Irma
 

Zotcha was my first Golden (name on THT). PITA was second (Pain In The Arse). Currently Lucie (got her at a year and did not need to change). Now call her UMA (Up My Arse). And now freaking Irma!?!

Jason, I'm logged out of THT but saw that you are headed out of the Keys for RI. If you, or any other members, headed up I-95, I'm off Exit 8, HHI, SC. Only two rooms but plenty of places for six or so SeaCrafts.

Hoping Hernando Beach doesn't flood AGAIN...

Michael, be sure you, Cam (Old's Cool) and others have a plan to "ease to high ground". NOAA Weather pasta looks like it may slice and dice Florida, but many strands end up in the Palmetto State. Remember it's all just "stuff" - well except the "Seacrafts". (Hitch up to them before you head to the Blue Ridge!)

"No Bones" has been in Marathon living up to it's bug reputation...:cool:

Headed north via Turnpike & I-95 this afternoon !!

Patti is in the Bahama's till Thursday..:(

Let's hope for the best...

Irma looks like a bad one

I know she's not in stone yet but she's getting worse and looking worse for Fla. I've got room for a couple of boats if necessary.

I need to be in Columbia, SC for a funeral on Thursday. Then I'm not sure if I will leave HH and run down to HB, which is only a storm away from flooding, and I don't want to be there for ANY of that. I could abort the funeral, run down and pick up the Seafari, and get in line headed north. Too early to determine, but this is one of those times I do not enjoy my "if it ain't mandatory, I ain't insuring it" theory starts to really suck.

Best of luck to you!

Here ya go. For those of us fixin' to take a whoopin' from Irma, here's a link to the MBG forum and a guy who updates the NOAA info regularly.

http://mbgforum.com/topic/4962-storm-irma/

Sure hope she gets back safe - hopefully she can get an earlier trip home.

I will be leaving Key West tomorrow about 3pm with about a million of my closest friends in gridlock on US1 (my flight out on Thurs is likely to cancel as they are closing the airport Wed night). Hope to be in N Florida by Th or Fri...

Irma
 

Our prayers and best wishes to our kids and grandkids in Stuart, longtime Florida friends and the special folks we've met through CSC in dealing with Irma. We are certtainly thinking of you all and praying for a course shift. Both of our kids have been in harms way. Just a few years ago our prayers were for our son in lower Manhattan with Sandy. He was fine! Still hoping to see many of you at Hommassa.
Anita & Terry

I made it to Hernando Beach. North Florida seems fine, however gas stations and dollar stores are very crowded. Pickups with five or six plastic fuel jugs across the bed!

Terry or Doug, I'm 7 miles away and I'm not sure the Frigg'It! is going back to HHI with second storm brewing right behind UMA!!!

Michael.

Hurricane "Willies"
 

Michael, Be careful about running in circles and wringing your hands too early because you'll be wore out by the time we figure out what this thing decides to do. A high altitude cool front passed over our part of the state today and that may "buffer" it off to the Bahamas but it's probably here too early. The islands in the Caribbean and Cuba will knock it down to a Cat 3 by the time it makes landfall in south Florida or the Keys. If it comes up the center of the state or even crosses from as close as Ft. Pierce we would only have 40 mile an hour winds by the time it gets to the west coast. As long as the eye is below us the winds blow off shore and push the Gulf of Mexico away from the west coast. They don't start pushing the Gulf toward us until the eye gets north of us, and only when the eye is in the Gulf. NOW, if the dang thing squeezes through the Straights of Florida and gets in the Gulf, is only when we need to be concerned. Typically, they wondered off toward northern Mexico, Texas or Louisiana because of the rotation of the earth dragging the tops westward, EXCEPT in the case of an approaching cool front this time of year that will steer them back toward the west coast of Florida - THAT IS WHEN WE FREAK OUT. Especially when the eye passes north of us and we get that wind driven tide that effects the shallow waters in the Big Bend area. See what Kmoose and NoBones say, they've been through a bunch of these too, but I think it's too early get excited. If you can't find a place in Brooksville or Spring Hill to drag your Seafari, you can pull it 50 miles down to my shop in Largo, but its' a higher elevation by 30' in Spring Hill.

The models keep flip flopping and it must be very frustrating for the forecasters. It's getting to look like a very bad situation, with the media whipping up the emotions. People will be leaving the keys, Miami, Lauderdale, etc. Where will they go. 95,75 and the tp will be crazy. I've got the camper filled with 80 gallons of fuel and could board up and leave now, but need to see where the grandkids will be, where to put the boat to anticipate which way trees may be falling on it.

Good luck down there fellas. Looks like the real deal.

As you can guess Me and Mel are super busy at our utility prepping for restoration. As of right now it looks like an east coast path but that's what they predicted for Andrew and it went strait. Storms of this magnitude create their own weather and path. It's still too early for certain but within the next 24 the models should be pretty solid. If you are coastal on either side of the state or in south Florida I would leave for the weekend.

I'm not freaking out yet. Have to bring the Seafari someplace, but HHI is not the solution. My PTSD will not allow me to sit on an interstate. May run up 19/98 and take some back roads due north someplace. Do not want to be here to see my retirement home flood. Would like to get sand bags up a couple of feet on front and rear entrances before bailing. Otherwise, standing by.

Vezo

Magic seaweed is saying the Bermuda high will
move east. Let's pray it does.

We are about 16 ft above sea level.
All block house including interior walls.
Built by the third little pig in'49 for AF officer housing.
2x6 Tn G cypress roof decking but no hurricane
straps on the trusses.

We have a giant ficus just out the back door...
Be safe my friends!!!

We're out of here as soon as possible, probably tomorrow.
The keys is no place to be, no high grounds to climb, only falling coconuts!
Probably headed to area 442, ....if Irma follows, then we may continue north!
A little nudge East is good, a bigger nudge East and out to the Atlantic would be better.
Listening Irma?

