanes with storm surge, but have you ever heard of a reverse storm surge!? Just like Hurricane Irma, Ian sucked the water right out of Tampa Bay. In this video I talk about why that happened and what the implications were. My decision to stay in my home port paid off, and I tell a story about a fellow DeFever 44 Trawler owner that was not so fortunate with the decision they made, and how that could have easily been me.
Category 4 Hurricane Ian made a surprise wobble to the south and east once he left Cuba and entered the Gulf of Mexico, and catches Southwest Florida off-guard, just like Hurricane Charley did in 2004. But this time, this storm was much larger and more impactful. He caused damage all across Florida, and then up in to the Carolinas. The Tampa Bay Area was originally the target for Ian, but once again, our area was spared the devastation, many say because of our local Native American Burial Grounds. It has been over a century since the Tampa area has been hit by a Major Hurricane. Unfortunately, the Ft. Myers, Port Charlotte, Sanibel, and Captiva area took the direct hit, leading to a massive loss of homes, boats, businesses, and lives. I am so thankful that we were spared up in the Tampa Bay Area, but incredibly sad that our neighbors had to suffer the nightmare. My thoughts are with everyone that was affected by this relentless storm, and I have faith that our Florida comrades will come through this even stronger on the other side.
If you would like to help with the Hurricane Ian relief effort in Southwest Florida, here are some solid organizations that are directly helping the victims. There are many others out there, just make sure you do your research before donating, as there are unfortunately folks that try to take advantage of a tragedy like this.
Florida Disaster Fund
www.volunteerflorida.org/dona...
American Red Cross
www.redcross.org/donate/hurri...
The Humane Society
secured.humanesociety.org/pag...
4Ocean Bracelet Fundraiser
www.4ocean.com/products/everg...
Harry Chapin Food Bank
harrychapinfoodbank.org/
Team Rubicon
teamrubiconusa.org/
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When you said “ lines were getting stretched to their limits “ and then had a shot of a sailboat literally hanging by the lines off a pilling, that was really pro! Nice report thanks.
😎 thanks Jon, I appreciate you appreciating that detail!
glad you stayed put my friend…so sad for all the devastation and sorrow south of y’all!🙏
Thanks Tom!
Glad you made the right decision, and your boat (home) and you are safe. I missed you when you stop the videos, also glad you are back. Stay safe.
You and me both! Thanks John. Really appreciate it! Looking forward to getting more videos out there for you
Capt. Butch & Amira So happy you rode out the storm in the marina. My brother has a 43" Sea Ray which is docked in Tampa and it was a wild night with checking lines. Happy the both of you and the boat weathered the storm with no major problems. I really enjoy your videos and look forward to each. I still remember the video of removing the couch on the rear deck and "testing" the fire extinguisher on the rear deck, that was funny watching. Hope you have a great week and if I get over your way I will have to walk down the dock and say hello.
Richard, I sincerely appreciate all of that. It was definitely a crazy day! Haha! Love the call back to the couches and Amira firing off the fire extinguisher on the aft deck, classics! Thanks so much for hanging in there with me, and I would love for you to say hey sometime.
So glad you made it thru ok, we were on the north side of the eye and no storm surge. 5 miles south was ground zero! Praying for all the people who lost everything. We were very lucky
So incredibly lucky my friend! Thank you Herb 🙌. You definitely saw more action than me down there, so glad you made it through fine as well
Glad to hear you are fine.
Thank you!
So happy for you that you made it through pretty much unscathed. It was so interesting talking to you through it and i must confess, it brought back alot of memories of my time on dock 4. I watched the storm track very closely and was convinced early on it eould track just like Charley had done. Im not sure what it is about the Tampa bay area but it seems storms are steered south or well north of it. At any rate i certainly felt the anxiety i know you and everyone else go through in such an event. It is so very draining mentally and physically. I was so sorry to hear of the devastation and loss for those that took the brunt of this storm. They have a long road ahead to recovery.
Thank you very much Doug. Yeah I imagine seeing those scenes would bring you right back to the days here. And you are absolutely dead on, the days leading up are so draining, and Hurricane Brain is definitely a thing! It takes some time to decompress from it all. But unfortunately it is more than decompression for our neighbors down there. So terrible. But by the looks of the action already taking place down there, I have hope they will be back in record time
Glad to see the first mate!
