Carolina Cape Dory Fleet

[John Stone]

I’m wondering how my fellow Carolina Cape Dory owners faired during Hurricane Florence?

Anyone have news?

[House]

Hello John,

Miss Evelean lies at Northwest Creek Marina, in Fairfield Harbour (New Bern). She came through just fine - not a scratch. By my count, though, at least a dozen boats suffered damage and ended up all over the place, on the docks, up against each other. One boat sank but was brought up today. The marina office and lounge just got their power back yesterday, but there's still no power at the docks. Many homes in Fairfield flooded; drive down nearly any street what you see are piles of furniture, insulation, mattresses, etc. It's bad! I'll post some pictures soon.

Glad to hear the Far Reach is okay.

Take care,

Richard

[MFC]

Hey John -
I was at Northwest Creek as well until last fall when I hauled out at Duck Creek Small Boat Harbor about 2 miles up the river toward New Bern. The yard there sits about 5 feet above the average tide (there is only wind tide that far up the Neuse). The yard flooded to about 4.5-5' and maybe 20% of the boats were off their stands. Savannah remained upright and (I believe -- headed there this week) came through without a scratch since none of her neighbors floated either. Word from the yard is that the surge came up fast and down slow and it must have been fairly calm back there since even the boats that floated appeared to have set back down softly. By contrast Bridgeton Boat Works (?) had a dozen or more boats float off the stands and wind up across the river on lawns and in heaps in New Bern. All in all, a stressful couple of days waiting to hear (and the first photos I saw were devastating) but so many people had their lives and homes torn apart . . . an insured boat is precious but doesn't begin to compare to what those folks are facing. Now Michael is forecast to pass over as a TS!
Best,
Matt

[House]

All,

Here are some "Florence aftermath" pics I took at NWC Marina in New Bern, between September 25-30. Three large cranes worked throughout the marina for several days returning boats to their rightful places. I left on the 30th so by now the boats are probably back where they belong; repairs to the dock continue. Even so, NWC did not suffer the kind of damage inflicted on Bridgepointe Marina near downtown New Bern - all in all, we were lucky.

Richard

[John Stone]

I heard NWC got banged up too. Florence had her way with NC. No doubt about it.

[Dino]

Our CD 22 had no damage, just lots of debris, leaves, small branches, etc.

Our marina rules require boats to leave when a tropical storm or hurricane warning is issued for our county. I moved Odyssey all the way to the top of nearby Whittaker Creek to a slip offered by a friend. He stayed at home during the storm and said she rode it out nicely, up 9.5', then back down, bouncing happily.

Lots of boats were lost here, sunk in their slips, floated or knocked off jack stands or washed up into the marshes. Lots of others were badly damaged at marinas and damaged their slips. You probably saw the picture on towndock of the boat left sitting upright on the dock at our marina.

A friend has a CD 25D that he anchored out in a nearby creek. He's smart. He put out a storm anchor, 1/2" three strand with chafing gear and ample scope. His boat stayed where he anchored her and suffered no damage. He did need assistance from TowboatUS to get his anchor up.