The storm has been named Isaac and he's got us on our toes because our new boat, Asante, is sitting pretty on some jack stands in Ft. Lauderdale. I know the metaphor "sitting duck" might seem funny when a boat is actually out of water, but our boat is - quite literally - a sitting duck at the moment. If 90-100 mph winds were to hit Ft. Lauderdale, our boat stands a chance of tipping over and falling onto the concrete. I don't think I need to explain why a boat falling off jack stands is no bueno...
I called the yard earlier this week to discuss what should be done. The conversation went like this:
Me: "Hi there. So I see we've got a tropical storm heading our way potentially..?"He did offer to take down our enclosure in the event of a direct hit, but mentioned if it broke in the process it wasn't his responsibility and after yet another awkward pause he added "I might add some more jack stands, but we'll see..."
Yard Guy: (curtly and matter-of-factly) "Yep. Looks like it."
Me: "So.....um....what do you guys do for the boats in the yard in the event of a storm?"
Yard Guy: "Not much we can do."
[Awkward pause: this was not the reaffirming type of answer I was looking for]
Me: "So....you don't, like, have any anchors for tie downs or anything?"
Yard Guy: "Nope", he paused and I think he even might have even yawned as he threw in this next bit, "I mean, we've only had one boat fall over and that was with, ya know, 100 mile per hour winds..."
[I pointed out that by the time this storm reaches the US, they're predicting 90-100 mph winds...]
Yard Guy: "Yeah well..."(pause, as if he's thinking out loud)"...I don't think the storm will come this way, but you never know. I'm no expert. We just gotta hope for the best."
Awesome.
Luckily, it looks like this storm is going to turn into a Gulf storm and head to the west coast of Florida rather than the east. While I don't wish a hurricane on anyone, this new track is good news for our boat. Storms, however, are by no means an exact science and tend to have their own distinct personalities so the weather predictions can be wrong.
In the mean time we'll, ya know, "hope for the best"!
Love,
Brittany, Scott & Isla
* If anyone out there has a baby, I STRONGLY urge you to read the book Healthy Sleep Habits, Happy Child
. It is hands down the most useful parenting book I have read and I believe our Isla is a great napper, sleeper and baby because I followed the advice in this book. Having a child who sleeps well is the key to a happy child and happy child = happy parent!
3 comments:
Do you know if they chained the jack stands together and if the jack stands are on asphalt, concrete or something other than dirt or gravel?
From what we saw during hurricanes in the Sea of Cortez, those are the biggies for boats on the hard . . . assuming they have all sails and canvas off!
Stay safe!
I hope you, Isla and Asante have a safe passage through the next few days.
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