[C320-list] Helene

[P.F. Ross]

I also got lucky on my boat, house not so much.

Our home is one of the few "survivor" homes in our neighborhood (built in
60s), the rest replaced with homes that meet current flood zone codes.  Our
elevation is about 5' so I knew we were going to be close.

I happened to be here to look over a home renovation project and got to see
the whole thing.  Helene was a couple of hundred miles offshore when it
passed by here so we got S winds at maybe 40 kts gusting to 60 kts.  But S
wind blew all the water in Naples bay to the N where our canal happens to
be.  I thought we were in the clear in the late afternoon as the water
level in our canal went down due to ebbing tide and (I thought) passing of
the eye.

At about 8 pm, the water was about even with the top of our seawall, the
highest I had personally witnessed.  At about 9:30 water was up to the door
sills and soon started coming in.  I could only watch.  High tide was at
about midnight so I figured we might get another 1/2 to 1 ft.  I sat inside
as the water rose to about 1 inch or less through much of the house.  Good
news is that it never got any higher than that.

At daylight I could see water witness marks on the outside that showed our
floor level was just an inch too low.  So lots of cleaning and drying for
me.

Beta Wave survived with no damage, the third hurricane (Irma, Ian and
Helene) she has endured since we moved her here in 2014.  Part of her good
fortune is that we have a home dock on a canal far from the Gulf which
tempers wave action.  I always double check dock lines and add extra spring
lines before we leave for hurricane season.  I also use a DIY fender board
made from 4' of a 4" PVC pipe and two 6" fenders to keep her off our
vertical pilings.  It is what I use for normal docking but obviously works
pretty well even for hurricanes!

As long as I can get the house dried out without mold (time will tell) I
will have dodged a bullet.  Not so for folks further N in the states really
ripped by Helene, my heart goes out to them.

Frank Ross
Beta Wave #206
Naples, FL



On Sun, Sep 29, 2024 at 9:05 AM Diane Fowler via C320-list <
c320-list at lists.catalina320.com> wrote:

> Hi, Jack,  Windy City just has stripes messed up again.  Do you remember
> that man's name who sold them?  He bought all the Catalina stuff a few
> years ago.....
>
>
> Captain Diane Fowler, CRS, GRI, e-PRO
> Illinois real estate Broker.
>
> Let me help make your sale a breeze.
>
> 239-850-4935
> Sent from my iPhone
>
> > On Sep 29, 2024, at 1:51 AM, Jack Brennan via C320-list <
> c320-list at lists.catalina320.com> wrote:
> >
> > Well, Sonas got lucky again, I think
> >
> > We inadvertently evacuated to Italy for a long-planned visit to Pompeii
> when the hurricane breezed by and caused a storm surge of more than 7 feet
> in Tampa Bay.
> >
> > Photos from a friend show Sonas intact in her slip with Bimini, solar
> panels and sails intact. Helen had been a thunderstorm when we left.
> >
> > We also got lucky on land. We live on a barrier island, but our
> waterfront complex is somewhat elevated and protected. We had flooding, but
> nothing reached the townhouses.
> >
> > Boats at our dock weren't so lucky. At least two sailboats sunk, others
> had significant damage and powerboats apparently are scattered all over.
> >
> > The dark side of paradise.
> >
> > Jack Brennan
> > Sonas, 1998 Catalina 310
> > Tierra Verde, Fl.
> >
> >
> >
> > Sent via the Samsung Galaxy A32 5G, an AT&T 5G smartphone
> >
>