😁
With the angle of approach of Ian coming up the coast in such a shallow angle it made nearly any decision impossible. Just a few degrees could mean south Florida or Panhandle. Choosing a destination ahead of time was nearly impossible. Forecasts had it locked in to Tampa for several days with high confidence like I had not seen before. I admit I was a bit worried 3 days out. The one thing I kept telling my self..from watching these storms since the 70s...they rarely end up exactly as forecast 3 days later. I hate those leaks that only come through when when the wind is blowing in a certain direction...lol. Tough to find. Thanks for the video and update. Glad it all came out ok for you.
Thanks Allen, you are so right. This one made it particularly difficult to make any sort of directional decision. And agreed, I actually start to feel a bit better when I see that we are right in the middle of the cone 3-4 days out (or should I say just barely south of the bulls eye since that really is the worse case scenario track), because it is almost guaranteed that the actual track will shift from that point quite a bit as you move toward the time of landfall.
Haha, those leaks certainly do mess with your head!
I’m in Jacksonville and we are still having local flooding at the high tides today (Oct 12). The St. John’s river flows north and all the rain south of us is still flowing out.
That is amazing. I saw photos of Sanford flooding as well. Crazy how the effects can linger like that
Hi Butch,
Glad we both made it out of Ian unharmed and like you feel very sorry for the people to our south that weren't so fortunate. It was interesting to see your experience living aboard while the storm was passing. I was fortunate at my floating docks to be able to secure Edonismo the best I could and then head for safer ground to ride out the storm. Dealing with lines and all the other factors you had during the storm really increases the stress level immensely. You did a great job managing the situation. I'm glad that you addressed the uncertainties in the forecasts and tracks of storms. When I posted my hurricane preparations for Edonismo on line I got a lot of free internet advice telling me how dumb I was for not moving my boat somewhere safer. My favorite one was a guy telling me I should have put my 60 ft., 45 ton, 26 ft. tall vessel on a trailer and drove north. LOL Can't make this stuff up. Like you said no one really knows the track of the storm until it's too late to outrun it in a slow moving vessel. Counting my blessings and saying my prayers for the people south of us. Glad that you are ok and hope to see you soon. Paul
Really appreciate that sentiment Paul. When Irma came through, I was in a marina with floating docks which was so nice to be able to just set it and forget it! It definitely makes things interesting with fixed docks with a wide boat in respect to the berth, and floating in 20’ of water, so there is not stop point by touching bottom. Lol, I bet you received a lot of super helpful and insightful commentary from the inter webs! Atleast it can be entertaining . Let’s hope things are smooth sailing for the rest of the season!
Puzzled. You came past Ft. Myers after Ian passed, yet here you''re back in Tampa Bay.
Yes, this video I was moored in Tampa Bay for Ian. The video where I passed through Ft. Myers was on a friends boat after Ian
Hi m a tampa native lived up on Hillsborough River area my boat 36 Chris craft mored up ali fia river ive rode out amany hurricanes some right thru tampa worst one was hurricane Donna but here you have lot's of rivers safer up river as far as you can go up but the bay is not were you want to be in a storm just tip for ya
Hey Tampa neighbor! I am glad you mentioned being up the Hillsborough River. Definitely up river is a much better option than being down in the bay if you are going to ride out the storm on board. You just have to be ready for that river flooding after all of the rain. Thanks for the comment Troy.
Risk verses reward, life is full of these decisions, you have many more days, be calm…. It has been an incredible storm changing thousands of lives…
Indeed!
It’s so strange that your intuition was the correct one actually, I shouldn’t say it’s strange it’s probably always going to be true
For those in S Florida many have probably lived here when Hurricane Charley blew threw. He was also supposed to hit Tampa but veered south. So when Ian was supposed to hit Tampa as well for those in SW Florida should have possibly anticipated this after Charley. We had Ian pretty bad here in Volusia County (Daytona Beach area) with 5 fatalities and our beach erosion from Ian had homes teetering on the end of falling into the ocean. Nicole just blew through and was kind enough to finish what Ian started. It’s so bad here in Volusia with the damage and Ian caused severe flooding and we got over 2 feet of water. Hurricanes usually don’t hit where they are supposed to. Seen them supposed to go in the North Atlantic and changed course to FL. Always be ready to leave
Debra, very good points. I was also here in the St. Petersburg area when Charley was headed our way, and everyone was convinced that it was going to nail us. I had that feeling with Ian since it was lining up very similarly, but I was mentally preparing for the case that I was wrong and it was going to make landfall here. It is so true that most of the time, when you are in the center of the cone 3-4 days out, that will not last. And few realize how impactful these storms can be on areas far from the landfall area because of their size and the way they function and move. It's crazy how much damage Ian caused to NE Florida. These storms have a mind of their own for sure, and you can't turn your back on them. I hope you stay well, and thank you for watching.
