Irma update

I know many are concerned about us, and in the interests of keeping everyone informed, here is the latest update.


Vector midway through prep. Turned around, with scoots and tender loaded.

Forecast models have alternately targeted and un-targeted Charleston for a direct strike. As of the 5pm EDT forecast today, the best-guess track has Irma making a first landfall in SE Florida, bringing it inland for a while and thus robbing it of some energy, before going back to sea around Cape Canaveral and then coming back ashore somewhere along the Georgia coast.

Even if the eye comes ashore as far south as Brunswick, we will still see Tropical Storm force winds here, and Category-1 winds if it lands as far north as Savannah. We are expediting our storm preparations.


The 153' "Focus" is planning to ride it out at the dock. Note the anchor deployed.

Yesterday we decked the tender and then turned the boat around. This morning we took a Lyft over to the Enterprise car rental in West Ashley and rented a car for a week. At just $145, this was a no-brainer. When we got back to the marina, we topped off he scooters and hoisted them on deck. All loose items are out of the tender and it is lashed down, and the stuffed bears from the scoots have found homes in the salon.

With our new rental car we drove out to Moncks Corner, scene of the infamous paintball incident, to look at the tailrace canal off the Cooper River, and Lake Moultrie. This morning the bridge tender called me to say both railroad bridges were now operational, and in the course of driving out to the canal we actually ran into him and had a nice chat about conditions there.


Where we would anchor. Pinopolis Lock and Dam in the background. Bluffs, trees, and the dam provide some wind break.

I spoke to some folks with local knowledge and learned the Savannah River is not really an option. And Thunderbolt Marine, where we first saw Vector, informed me that they did not have space or equipment to put us on the hard for the storm.

So we now have two options. Secure the boat to the dock as best we can, or else go 30 miles up the Cooper River and anchor. It will come down to the wind speed forecast. Up to the limit of Tropical Storm force, (63kt or less), we will likely remain tied to the dock, and remain on board. Through Category 1 hurricane conditions (64-82kt) we will head upriver and ride it out on the boat. We'll try to do that early enough to get a Lyft back to town to retrieve the rental car.


These pedestals on a 115' yacht sported bar stools with covers until today. This crew will also ride it out here at the dock.

For Category 2 conditions or above, we will say our goodbyes to Vector and evacuate inland with whatever we can carry. If that's well forecast before we leave the dock, that's where Vector will make her last stand without us. It is unlikely she will survive a Category 3 or beyond if the surge lifts the docks off the pilings (about a dozen feet above the high tide line).

The important thing here is that we have a car and an evacuation plan for ourselves and Angel the cat. We have a place to go. And we'll have the important things (passports, hard drives) with us. In the time that remains before arrival we will do what we can to prepare, up to and including removing the canvas we just paid good money to repair (the canvas will likely not survive the removal, but the frame may not survive if we don't).


This 112' steel research vessel, the Nikola, came in to ride out the storm here.