Waiting out Matthew

[Jay Knoll]

Don't like the trend we are seeing so I took Better Days off the dock this morning and out to a mooring at our marina. New 1" pennant on the mooring supplemented by a 3/4" backup line. Boat stripped, fingers crossed. We are heading inland tomorrow morning, hurricane shutters on the house, time will tell.

Jay

[kerrye]

Good luck.

[DesertAlbin736]

I would say you are correct to be very concerned & making preparations.

NOAA meteorology synopsis:

Discussion...
..dangerous Hurricane Matthew to approach the East Coast
Thursday afternoon...
..coastal and inland watches for Hurricane Matthew will likely
occur in portions of east central Florida later today...

Radar fixes from Cuba and satellite data indicate that Matthew is

moving toward the north or 360 degrees at about 9 kt. The hurricane

is being steered by the flow around the western edge of a

subtropical ridge. Most of the global models build the ridge

westward, and this pattern should force the hurricane to turn

toward the northwest across the Bahamas and to the waters just east

of Florida. Beyond 3 days, the ridge is forecast to shift eastward

allowing Matthew to turn northward and then northeastward.

Users are reminded not to focus on the exact forecast track since

strong winds, heavy rainfall, and a dangerous storm surge will

extend far from the center of Matthew. Most of the models shows a

strong hurricane near the East Coast of Florida and the southeast

United States from days 2 through 5.

My little brother lives in Fort Pierce, 15 miles South of Vero Beach. Although he works at the Pursuit Boats factory he doesn't own a boat himself. His house is on Ixoria Ave near Oleander BV, two blocks West of Highway 1, a little over a mile from the beach, so even if it downgrades to a Cat 1 (current forecasts for Thursday night are 70 to 90 MPH winds and 3 to 5 inches of rain) his neighborhood could see wind damage and flooding.

[Jay Knoll]

Yep this is serious. We have sat thru a bunch of these since we moved here in '94, this is the first time we have evacuated. We live on the barrier island so there is a strong possiblity that they will shut off the power and water. Time for a mini vaca in Orlando

[Beta Don]

A close friend is bringing his sailboat back from the Chesapeake and he's currently holed up near Beaufort SC - Looks like Matthew might go right over him!

He and I rode out several of these aboard our sailboats up the river from Biloxi in the 1980's and '90's. We've been lucky here since Katrina . . . . looks like he may be in the wrong place at the wrong time with this one

Don

[Jeremyvmd]

I'm keeping a close eye on this one. Still supposed to be potent when it hits NJ this weekend. Not thrilled about both boats being in the water, might pull the cat boat this Friday before it gets too bad. Just hoping it's like sandy was for me and not Irene (4ft of water in my garage)

[Nancy]

Sounds like a good move, Jay. Best of luck to all who are in Matthew's path. Keep us posted.

[DesertAlbin736]

I'm very worried about my brother in Fort Pierce. Just this morning I got a text from him saying he & his family plan to shelter in place with windows boarded up, stocked up with food, fuel, generator etc. But now NOAA is talking about a Cat 2 that may pass right over them, 115 MPH winds gusting to 130, 5 to 8 inches of rain, 2 to 4 ft storm surge, possible tornadoes. His house is 1.2 miles from the beach on totally flat ground. He's lived in Florida since 2000 & he's never gone through anything like this. Could be worse, latest forecast is that it will make landfall near West Palm Beach as a Cat 4. West Palm is not far from Fort Pierce. I advised he should evacuate, and I hope he does. He has two young boys. This one may reach Sandy level damages in Florida.
La Dolce Vita

[Jeremyvmd]

Yea they are saying this is gonna be the worst hurricane in fl in over a decade! Not gonna be pretty for the state of fl. An old buddy of mine boarded up his house, got on a plane and is taking this opportunity to visit his parents in mass. Of course he lives in palm beach so getting out of dodge was a solid call

[DesertAlbin736]

Had a nice long phone conversation with my brother Mike this morning (actually a half brother by my birth father's second wife-we were not raised together and he's 21 years younger than I). He has in fact rode out a Cat 4 hurricane before while living in Fort Pierce. Hurricane Jeanne in 2004 went right over top of Fort Pierce, the eye making landfall over Stuart, just South of Fort Pierce. The track of that one crossed the Florida peninsula past Orlando and continued North inland over Georgia and the Carolinas as it weakened to a tropical storm. This time Matthew is supposed to hug the coast and swing out to sea off NC & Virginia.

Anyway, from what he tells me they're well prepared, a 5,500 watt generator on hand, all serviced & in good running condition with a 35 gallon supply of gas, well stocked with food & water, windows boarded up etc. His street is also on relatively high ground, so not likely to get flooded out. His wife's aunt lives a couple doors down on the same street in a newer concrete/block home built to withstand Cat 5.

This is what his house looks like. Hopefully after the storm passes he'll send me some pics of the aftermath. The Pursuit Boats factory where he works shut down yesterday & staying shut down until at least early next week & they're paying their employees for the time off. We had a nice talk about his work. He's team leader of their wiring harness dept, having worked there since 2000 with 10 people under him now & gets to work with their engineers & naval architects on design.
improvements for the Pursuit line.

PS, BTW Jeremy he was born after my mom & stepdad moved us to Upstate NY & he and my other half brother grew up on Lower Shore Road in my old home town of Barnegat before moving to Florida in 2000. That move was the best thing he ever did.

http://www.pursuitboats.com/

[Jay Knoll]

We dodged a bullet; big time. No real damage in town, power grid down in spots but back up as of this evening. Boat bobbing on the mooring, I've got lawn clean up to do but no major problems.

Jay

[kerrye]

Good news.

[Jeremyvmd]

Glad to hear you made it through (essentially) unscathed