@@AquaCultured I give you credit no way in hell would I ride out a hurricane on a boat. I don’t care if it’s a cat 1 or a cat 5 or even a tropical storm. I get seasick on a cruise ship. When Charley came through I was living in Orlando at the time and my parents were in Port Orange (dad) and New Smyrna Beach (mom) and I rode out Francis and Jean in New Smyrna Beach. Ivan was expected to hit us and I left for IA to visit friends while evacuating and he went to the panhandle instead. Jerk! Jean was supposed to veer off to the North Atlantic but uh no. She decided to do a loop de loop and strike us. Made it home just in time for Jean. I’ve been through many hurricanes and we have had bad tornadoes here in Volusia County. For some reason when it comes to hurricanes and tornadoes I have a 6th sense with them. I took mom to the ER due to a fever from chemo and she remembers me telling her that I could “smell the tornado”. It hadn’t hit. We had a bad storm but no tornado until the middle of the night when an EF4 monster hit and destroyed neighborhoods and even turned into a water spout at one point while crossing the Halifax River. One other time I had a bad sense and knew a tornado was nearby. That night we had a tornado outbreak in my county as well as other counties. I should have been a meteorologist 😆. I lived in Tampa for Hurricane Irma! I’ve been through many and I know others have also which shocked me that people stayed in places with one bridge for Ian even though they were on the edge or outside of the cone. Tampa keeps evading these hurricanes but Irma was nasty.
Good that it missed you. I would have probably gone straight west into the gulf to get away from the storm tracks.
Thank you, me too! Yeah that could have been an option, but a gamble I was not willing to take
Good on ‘ya!
Thank ya!
To find a leak, try pressurizing the cabin with a leaf blower or two and spray soap water on the suspect spots. I have often wondered if this will work.
In theory that sounds like a good idea, but I am afraid it will be a bit difficult pressuring the cabin on my ol’ boat since there are so many places for air to escape. May be more feasible on a newer vessel.
We live on our 30' S2 Yachts sailboat and our home port is Fort Myers Beach. I saw the NOAA 7am brief on Monday before the storm and saw it 'just' shift south a tiny bit. Dunno what that triggered my brain to run but we sure did. Ran up the river to Alva 34nm inland. Past the lock. Water control dumped the river down to -8' where it normally is and we still saw a surge over 5' past normal. 85 sustained, 125 gusts. Everything is safe and sound, boat took no damage save one small canvas rip. I can't believe how well we faired. All my neighbors on the balls are shipwreaked. No one else ran. People even ran from Tampa to FMB. It's such a mess.
Wow! Good on you for making that move! Were you tied up to a dock in Alva? That’s pretty amazing regarding the water adjustment and surge up there, so crazy. Yeah I have now heard of several folks that ran down to FMB from Tampa, so terrible. Thanks so much for the comment, that is really good info in the case of a future event, and so happy that you did so well!
@@AquaCultured I was at a friend's dock up here. I know of another sailboater that just spiderweb'd into the trees on one of the oxebows just up river of me. They also did well through the storm. A lot of the old old salts I talked to leading up to the storm all said; 'If you're gonna run, get above the locks, otherwise don't bother.' Of course none of them ran cause it was sposed to go north right up until the last minuet. idk if you know how slow sailboats go but it's a full day's sail/motor to get above the locks and 24hr's isn't enough when the winds start to pickup the day before.
@@SunsetSpecter Ah very nice. Yeah, definitely getting upstream of a lock or two would be ideal, and for sure, not the quickest of processes for us slow boaters. Also, I know they operate on a schedule, so you have to get to the lock before they shut down for the day. Did they modify their hours of operation for the storm? I was actually on a trawler off of the FL Keys when I was a kid when Andrew was coming. We ran up to Ft. Myers and anchored up in the Caloosahatchee River for the storm and did well.
@@AquaCultured Being between locks was the plan. That way it protected from the Oke dump. They did modify their hours. They stayed open til 9pm from sometime before monday up until the storm to let boaters, especially slow boaters like myself, get to safety. I made sure to impress on the keeper my thanks for him having to work late.
Truly Greatfull you came through ok 😎😎😎🚢🚢🚢🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸
Thank you Ken! I can’t describe how greatful I am!
