How Tough is an Ariel? We'll see After Hurricane IKE

[Hull376]

Well gang,

Here we go again. Charisma is all tied up at Marina Del Sol on the west side of Galveston Bay. Looks like Spiderman shot webs all over her. She survived Rita, then Dolly, Eduardo. But now it looks like IKE is gonna make a direct hit with up to 100 mph winds and a tidal surge on the west side of the bay of up to 18 feet. The docks can rise up about 15 feet to the tops of the piers at the marina. Its a small man made marina surrounded with houses that are on raised ground (about 15-20 feet above sea level.) I'm about 3 miles from the Johnson Space Center. It doesn't look good based on the pictures coming in from Galveston. Ike will put lots of water in motion into the bay where it is fairly shallow and very susceptible to surge.

We'll get a good picture of how tough these Ariel hulls are---- past hurricane reports showed that although significantly damaged, they can take quite a beating without sinking. I'll read up on "fiber glass and you" as I'll probably need to re-read the "how to" stuff. That is if I am successful in finding the boat when the storm is over! Could be a roof ornament before all is said and done!

[mbd]

Good luck Kent - we'll be thinking good thoughts up here!

[Lucky Dawg]

Keep your head low Kent. You look dead-eye in Ike's path. Let us know when you come out of it.

[commanderpete]

Heartbreaking pictures in the news.

Initial reports indicate Marina Del Sol avoided the worst of the carnage

http://www.khou.com/forums/viewtopic...er=asc&start=0

Fingers crossed....

[ebb]

I understand that if it is at all possible get out of the marina and anchor out.
Extra long Dacron rodes bow and stern, extra anchors, good chafing protection, deep enough water.
There is good info on this alternative from the cruisers, as well as this site, on riding out storms away from other boats - if possible. It's great of course if there is some protection from the direct path of the system.
The biggest problem you hear and see is from other people's boats, big floating debris in an enclosed basin.

[Hull376]

Thanks for the kind words,

I got an email from "Shannon" who has an Alberg 35 down the E dock from me. She said that our dock survived intact-- the water raised the dock within a foot of the tops of the piers. All hell would have broken loose if it went any higher--- the "debris in the bathtub" scenario ebb is talking about. Anyway, Shannon says that her Alberg, and my Alberg are both "floating pretty" and she says that "Carl Alberg didn't design any "wimpy" boats!" Got to love it! Many of the other marinas didn't fair as well. The bigger ones fell apart, you'll see pictures on the news. Hardest hit in our area is the Houston Yacht Club, which is further up the bay and the docks are in a basin right on the bay as opposed to the many located in Clear Lake. Looks like all the boats are up on the land in front of the club house. Saw some pictures of gouges in the St. Augustine grass where the keels were pressing in the bottom, then moving inland leaving another "footprint" as the surge moved them inland. Follow the footprints and eventually you'll find a sailboat now high and dry.

[c_amos]

Kent;

Very glad to hear it, what great news!

"Carl Alberg didn't design any "wimpy" boats!"

[Hull376]

Here's a shot from better days showing the piling at the end of the floating dock finger piers. The water got within one foot of the top of the piling.

[kendall]

http://votaw.org/gallery/main.php?g2_itemId=7534

Looks pretty tough to me!

Checkout the rest of the pics, amazing.

Ken

[Commander 147]

Looking at the pictures Kendall posted it is heart wrenching to see the endless devistation caused by Ike. I'm really glad you survived to sail another day.

The thing that suprised me the most is how many boat owners never even bothered to remove the canvas from their boats. That is a relatively easy thing to do that will drastically reduce the potential damage to a boat.

[kendall]

Oh sorry, that's not my boat. Just found the link elsewhere and posted it.

I'm in michigan, so the only thing I saw of the hurricane was a few days of heavy rain, it did postpone getting the boat home for the winter though.

Realy surprised me too, so many boats look like there were no precautions at all taken.

Ken.

[Commander 147]

Am I mistaken?

Sorry for the confusion.

[ebb]

166 pictures of a lot of heartbreak!
Amazing! Got to see 1/3rd of them so far...

In separate pictures it looks like another Ariel and a Commander came thru fine.
Just sitting there waiting to go for a sail.

As willbe points out the number of furled staysails is amazing. Many of them seem to have stay furled altho many of the boats with them were unlucky.

Sails on furlers never come down unless to be replaced.
I'll bet there are owners who have never removed a furler sail themselves,
and may even think they don't.
Obviously the sails should have all been removed from their furlers.

I wonder how many of the boats that got loose were the usual semi-abandoned ones that no-one came down to check before the blow.
The incredible devastation might have been much less if all the boats had been lashed up properly.

Who's responsible? The owner of the boat?
Or the harbor master who must have toured his facility before the storm and did not or could not alert renters that their boats were potential lethal weapons?

Some boats park in a marina because the slip is worth a lot of bucks - sometimes more than the boat. An obviously abandoned boat should be impounded and removed when weather threatens.

There may have been inadequate tie points on the docks that could mean the facility owner is somehow culpable as well.

It may be moot that in a hurricane alley some marinas are designed better than others for eventual storms. And are better at keeping boats and debris tied up, protected and separated.

Global warming and global dimming are changing weather patterns and raising water levels. Put as a question: Are storms becoming more frequent and more severe?

[Hull376]

376---- That's me! Kent. You are correct. I think that many boat owners couldn't get down in time to properly tie off their boats because the storm was heading south, then took a turn to the north. By then, everyone was evacuating the coast and it would be really tough to get from, say North Houston down to the coast or Clear Lake to do anything--- roads clogged. You might get there, but not get out!. I for one had tied up Charisma for Hurricane Gustav and hadn't yet untied her.

That all said, I think these folks are not as focused on preparations as I've seen in other parts of the country when a hurricane is approaching. Things like taking off the canvas are a no-brainer. But lots don't do it.

And yes, ebb, you probably did see a couple of Ariels or Commanders in all those pictures. There are several in the area, a few that aren't registered with the Association.

It also looks to me like many of the sunken boats are in Watergate marina, and there are many fixed docks with short pilings. With the surge, the boats would have ridden over the tops of the pilings (assuming there was enough slack in the lines) and then "holed" themselves as the water level changed. Not sure if the lines would have held a larger boat down without parting in the case of short lines--- less than the heighth of the surge. But if they broke, then you have a big battering ram moving about the marina. Floating docks have their problems, but it looks like the fixed docks were worthless based on my knowledge of where they are and what the pictures show.

[kendall]

Am I mistaken?

Sorry for the confusion.

My mistake, reading without my glasses, saw the ken and missed the t.

Glad she came through the storm ok Kent, hope the boats in as good of shape as the pics seem to show.

Ken.