If your boat is in Tampa or St Pete better get out now

[rsmith]

Any one in the NE quadrant better get to a safe place NOW! Especially Tampa Bay

 

[JD5652]

I'm south of the Skyway and tucked away 8 miles up the Manatee River.

Plan is to stay put with extra lines, etc.

Our marina is considered one of the best hurricane holes in SW FLA.

 

[rsmith]

Remember it’s not when it goes up it’s when the tide drops and boats get hung up on pilings and docks that sink them

 

[rsmith]

I'm south of the Skyway and tucked away 8 miles up the Manatee River.

Plan is to stay put with extra lines, etc.

Our marina is considered one of the best hurricane holes in SW FLA.

Riviera dunes? Floating docks are a bad deal in a surge. As the tide comes up the leverage arm on the pilings increases and the force of the boats docks and everything else pushes the poles over in the mud. At least you’re protected from all the derelict boats that are anchored out in the river.

 

[JD5652]

Riviera dunes? Floating docks are a bad deal in a surge. As the tide comes up the leverage arm on the pilings increases and the force of the boats docks and everything else pushes the poles over in the mud. At least you’re protected from all the derelict boats that are anchored out in the river.

Yes, Riviera Dunes.

Survived Ian and Idalia there so far.

We are looking at a possible 3-5 foot surge on Thursday morning with high tide being 7:15 AM.

But, that this mornings forecast....

 

[motoryacht lover]

Riviera dunes? Floating docks are a bad deal in a surge. As the tide comes up the leverage arm on the pilings increases and the force of the boats docks and everything else pushes the poles over in the mud.

Exactly what you described happened approximately 2 years ago in Southport, NC. Might have been Idalia. The owner of the marina then sued the boat owner’s saying their boats destroyed his docks. My understanding is the court system did not agree and ruled in favor of the boat owners.

 

[madhatter1]

Esperanza is also at Riviera Dunes not far from the JD. Having lived in the area for 30 years and witnessing many storms I feel good about the location and affects from this storm for now. Tomorrow we will have a much better idea.

The MadHatter is high and dry for now and after 3 1/2 years will finally go back in the water end of October.

 

[Avenger]

Helene was my M-I-L. If her namesake storm is anything like her, you'd better evacuate to Canada.

 

[JuiceClark]

I'm surprised the storm isn't supposed to take a hard right and come to my house, again! Much of my port engine is at the machine shop and the ol' girl is immobilized.

As someone with a floating dock behind my house, that I made myself, I can only say marinas should put in taller pilings. With the canal surge about 12' above median tide in Ian, my 52 was sitting there enjoying a bath without problems. It's particularly nice that gusts would blow it against the full dock length at the waterline...to spread out the blows. A fixed dock would have been 6' under water with my boat on top of it.

Good luck to everyone. Tie 'em long and tight - and to the tops of pilings rather than the dock. And put tape over all those vents!
The day before Ian:

 

[Pascal]

I remember a marina in NC on the icw which had floaties and the pilings had sleeves that would go up with socks if the surge how higher than the fixed pilings. Neat set up by $$$

 

[SeaEric]

Floating docks are a bad deal in a surge. As the tide comes up the leverage arm on the pilings increases and the force of the boats docks and everything else pushes the poles over in the mud.

Yep. Archimedes was right about the lever.

 

[bigbill]

with the amount of time given on this storm there shouldnt be much boat damage except the ones that want them to gone. plenty of time to move

 

[rsmith]

Seriously though those piles are only maybe 5’ above the dock 12’ surge it would have been on the lawn

I'm surprised the storm isn't supposed to take a hard right and come to my house, again! Much of my port engine is at the machine shop and the ol' girl is immobilized.

As someone with a floating dock behind my house, that I made myself, I can only say marinas should put in taller pilings. With the canal surge about 12' above median tide in Ian, my 52 was sitting there enjoying a bath without problems. It's particularly nice that gusts would blow it against the full dock length at the waterline...to spread out the blows. A fixed dock would have been 6' under water with my boat on top of it.

Good luck to everyone. Tie 'em long and tight - and to the tops of pilings rather than the dock. And put tape over all those vents!
The day before Ian:
View attachment 76862

 

[JD5652]

Seriously though those piles are only maybe 5’ above the dock 12’ surge it would have been on the lawn

I'm on south dock at Riviera Dunes near the fuel dock and the pilings in my slip are about 10 feet above MWL.

Right now the surge is suppose to be worst in the afternoon. Low tide today in Palmetto is 6:47 PM. So the surge will come in on an outgoing tide. I'm feeling relatively pretty good about it.

I'm also the dock master at the Homes of Riviera Dunes which is across the harbor from the public marina. We have 3 floating docks with 105 slips. We installed 13 new finger pier tie pilings in June. One of the "issues" with the Riviera Dunes Harbor is that it's 16-18 feet deep. Standard pilings are 40 feet long and "long" pilings are 50 feet long. We had to get special permits to bring the 50 foot pilings on a truck and then offload them on the Green Bridge onto the work barge. They usually drive them about 10-12 feet into the mud. That leaves about 10 feet above MWL max.

 

[carolinacoast]

Interesting about pilings by truck. There are big tides in the low country and the pilings all come to sites by barge. Most places I see have concrete pilings and docks. Matthew and Ian took out a lot of the would piling docks that were exposed.

 

[zigzag930]

Good luck to all here on the West Coast of FL, particularly those in Tampa and above.

We're in Punta Gorda, so it looks like we may get spared from another Ian like hit.

Looks like all the models seem to agree this time, with the path of the storm heading towards the Big Bend area. Lets's hope for everyone over this side that Helene stays cat 3 or below, but there sure is a lot of very warm water to cross still.

 

[JD5652]

Interesting about pilings by truck. There are big tides in the low country and the pilings all come to sites by barge. Most places I see have concrete pilings and docks. Matthew and Ian took out a lot of the would piling docks that were exposed.

Our marine contractor had to get the pilings from land to the barge somewhere and this is where they have traditionally offloaded.

Our docks have both concrete and wooden pilings. The docks themselves are galvanized steel frame with concrete decking.

 

[JuiceClark]

Seriously though those piles are only maybe 5’ above the dock 12’ surge it would have been on the lawn

SMH, how embarrassing for you to call me a liar, especially about something so serious. GFY.

You know the surge was 12' here and my home was under the East eye wall of Ian for about 8 straight hours.
My highest piling for Ian were 16' above med. tide...both pulled down. I have one 15' remaining and the rest are 12' to 13'...a foot or so above the floor in my Ian-flooded home.

There were several big Hatt MYs sunk at docks all around me. People should learn why my boat was unscathed where nearly all failed....instead of being a jackass about it.
Right now:

 

[rsmith]

Chill, im not calling you a liar I’m just saying if you say the piles dowling your floating dock in are 15’ above the dock you need to take your tape measure back to Harbor Freight

SMH, how embarrassing for you to call me a liar, especially about something so serious. GFY.

You know the surge was 12' here and my home was under the East eye wall of Ian for about 8 straight hours.
My highest piling for Ian were 16' above med. tide...both pulled down. I have one 15' remaining and the rest are 12' to 13'...a foot or so above the floor in my Ian-flooded home.

There were several big Hatt MYs sunk at docks all around me. People should learn why my boat was unscathed where nearly all failed....instead of being a jackass about it.
Right now:
View attachment 76878

 

[drburke]

Tony (Juice), I am loving that picture of your dock floating nicely next to the submerged shore!

SMH, how embarrassing for you to call me a liar, especially about something so serious. GFY.

Since I am naive, I choose to think "GFY" stands for "Good For You"

Stay safe!