Hey Butch, that leak could be on port or starboard side collecting water. Maybe just needs some caulking/sealant. Looks like it’s following the beam once it’s internal.
On bridge, but I think you knew what I meant 😂
Right after the storm passed, while things were still saturated, I went up in to the fly bridge with a hose and tried recreating the leak by spraying every imaginable area up there… inside bench seats, behind cabinets, etc. I found a couple of potential spots that I have since sealed up. So fingers crossed I took care of it. Time will tell
🤣
Oh yes the Albemarle sound here on the Outer Banks NC USA I have seen the sound empty many times. Sometimes nor easters are worse here than hurricane's are.
It's amazing how much influence that wind has on the water moving in both directions! Yeah I have heard those nor easters can create a doozy of a weather event, and coupled with cold weather to boot!
OMG, I would of been scared to death. I’ve ridden out many a hurricanes but not on a boat?😳🥺
It’s definitely a different experience and not for the faint of heart!
After going thru the left eyewall of Hurricane Charley I left every time for any hurricane and I have since moved out of Florida.
Were you on a boat for Charley? Or ashore? It can definitely change a person when you experience something like that. I heard some folks that have experienced several major hurricanes say that Ian traumatized them
I understand completely
The whole "mechanical issue" thing, and fuel costs, are why I'm so much more interested in sailing. Sure it has it's own troubles and risks, but hell if I'd be saving tens of thousands on fuel and wear on engines.
I can understand that outlook. Sailing and power vessels have their pros and cons. You can also go down a hole with rigging repairs and upgrades on a sailboat. And I have seen many with a sailboat use their vessel primarily as a motor boat. It all comes down to your preference and what your goals are. I can definitely appreciate a sailboat for many reasons
You should of taken care of the roof structure before this went Epic
I am not sure I follow what you are saying.
Wow, stud man. Totally great dude!!!!
😎😎😎 thanks Mike!
I was curious why folks who moor their boats stayed in Tampa/ St Pete harbors….but as you say, where do you go …but yikes, the boats are sure close together in their slips.
Definitely a calculated risk no matter what you decide, and you just have to roll the dice.
The base of arch was leaking on our 44'OFC. It may be the cause
Yeah I have sealed all around the hinge area of my arch, as I suspected that was in issue in other spots. What is your arch setup? Mine has the hinge right where it meets the sundeck above the side decks, right above your back if you were sitting on the bench seat. I know other 44’s are set up different
@@AquaCultured ours is the same your arch. I removed all of the old caulking this year. Almost a tube on each side and I believe it is sealed. Glad you are ok. Sorry for people not so fortunate
@@mikekremer5417 Roger that! Yeah I resealed it all this last year with DC 795. But I found a crack in the top of my arch after the storm that may have been getting water ingress, so that is now sealed as well. We shall see!
Honest question. Why don’t live aboard folks take their boats out to sea away from the storms when they’re coming in??
Well, there’s not really a getting away from the storm in most situations because they are much of the time very large. You may be able to get away from the most dangerous part of the storm if you are lucky in the route you choose, but hazardous conditions are far fetching. By going to sea, it may work out, but you may not only be putting your vessel at risk, but your life as well, as you will be alone out there for the most part. It’s not uncommon for boats to have mechanical problems, especially in adverse conditions, and if that were to happen out there, things can go south in a real quick and dire way. And there is always the potential the storm track will shift and come in your direction, which would certainly not be good. Even large vessels/ships have met their demise when going out to sea to better their chances of survival. Check out the fate of the HMS Bounty. The captain decided to take to sea when Hurricane Sandy was coming up the East Coast, only for the ship to be lost and crew losing their lives. So, in summary, it’s not as straightforward as one would think. It’s a roll of the dice no matter what you decide.
just as we said, it went right over my property in englewood/grove city. house was ok. rental property with trailer total loss.
Geez! So sorry to hear about the rental property. I hope insurance works out okay on it
We had a Gulf Star 50 and I had 4 points for to anchor.
Gulfstar 50 Sailboat?
@@AquaCultured Yes my wife is very small so I had to re-rig everything so just the two of us and out Kitten could sail her to Grand Cayman by out selves.
@@dave5833 fantastic!
Could you go north towards Panhandle?
For this storm that would not have been advisable, atleast in regards to the forecast uncertainty of the track. There was a real possibility Ian could have gone right up to the panhandle. And it is an open ocean trek of close to 200 miles to get to the panhandle from where I am. So it would be a big bummer if you go all that way to then find out the storm is coming right for you.
