6pm...
The winds have begun to arrive along the coast...
7:30pm...
Well, this will put a dent in my deck cleaning plans for this week...
9pm...
Heard a massive flapping sound in the marina...took my headlamp and went out to check on the boats on my dock...
One boat...with a tarp over the boom...in anticipation of the coming rain...shredded by the 30+ knots of wind...
Another
boat...with a jib on a roller-furling - that was starting to
unfurl...at risk of shredding the jib...or possibly taking the mast
down. Two other fellows already trying to secure the jib.....I tried to
help...but there wasn't much I could do...the lines are tangled...and
the jib roller-furling cannot be rotated...and the biting cold was more
than I could bear in my t-shirt and shorts...plus it isn't safe to be
out on the docks right now...as flying debris from other boats could do
some serious damage to you (like the paddle board that went airborne on
Thanksgiving day in 2021...and crashed into my deck...)
11pm...
my 2nd foray onto the docks tonight...another significant sound of a flogging sail...caught my attention...
Just
down the dock...the thick stainless steel connector of the forestay to
the bow - of a roller-furling jib snapped clean in-two...
The
owner of the boat was valiantly struggling to regain control of the
flailing forestay...with a flailing jib unraveling in 30+ knots of
wind...but it appeared he had no plan...and he was in imminent danger of
either a) his mast crashing down and killing him; or b) the
roller-furling bits bludgeoning him to death.
I
retrieved a heavy-duty spare dock line from my dock box - and helped him secure the flailing
bits to the anchor roller...and then further secured to the anchor
windlass.
For the moment - his rig is [somewhat] more secure...
If
the winds do not abate in the next few hours...the friction will wear
through even that heavy dock line...so I advised him to get some more
lines applied to give it more purchase to the bow anchor roller and the
anchor windlass...
Hopefully his rig will make it through the night...
I also closed a neighbors dock box lid - that had blown open...
I fear it is going to be a long night...
23:50..
https://twitter.com/myboyzmomma/status/1628259821815496704
"Winds gust to 60 at the coast"
https://twitter.com/myboyzmomma/status/1628259821815496704
"Winds gust to 60 at the coast"
"#BreakingNews
A Blizzard Warning has been issued for Los Angeles & Ventura counties; it will be one of the worst winter storms of the 21st century to hit Southern California, experts say."
"High howling winds knocked out power to a lot of Ventura. Trees down, one across 101 south."
2023-02-22 update:
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| A shredded tarp...note the shredded jib in the background |
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| The steel tang for the forestay gave way...jib = shredded |
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| Another jib...in the process of being shredded |
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| Riggers helping to secure the broken roller furling / forestay |
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| The result of helping secure the forestay / roller furling unit of a dock neighbor |
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