Be safe everyone.

You guys be careful!!!!! I saw a video a minute ago on the news of the "18 mile stretch" and the traffic is moving, however not too fast!!!

Yeah, it's not the 100 mph wind that will kill you it's that 100 mph falling coconut!! Be safe.

FYI for you coastal folks (that includes me): The interstates have been jammed and SLOW since early afternoon, all the way to Gainesville, but the small, interior roads were still clear as of Wednesday pm. I expect they will stay that way tomorrow and tomorrow night. After that, all bets are off. Best traveling will be at night, late at night.

And a hundred mile and eighty mile per hour coconut can kill you INSIDE your house.

Drove Key West to Palatka yesterday afternoon/night:
Gas available at most places in Keys up to Tavernier and traffic not bad except the long stretch from Key Largo to FL City was showing slow on GPS
Decided on Card Sound road - had no traffic and was easy (Very fast too)
Didn't see any gas in Key Largo or homestead - Turnpike was a mess so went to 95 in Delray - tried gas again in W Palm and Jupiter - no luck.
Racetrac, Loves, and Pilot all had gas in Ft. Pierce (exit 129)
Loves in Daytona did too.
Took 11-1/2 hrs for an otherwise much shorter drive - traffic by I-95 construction Delray to Ft-Pierce was most of the delay but we could see the turnpike stopped when we were doing 20-30 on I-95.
Good luck all.

Congrats on getting out safely! Good move to go the Card Sound route, sometimes it's worth the extra three miles!!

Good grief boys and girls, looks like it is going to be a
west coast thing now.:confused:

No worries, you will get your share of wind.

Damn thing is really dicey. I'm preping for two senarios, stay put if it goes ashore south of Naples and get the heck out of here if its forecast to stay over water north of Naples. Decision time is 2 am tonight. We can be gone by 3. Talk about being scizo.

FWIW - My son drove up to Palatka from Bradenton this afternoon - took back roads and went through Ocala NF and it was no problem - no traffic - made it in under 3 hrs.

Forecast is a little strange???? Going from a cat 5 to a TS in 200 miles??? Don't wee this monster doing that. Thoughts?

Late to the thread here but I'm offering some help if somebody needs it

http://www.thehulltruth.com/dockside...l#post10654810

NSS.....a major pain in the rear!!! :( I'm over shutters and boarding up windows. Please stay over land when you get here bitch and die quickly!!

Thanks Flexpat, thats exactly the route I'd scetched out. Good to know that Google maps tells the truth.

The feeders have long arms.

Been wanting to have a large pine tree limb that was partially hanging over the house removed. I called my guy that did some work for me previously, last week. They got here yesterday afternoon late and went to work on several trees.
When I heard them start to work on the pine tree limb, I came out of the house just in time to here the crack of the limb. The guy that was holding the 40 ft ladder almost get hit by the thick end of the branch and the ladder get moved. I looked up and saw the guy at the top,grasping the broken limb from last years storm(Mathew)and desperately trying to hold onto the ladder with his feet. The chainsaw was dangling on a rope attached to his waist.
Some tense moments, but they managed to get the ladder back in place and nobody hurt. Close one.

Ya know looking at the latest updates the eye of this stupid storm is going right over my house, or just to the east very, very close! I feel bad for the folks out to the east of me in that 1 o'clock to 2 o'clock position of the storm's wall as it passes through. My big concern is 6:00 am Monday at high tide, which is a normal 2.4 ft summer tide, at least it's past the full moon!! If I make it through that into daylight with no water in the house I should be good. Is it beer thirty yet??

With all the prep and anticipation I am ready for this thing to be over with !Good luck to the west coast of FLA. Had friends run up from Lauderdale yesterday to Tampa stayed the night found out the were now in a evacuation zone so the drove east to 95 and have almost gotten home where the started yesterday !

Fort 442 is in full shelter mode....:eek::cool::)
Skip & Carla came up day before, her brother is due in early
AM from Homosassa. Total of 9 here for the duration !

Every Floridian is not exempt from this monster..

Capt Chuck said his anxiety level is at Cat 6...

Snookered boarding cruise ship to Alaska..

GFS looking for floating park benches...

Finster checked in with mom's place in Astor...

Everyone stay safe...

Tornados north and south of us already.

Our house was built by the third little pig.
Oh look, there goes a flying monkey on a picnic table.

This is bad for our entire state.

I have spent many winter seasons in the US and British Virgin Islands. And the images from there are heartbreaking.

Everyone stay safe!

Lloyd

So sorry to see what you people are going through.I hope you stay as safe as possible.Although those of us up north cant do mhch to help.Please know that you are in our thoughts and prayers.God bless you all.

Sitting here waiting for Irma is kinda' like waiting for your dad to come home from work to give you a whippen your mom promised you that you were gittin'. Long ass Florida is wearing it down some. Might be a Cat 2 when it gets to Tampa Bay. We'll try to knock some more edges off it before we send it up to Kmoose and Mel to deal with the aftermath. Both 1967's and Douggie's Safari are safe in the yard here at the shop.
Little concerned about Don V, Eric, Leland, Conner, Ter1 down on DPI and Vezo II coming through unscathed though.

Looks like I'm at least gonna have a blue roof for a while.

Power out 3:03:05 PM this afternoon... :(
Generac running smooth 3:03:21 PM ;)

Dad gum tree on my road rubbed high feed wire the wrong way...

9 Brave souls clinging to life at Fort 442....:rolleyes:

Can you say plop plop fizz fizz.....

I know making light of a bad situation is wrong !

Hot dogs on the Coleman stove, not bad at all.

Now till sun up will tell..

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More later.....