Can you imagine how I felt being all the way across the ocean in France, in gorgeous weather cruising on the French Canals with great friends, when I found out that Fort Lauderdale was in the bull’s eye of the approaching Hurricane Erika?
Yes, I had powered up the New River and tied KANDARIK up to my summer Hurricane Season dock way up the river as far away from storm surge as possible. But, she had full awnings up, all her sails on, and was not ready to withstand the full force of a hurricane!
It made me remember all the necessary things that would have to be attended to in the event of a full-blown hurricane hitting Fort Lauderdale. We have lived through five major hurricanes, and I am happy to report that what we did to protect our home and our boat worked and kept them safe. But, we also had a huge amount of luck that also kept KANDARIK unscathed during these vicious tropical storms. I will never say that what we did saved our boat, but I can say we did do all that we could, and, as is always the case, Lady Luck then determined what actually occurred.
I give seminars on Hurricane Preparation while in port. God forbid I will ever have to live through a hurricane or tropical storm at sea. While I have not been asked to present this seminar in a long time, in light of Hurricane Ericka’s passing, I feel it is appropriate here to at least give you the lists of things I talk about that we have done to help protect our precious boat.
So, please refresh your memories, as I do, and read these lists, and I hope they will be helpful to you should any of us have to prepare for the worst, and enable you to outlive and come out happily from the scare of the destruction of a tropical storm or hurricane.
-Pam
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