Well... lets see... the storage yard / parking lot of the DYC is normally
about 7 feet above higest high water. It was waist deep in water during the
height of the surge. A rough calc would put it at over ten feet... then
again it was 2 hours after high tide when the hurricane hit.

It's a mess Jeff. There is no warning system up here like there is in the
USA. Basically everyone was caught unaware due to poor weather forecasts and
warnings. It was a mild tropical storm until about 10 hours before it
actually hit. They forecast 3 landfalls... all wrong. Halifax was never
entertained as a possible landfall. Mahone Bay was the forecast site.. where
I keep my boat ... until about 3 hours before it hit. Halifax is sixty miles
away to the East.

CM

"Jeff Morris" wrote in message
...
| I'm glad to hear all is well with you and Overproof.
|
| BTW, how high was the surge? Down here what normally gets people is that
the surge lifts the
| mooring off the bottom, and holding power goes to zero.
|
| -jeff
|
| "Capt. Mooron" wrote in message
...
| Okay.. so it's Saturday and the weather folks are still claiming a
tropical
| storm. I'm in Mahone Bay on Overproof. Check the marine WX and they are
| giving alerts to a landfall for the South Shore by a possible Cat-1 to
Cat-2
| Hurricane on Sunday evening.. H-m-m-m-m....... not what the Environment
| Canada office is telling the folks on radio, TV and Internet.???
|
| Drove to my buddy's farm and we strapped down all his loose boards and
| shingles from the barn he just took down. Spent the night getting really
| drunk. Next morning we left for the boat at 0700hrs. We stripped all
canvas
| and rails etc to reduce windage. The WX stated the eye was estimated to
pass
| right over Mahone Bay. They upgraded to a Cat-2. I extended the mooring
| lines with two lengths of 15 ft 3/4" golden braid and set two anchors to
the
| east [open fetch area] with 200 feet of chain and 200 feet of 3/4" to a
26
| lbCQR and a 50lb Danforth in 20 feet of water. Broke out the leather kit
and
| stitched on leather chafe guards wrapped over chamois to every rode.
Then
| assisted in securing other vessels. Nothing more to be done I watched as
the
| weather deteriorated and the winds increased. Overproof was riding well
and
| softly to her mooring ... not dancing and bobbing like the other
vessels. We
| called it at 1800 hrs when darkness fell and returned to my friend's
farm to
| wait out the storm well inland. I painted a sign for his truck while the
| storm raged and the rum disappeared.
|
| At 2100hrs God himself responded to the 3 churches of Mahone Bay full of
| praying patrons and the Landfall was switched to Halifax. I phoned up my
| friend at the Dartmouth Yacht Club. I warned him of the change just as
it
| was being relayed to him. They were expecting a possible Cat-1 with
moderate
| expected damage. He called me the next morning and informed me the
entire
| club and all the docks were in splinters. 20 boats lost and severe
damage. I
| checked on Overproof and found her safe.. with one of the three moorings
| that didn't drag. The other 2 also had deployed anchors and chafe gear.
|
| End result... Halifax is a mess. Boats litter the shore. Trees down and
| uprooted. Roofs blown off. Trains derailed and sucked into the bay,
boats
| with their moorings up on shore... a woman awoke to find her ship had
come
| in... through her bedroom wall.... 6 foot high boulders tossed 50
meters
| upshore. The Ferry terminal and most of the harbour front docks damaged.
One
| of the bridges damaged and shut down. Roads washed out. We have over 30
| trees down on my property.. some are 40-60 foot Maples.
|
| I've been over 4 days without power.. getting water from the Nine Mile
River
| to flush the toilets. All frozen winter meat supplies have to be thrown
out.
| Lost 1/3 of the flock when they were blown away by the winds that took
the
| door off the coop.
|
| The whole area is crippled badly. No warnings were issued... no
hurricane
| action was enacted and our Emergency Response Organization failed the
| community badly. They issued tropical storm warnings and only started to
get
| worried about 4 hours before the hurricane hit. They have now upgraded
to a
| Cat-2 with possible Cat-3 due to reported wind velocities and recorded
| sustained winds..... after the fact.
|
| Capt. Mooron
|
|
|
|
|