It turns out I'm a victim of the latest storm. My port stern
line chafed through. Fortunately the neighboring boat and I
each had plenty of fenders out and there was no damage
from this. A few helpful people secured the stern and made
off two amidships forward springlines using my anchor rode.
In the process they changed a few other adjustments.

What did me in was a winds shifted. I'm not quite sure what
happened, as I lost a port stern line, and was set onto the
piling on port. It should not have happened. Obviously the
port side stern line parted when the wind was coming out of
the north or northwest, and then the wind shifted again more
easterly to put me into the piling and did the damage. The
wind must have shifted back north westerly as this is what I
encountered last night and today. I assume someone eased
the lines on the other side which allowed the boat to set onto
the piling on the other side when the wind shifted.

I'll not fault any of those who took action to help my boat, because
there is no question they minimized the damage done by hooking
me up a new stern line from an empty slip on my north side.

Other boats did not fare so well. One owner is hoping his insurance
will total his SeaRay.

The principal difficulty I had was shifting the boat around in the slip
to get close enough to reach the galvanized rings on the pipe we use
to secure the mooring lines. The rings work quite well sliding up and
down with the tides.

I spliced 6 new 5/8" docklines--the biggest diameter line I could find, to
5/8 thimbles, and attached them with shackles to the piling rings. The
thimble ends were to secure these mooring lines to the pilings. I wanted
that end to be bomb-proof as they are hard to reach.

Once again, I'm thankful for both the number of winches on my boat
and the big organ grinder which made moving the boat much easier.
Even with all the other lines eased, I had difficulty winching the boat to
windward.

Here is a picture that will give you and idea of how the pilings are
configured. The water is a bit rough. When gusts hit, I was amazed
how far the boat would heel. All my sails were removed for minimum
windage. Nothing but topsides and bare poles for the wind to push
against. The gusts were intense, hitting like a blow, with little warning.
Peak winds were reported to be 43 knots. I guess they were closer to
50. Steady winds were 30-35 knots. The heavy metal spinnaker
attachments on the mast were rattling-I've never heard them do that before.

This is in a bit of a lull. Note how wet the dock was here. Waves were
up to the level of the dock. The fetch is about 1/4 mile. For a change
the ferries, were blocking more waves than they were making.
http://i11.photobucket.com/albums/a1...orm_0406-s.jpg

Facing my slip, the middle piling on the right side, does not have an
mooring attachments. That is the responsibility of my neighbor on that
side. I'll have to fix this myself, as it is critical for me to spring the
boat
off this, with a fender in between to protect the boat. Without the
two springs, it will be difficult to keep a fender in the proper position.
This alone might have prevented the damage to my boat.

Here is another shot of what the water looked like. I'm located two slips
down past this Chris Craft. You can see a tiny bit of my boat next to the
stern of this boat.

http://i11.photobucket.com/albums/a1...orm_0407-s.jpg

From the deck of my boat, in between gusts. See the many small
ripples. You can also get an idea of the fetch and wind direction in
this picture.
http://i11.photobucket.com/albums/a1...iew-ECHO-s.jpg

At least four finger piers were ripped apart or sustains some sort of
damage.
People who tied off to finger piers suffered the most damage. Piling were
like
springs whipping around. Water depth is about 20' at my slip, so the piling
move pretty easily.

Here is what happened to a SeaRay. It's neighboring sloop lost 4 stanchions
and all the lifelines on that side.
http://i11.photobucket.com/albums/a1...Ray-damage.jpg

Here is the damage to my boat from rubbing with the piling.
About 5" by 15" in area. I'll need to do a few hours of glassing and
painting. I've been thinking about doing some touchup work--now I'll
have to.
http://i11.photobucket.com/albums/a1...O-damage-s.jpg


Lessons Learned:

1. Chafe occurs faster than I thought. While I thought my docklines were
sufficient--they were not. Today I found more serious chafe on my two
bow lines. I need to take my docklines up to a full 1" size for storms like
this. And, I'll keep a closer watch on my chafe protection. I will no
longer use my fairlead as they are not fair and too sharp for extreme
conditions. The line that parted made a sharp turn. I'll avoid any
sharp turns. I knew this, but felt leading from farther aft was necessary
to keep the boat where I wanted it. I'm now tying to the backstay
chainplate which is heavily reinforced with an aluminum grid structure
glassed to the transom.

2. My boat is in a 50' slip, which puts the piling at a less than ideal
position.
What this means is I need a place to cleat off farther aft. