SHIP'S LOG:
There is something about the weather in Florida, when they get a thunderstorm it is no ordinary thunderstorm, not by a long shot. I have already gone through two of these impressive storms, one in Ft. Pierce, micro-burst included; and one in Miami, with enough lightning, thunder and hail for anyone. Today, I got my third and hopefully my last taste.
There was a 50% chance of rain today, according to NOAA's breakfast weather forecast. I wasn't going anywhere, so it didn't much matter. It actually started out hot and sunny but by mid afternoon, the clouds took over and it got very still, so I flipped on the weather radio. It is never a good thing when you tune into NOAA and catch the announcement that they are suspending regular broadcasting because of a "sever weather situation." Trust me, that gets your attention. Then the started talking about severe thunderstorms, damaging lightning and golf ball size hail headed my way. There was not a lot for me to do but close up the boat, check the chaffing gear, put out another 10 feet of road(90 feet in 8.9 feet of water) and wait.
The sky to the west grew black and the wind started to pick up. The guy near me, who has a slip in the nearby marina but was anchoring out, pulled up his hook and started off to his slip. He had to go south through the mooring field, then turn into the ICW and head north and turn west past the mooring field( he had to avoid a shoal) and headed into the channel to the marina. He just started in when it hit. And I mean HIT! The wind picked up to a nasty 40mph and the rain came down like a fire hose had been turned on me. I instantly lost sight of the guy moving the boat though he was less than 100 yards away. I don't know what the wind leveled off at but the gust were enough to put my starboard rail in the water. I actually thought for a moment that ABISHAG was going to capsize.This was worse than the other two storms. The engine went on, as did the PFD and I went over in my head how to launch the life raft! The radio was screaming about "tornadoes" and "waterspouts", the wind was howling, the lightning flashing, the thunder crashing and the rain was blotting out everything from view. Thank God it lasted no more than 15 minutes. It was about as intense and hair-raising as it gets. Perhaps it is because Florida is so flat, or maybe because it is a peninsula, or maybe it is the cost of the great weather, but they get some incredible thunderstorms down here. I can't recall anything close to the three I have been through down here.
Once it was over, the warnings and watches were canceled and we settled back into 10-15mph winds from the Southwest, probably for the rest of the night, with a chance of showers. It almost seems a relief! I hope the guy who was moving the boat was OK. Trying to get through the narrow channel into the marina and then into his slip and then trying to tie-up the boat in the slip in all that wind and rain - he probably would have been better off just staying where he was.
Unfortunately, the weather for tomorrow doesn't lot all that hot. There is a 90% chance of rain and winds will be 15-20mph. I can deal with that, but they are talking more thunderstorms and that is not something I want to go through again, especially if they are anything like what I just went through. The weekend is supposed to be nice but I have to go through Thursday and Friday to get there. Well, one day, one storm at a time.
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