My last sailing blog entry,
2014 Launch Kicks-off with a bang, was about how wonderful the “Three Sisters” looks with her new gelcoat and lettering. This blog entry, unfortunately, is about how that damn hurricane/tropical storm Arthur, commenced to ruin that gelcoat!
As Arthur approached I prepared like a good sailor. Doubled up my mooring lines, double checked the chaffing gear, secured all gear below. The good news was that Arthur’s path, see below, was way offshore as it passed Martha’s Vineyard, and it was downgraded to a tropical storm as it moved up the east coast.
The track of the damn storm Arthur
There was some strong downpours, but the main threat was sustained winds, with guts into the sixties mph range.
The mistake I made was that I kept the boom tent on the boat during the storm. I had secured the tent with clips and bungee ties, but the wind proved to sustained and strong. The bungee cords wore with the sustained winds, lost their tension and allowed the metal clips to begin fluttering wildly in the wind. What was the result you ask? “Shotgun” spray marks on starboard and port aft hull in my beautifully newly gelcoated boat.
Arthur’s “shotgun” spray marks in the hull of the “Three Sisters”
So what did I learn? To do everything you can in a major storm to minimize windage and to take this type of event in stride. Now I have to figure out how much it is going to cost to fix the damn gelcoat.
So damn you Arthur, and please tell your friends to stay away from Martha’s Vineyard!!!
