Hurricane Irene

[Capt Chuck]

Because of this storms path (Both Past, Present & Future) skirting the eastern seaboard. I am confident that many fellow SeaCrafters have been or soon will be effected.
Please post, if you can, what your situation is in your town / neighborhood. Many of you have not been through this type of environment.
Please be safe & prudent

Capt Chuck for the CSC Crew

[strick]

Been very quiet on this board this past week...most most have been preparing for this I assume from the lack of posts. Good luck everyone.

strick

[uncleboo]

It's a little after 2:00 and the wind has been blowing for the last 12 hours here. Picked up to around 35-40 early this morning and has steadily increased. It's currently blowing around 50-55 and still raining. As of 12:00, we've had 6.5-7 inches of rain. Saw some pics of a friends house on the waterfront with water up to the deck. I fully expect, before the winds change direction, for the water to be in their house. The winds are supposed to begin increasing over the next few hours up to around 75-80
here. Fortunately, we have not lost power, YET. BTW, the SeaCraft was put in a big strong warehouse yesterday!! I'll post an update later tonight or in the morning. Hope everyone else is safe and makes it through this event with no problems.
Boo

[NOLA Riverrat]

From someone who has weathered hurricanes since 1947 thru Katrina, we send our prayers and offer our assistance to those in the way of Irene.

[riptide]

Pulled the seacraft thursday to beat the panic.She is in my driveway strapped down.Under a mandatory evacuation but going to ride it out.Worried about trees falling because of the saturated soil from record rainfall recently.
Going to be a long night.

[Smitty46]

Monmouth County ,NJ
Saturday afternoon and I am prepared as I can be.
Pulled my 77,20ft MA from the Atlantic Highlands Marina yesterday at sunrise.
Boat is on the trailer in the driveway.
Good luck to everyone.
I've got my fingers crossed.

[tomfl]

Yeah, been there done that. 3 hurricanes in 2 years, 2 of them the eyes went right over our house 3 weeks apart. And yes, it is dead still in the eye of a hurricane!

For those of you that haven't been through one, the biggest thing you'll face can be the "after" effects; no power at the gas stations, supermarkets, stoplights, etc. No power means no barcode readers, no cash registers! No shopping! No traffic laws! Chaos!!

Once the stores come back online, there will be a total chaotic, mad rush for food and water and gas by those who did not prepare. They will trample you to get food, litterally. They will blame the stores, the government, and even you for not taking care of them in a time of crisis. I've seen fights over simple things like a gallon of milk. A gallon of gas. Stupid! It was like a 3rd world country. Shocking.

Here's what my wife and I do now:

We have a 6KW generator (about $500 at the big box stores), and enough QUALITY extension cords and gang plugs (don't forget the gang plugs or you'll be unplugging a light in one room and stumbling through the dark with extension cord in hand to get to another room and plug one in there, don't ask me how I know that!) to power a bunch of stuff together.

We also bought a cheap little window A/C unit that the generator can handle along with the fridge and some lights. Just large enough to keep your bedroom cool so you can sleep at night. Don't go nuts with the size or you'll burn up all your reserves of gas.

At the first sign of a hurricane FILL your car with fuel. Fill your wife's car with fuel. Fill your kid's car with fuel. Do this 3 days before anyone else who is sitting on their duffs pondering how long they can procrastinate before taking action. Fill your boat if it's not a premix boat, as that can be used as a fuel supply should things not come online soon enough. Fill enough auxiliary cans that you think would last a week when running the the generator under load for a handful of hours a day (they burn more gas the more stuff you have plugged into them).

Get yourself a cheap little weber kettle grill for $80 and a few bags of charcoal. Also a little "chimney" charcoal starter to make life simple and easy. Keep a stack of newspapers to use as fuel in the chimney starter. Charcoal grill is safer to store than propane in your house/garage (don't use it inside obviously).

Get a ton of bottled water, lots of it, like AT LEAST 4 cases of the small bottles for 2 adults. You'll need about 1 gallon per person, per day.

Before the storm hits, turn your freezers and fridges to their coldest setting.

Stock up on ice if you don't have a generator. Blocks are far better than cubes. Fill your freezer and fridge to the gills with gallons of water. They will stay cooler longer if they are full of cold stuff. You'll want 2-3 gallons of milk, a couple dozen eggs as those are things that you can survive on as long as they are cold. Get a few boxes of cereal for your milk.

You'll need more than that to eat obviously, but that will get you started. During hurricane season we stock the freezer with burgers, hot dogs, etc as those are things we will cook on the grill. Also lots of bread, peanut butter, jelly, and other food items, focusing on non-perishable stuff in case you run out of gas with the generator (or ice).

Personally I would not stay in a wood-frame house that is NOT hurricane rated in any hurricane over a cat 2. A wood frame house that is hurricane rated my butt would vacate at Cat 3. Our house has poured concrete walls, floors, ceilings on both levels and hurricane shutter and we feel safe here until a cat 4. I can't offer you advice on how to prep your wood home for a hurricane, maybe others can though.

If you're going to leave, don't waste time debating it. Pack your stuff and leave before the rush so you don't go through a hurricane parked in traffic on I95.

Hope I didn't bore you guys with the details, but that's our hurricane preparation in a nutshell, and it's worked through three hurricanes, so hopefully it will help some people in the future who have not been through one.

The beauty of the shopping list (barring the generator and window A/C) is that it's all stuff that will come in handy in everyday life. You'll eat all the food and water anyways should the hurricane come through or not. So you're not spending a ton of cash on stuff that will go to waste should the storm not hit.

The best thing about a hurricane is that you get great warnings from NHC and they are slow-moving. If you're in doubt, pack up early and head West young man!!

To all those getting pounded out there as we speak, my heart goes out to you and I hope the damage is extremely minimal, like just a good yard cleaning! Just remember how lucky you are that it wasn't a cat 5, and that will put things into perspective.

-T

[76Red18]

Thats the way to do it. Be prepared to not rely on anyone but yourselves and you neighbors!! After your first storm you become a little closer to your neighbors. One thing to note, I ran out of jerry canned fuel on the 4th day and siphoned pre mix out of my boat for the next 10. Small engines run fine on pre mix. Peanutbutter and jelly dominate my survival kit. I live on high ground and get water from a well, so water isn't an issue.
Good luck to all!!

[bobbert]

Hello Everyone!!
Greetings from sunny Sayville, on the south shore of Long Island. It is now 5:45 pm. Light breeze with gentle warm summer shower. Took boat out this AM in Dense fog and light rain and no wind.. Checked out Ocean at Schinnecock Inlet did not look that bad, one hour later I could hear surf from the dock, one mile away. Local gas stations OUT OF GAS last night around 9PM. Expecting delivery 4PM today. Ice in very short supply. If this storm materializes as predicted I would anticipate a break thru of the barrier beach. This morning when I took the boat out Dune Road had spots with 1" of water and rising.
Have necessary supplies on hand and look forward to seeing what the morrow brings.
Stay safe
The Old Timer

[Bushwacker]

If you have natural gas, consider converting generator to run on natural gas. Doesn't cost that much and avoids the hassle of filling and storing jerry cans of gas! I have boat configured with a tee'd-in OB quick connector downstream of filter so easy to siphon fuel out of it for emergency use.