So the question is, why don’t you bring the boat north before hurricane season? You do live full time on the boat? I don’t get it.
Another great question. By north I am assuming you mean Northeast? I do have plans to do that at some point. Yes I do live aboard, and I work full time, in which my job necessitates me to travel quite a bit, so I have to strategize things well to make that work, because I am not going to leave my boat on anchor or mooring unattended while I travel, and pulling in to marinas to pay daily rates all of the time gets very costly. I am also have a few more things to do to my boat before I embark on a journey like that. But trust me, I would love to head north in the summer to get away from the heat and humidity here. But also, the northeast is not immune to hurricanes either, in fact Nova Scotia just got smacked pretty good, and super storm sandy was a pretty crazy one if you recall that.
Also, just because people live on a boat full-time doesn't mean they don't work. I work full-time in a hospital and don't have the luxury of being able to work from home. I can't just move my boat away from my hospital area. I'm also expected to be at the hospital during hurricanes in case of mass trauma. It's just like living in an apartment or house...it's just a boat.
@@resurrectedwrecks336 indeed, everyone’s situation is unique, and it is up to them to live it the way they want and not the way that is expected
Those winds were only about 20mph. And people didn't know there the storm was going because in all the "new tech" they now have for hurricane predictions, couldn't have been more wrong. Having family in Fort Myers I was watching this storm since in Cuba. All the weatherman said it will hit Tampa. But 2 small lines passed by Fort Myers and the it happened. Only 2 or so weatherman mentioned it shifting to Fort Myers but they decided to believe in technology and not that all should prepare for the worst. Really unfortunate. God be with all who are there.
Thanks for the comment Mackenzie. Regarding the wind speed here, it’s hard to give a feel for the wind speed on camera without showing my anemometer. But we were sustained much higher than 20 for much of the day with gusts up to 80. Also, another positive side effect to the tide being so low, is that our boats were somewhat sheltered from the wind since we were sitting so far below the docks and sea walls. And when I was outside, it was usually in between squall lines. But yes, you are right about the uncertainty of the forecast on this storm, and all of our local meteorologists were saying how much low confidence they had on the track until the storm cleared Cuba and they could start picking Ian up on local radar and then subsequently see any wobble in the storms movement, thus becoming more confident on any turn or track adjustment. Just shy of a week before landfall, I told friends that my gut was having Hurricane Charley vibes, but I was still very much on edge with what could have been worst case scenario for us up here in Tampa Bay. It is indeed so very unfortunate, and my heart goes out to everyone down south of us. I hope your family faired okay.
Just wondering if you were planning on staying if it did hit us
Good question! With Ian, I probably would have stayed no matter where it ended up coming ashore just because of the high amount of forecast track uncertainty and its' angle of approach. Now, if there is more forecast certainty, and/or if we were in the southern portion of the cone of uncertainty a few days from landfall, I likely would have moved and would move in that type of scenario in the future to a safer location.
I have a question, why don’t guys like you move your boat away from the danger zone inside of riding it out? I get that a lot of others just don’t have the ways or means to move.
The problem is not knowing where the danger zone is going to be, atleast in this situation. Much of the time the forecasters don’t know exactly where the storm is going until it is really close to landfall. There were many folks who thought the danger zone was going to be where I am, and they ended up moving their boat right in to the direct path of the storm. So it is complicated unfortunately.
👍⛵🌊🎣🏖️⛱️💯
😎🤙🙌
Cargo Ships 🚢 Wait Out The Storm ?
That’s a good question!
But why though? You own a boat clearly you have the money to move it, Why risk the damage?
The problem is not knowing where safe harbor is going to be because of uncertainty in the forecast track of the storm. Many folks thought the storm was going one way, then moved their boat another way only to end up right in its path, subsequently losing their boat. I wish it was as easy as just move it out of the way, but unfortunately the out of the way is elusive and not straightforward
Why would you not move North out of danger? For all the boaters that just can't be bothered to move away it's just going to make insurance completely out of sight!
Good question. For this storm, many of the forecasts were showing more confidence that it was going to stay west of our coast and head toward the Panhandle, which is pretty common for storms in the Gulf. And it is pretty much no man’s land between Tarpon Springs (northern Tampa Bay Area) and the panhandle, which is about a 200-300 mile open ocean stretch. So it’s not a real great direction to go, especially since the storm could very likely follow you and then you get slammed in an unfamiliar place.