High Tide

I woke up this morning to a “thud”.  Not quite sure what it was I assumed it was water slapping the transom, but stayed alert to see if it repeated.  There was no wind, and it was pouring rain.  And then, “thud”.  There it was again.

When I climbed up on deck to see what was happening, I was shocked to see that the tide was so high that the water was three to four inches OVER the concrete pier!!!  My fenders (designed to keep the boat safely away from that concrete pier)  Were well above everything and the boat was resting up against the concrete!!

Holy shit.  Not good!

So lucky that there was no wind.  Jumped off into ankle-deep water on top of the pier and pushed the boat away.  Figured out pretty fast that the only good option was to leave.  The guy on the boat in front of me was up as well.  He held Morpheus off while I started the engine and untied all my lines.

Not a great start to my morning!!  No apparent damage, but you know there have to be some new scratches somewhere.  I guess I have a swim in the near future.

Oh, and getting away from the dock was not the end of my early morning challenges.  We had stowed the anchor and chain away for the trip (that’s why I was at the dock), so I had to float around in the middle of the harbor for 30 minutes while I pulled out 200ft of 5/16″ chain and another 200 ft of anchor rode.

More probable damage to the boat than incured during the stormy 650 miles from New York!!

I’ve been hit twice at the dock over the past few years, and now I’ve been hit by the dock!!  IT IS MUCH SAFER AT ANCHOR!!!

Of course there is another gale due on Thursday, so lets see how that goes.

Bermuda is a challenge every time!!