Mr. Matthew
Greetings from North Myrtle Beach.
Been a crazy few days. Rode out Mr. Matthew on the boat. Pretty wild ride.
Rain started in sheets on Fri. (2-3” hour), kept up all day and night. Good way to find out if you have a dry boat (luckily, I had just re-caulked the forward hatch).
Saturday the wind started in earnest pretty early. In the afternoon we had a tornado touchdown at Briarcliff Trailer Park right across the waterway from me. The sky went very dark and it sure felt like the boat was trying to leave the water (all 20 tons of her). Very intense.
By mid-afternoon the rain was coming down sideways, and water was being blown off the surface of the waterway. Then the surge came in. The dock at Barefoot Landing went over its pilings, level with the road, and when the water came back down the dock didn’t come back down on the pilings. Substantial damage.
After what was left of the eye passed over us (right over us), all hell broke loose. When the backside of Matthew hit we really got our collective asses kicked! The wind held at a steady 40ish and then the freight train gusts blasted us. One guy with an anemometer said he clocked an 88mph monster. It was kinda weird because you could hear the gust coming and then a hard slam and the whole boat would shudder (shiver me timbers). This is when you start fretting whether you should have put the extra money out for the next size up dock lines. I had one of my dock cleats snap a horn. That’s a lot of power.
Fortunately, there is a safe shelter at the marina restrooms that we could go to if we had get off the boats. Still, not for the faint of heart. It was long, sleepless night.
The rain stopped in the evening and the winds dropped significantly after midnight. We lost power around 5pm, so the genny got a good workout. Finally got power back this morning.
Fortunately, we had sufficient lead in time to prepare so there wasn’t much damage in the marina. Lots of folks came down to get their boats prepped. I saw some owners that I only see maybe once a year. After the storm I only saw one boat with its flybridge canvas and frame that got trashed and the guy behind me lost his bimini.
Things are starting to get back to normal, but it’s gonna take a while as there was widespread damage to the whole area. Cherry Grove was completely underwater (seawater) again, and we lost at least five piers.
So, we survived Mr. Matthew. I didn’t feel that I was in danger at any time, but I’m not sure I’ll ride out the next one. KJ
Welcome to Greg Norman's Australian Grill, you don't even have to get off your boat. Big wind.
Barefoot Landing dock.
The road just outside the marina!
Bad juju.