By Brad Kovack
If you live in Maryland, North Carolina or Virginia, and the biggest, baddest
storm since 1999's Hurricane Floyd is bearing down on your homeport, there's
only so much you can do to save your boat. In most cases, that means tying down
anything that can be tied down, storing the remainder and hoping for the best.
Jimmy Weir of Virginia Beach, Va., thought he had Hurricane Isabel beat. Going
one better than throwing a few extra lines on his 21-foot Carolina Skiff and
25-foot Sea Fox, he had them hauled and dry-stacked at Jordan Point Marina near
Hopewell, Va., 100 miles inland up the James River, four days before the tempest
struck on September 18. But he still lost both boats when a nine-foot storm
surge lifted them-along with about 100 other pleasure craft lining the shore
on stands and blocks-and dropped them 200 yards from the waterfront in a mass
of broken fiberglass and twisted metal.
"I couldn't believe my eyes when I pulled over the bridge to the marina
the next day. There were three piles of boats and boat pieces and parts pouring
out of the complex and onto the highway. Words don't do it justice," Weir
said. "I live on the coast in Virginia Beach, so I figured things would
be a lot worse there than 100 miles up the river. Boy, was I wrong." Sandy
Joseph, title clerk at Jordan Point Marina, shared Weir's disbelief in the aftermath
of Isabel's fury. "We didn't feel that we were going to get the damage
that we did," she said. "The marina was totally destroyed. The gas
pumps, the rigging shack and the yacht club are gone. The ships store, which
is a two-story building, has been condemned. All the boats ended up stacked
like cordwood."
Isabel was a Category 2 hurricane when it hit North Carolina's Outer Banks early
on that Thursday afternoon, shortly before high tide. It brought with it 105-mph
winds, creating waves in excess of 15 feet and pushing the sea level more than
10 feet above normal. Piers were splintered. Roofs were ripped from homes and
tossed around like Frisbees. Trees were toppled onto power lines and buildings.
Roads were left underwater, cutting off access from the rest of the world. The
barrier islands were given face-lifts, with inlets and beaches moved or completely
washed away.
By the time Isabel collided with the mainland, it had been downgraded to a tropical
storm, but that wasn't much consolation to the people and places in its path.
Gale-force winds and flooding inundated the shoreline as far north as Wilmington,
Del., and as far south as Wilmington, N.C. President Bush declared federal disaster
areas in Virginia, North Carolina, Delaware and Washington, D.C. More than 3.3
million residents of the East Coast states were left without power for several
days after the storm, and at least 40 deaths have been attributed to Isabel
and its aftermath.
For Mid-Atlantic boaters, Isabel hit especially hard, in spite of the precautions
taken by many when the storm was originally forecasted as a Category 5 hurricane
headed for Norfolk, Va. According to BoatU.S., total losses to pleasure craft
will exceed $150 million, with most of the boats affected in the upper Chesapeake
Bay and Potomac River watersheds. Here, a combination of wind-driven storm surge
and high tide was exacerbated by record rainfall run off, catching many by surprise
with unprecedented high water."The sheer number of vessels in this area
resulted in one of the largest economic losses to recreational boaters from
any catastrophe, including Hurricane Andrew," said Carroll Robertson, BoatU.S.
vice president of marine insurance.
Jim Baugh of Richmond, Va., producer and host of the TV fishing show "Jim
Baugh Outdoors," was ready for the high water when Isabel turned its eye
his way. It was not the first hurricane he had weathered-he endured Gloria,
Fran and Floyd in '85, '96 and '99, respectively-but it was "definitely
the worst storm that our region has seen in possibly 100 years," he said.
"A big key to minimizing damage done by a hurricane is early preparation.
Find a secure harbor with a good marina and good docks, and keep the boat well
tied with enough line for the expected height of the storm surge."
On September 18, Baugh and his cameraman, Sean Finnegan, were holed up at the
Radisson Hotel in Hampton, Va., babysitting their 28-foot Pursuit and 36-foot
Trojan at Custom's House Marina, one of two homeports where they keep the boats.
Days prior, they'd had the Pursuit hauled, dry-stacked and anchored down well
out of harm's way. The Trojan stayed in the water, at the fixed dock behind
the Radisson.
"We had 25 lines tied to the Trojan, most of them new. We budgeted for
a 10-foot surge and a 100-mph blow," he said. "At mid-afternoon, we
stood on the lee side of the Radisson and watched the marina go five feet underwater.
All we could see were the boats. At that point, there wasn't much we could do
but pray."
Water swamped the deserted Hampton downtown and rushed up to the base of the
hotel, but then stopped. When the flood finally receded to the top of the dock
hours later, Baugh and Finnegan went out and readjusted their lines. "The
Trojan was fine. There was only minor damage to a few boats in the marina that
were tied on the outside dock next to the channel," he said. "And
the Pursuit made it through without a scratch."
Since his most recent brush with potential disaster, Baugh has realized some
important safety issues regarding hurricane awareness. "There are many
things to consider. For instance, keep all boats full of gas. Make preparations
to live without power for several days. Keep plenty of batteries and flashlights
on hand, and pre-wash a lot of clothes and towels," he posted on his Web
site, www.jimbaughoutdoors.com. "Should your boat be trailerable, move
it someplace safe, which doesn't mean next to your house, where it's subject
to high winds and falling trees. And always consider the storm surge and plan
accordingly."
Despite the hundreds of millions of dollars worth of damage caused by Isabel,
things could have been worse. Consider that, just this year, advances in storm
modeling have allowed NOAA to extend its hurricane forecasts from three to five
days, providing critical time for those in the danger zone.
Initial damage investigations by BoatU.S. reported effective storm preparation
among boaters. "Those who took advantage of the long lead time by either
removing their boat, or adding extra lines, chafe protection and buttoning down
tightly, generally faired OK," said Robertson. "While we've seen many
total losses, much more of the vessel damage is minor, such as scrapes, dinged
rubrails or torn canvas. And with any storm, this kind of damage is to be expected."
Still, preparations will only go so far if a hurricane is powerful enough-and
Mother Nature is unpredictable. While some areas were inexplicably spared, quite
a few pockets of severe damage to pleasure craft and boat yards did occur. Nautical
Boats, a 100-boat marina in Portsmouth, Va., nearly lost both of its 900-foot
fixed piers, and about 20 vessels went to the bottom of the Elizabeth River.
"There wasn't much we could do. We got hit head-on," said owner Harvey
Williams.
But a day after the storm, marina patrons began arriving to restore the facility.
Williams, it seems, had made a habit of keeping his fees low for "middle-class"
owners and was always quick to help out a client whenever and however he could,
often for nothing more than a "thank you." Now it's payback time.
Though it will be a tough road requiring a lot of gritty work, patrons are determined
to repair the marina they call home. So far, they have jacked up about 240 feet
at the end of pier B and muscled it back in place. Pier A, where damage is far
worse, is next. "I'm sitting here looking at a wreck of a 900-foot pier,
and my patrons are putting it back together," Williams said. "I guess
it shows that if you treat people right, it comes back."
And as for Jimmy Weir, it turns out he was among the lucky, too. Though his
25-foot Sea Fox was piled among the ruins of 20- to 50-foot boats at Jordan
Point Marina, it could be salvaged and fixed with a minimum of out-of-pocket
expenses. "Despite initial appearances, most of the damage was cosmetic.
I'm working with my insurance company and the marina right now to get the repairs
done," he said. "Which is great because I've only made two payments
on the boat."Z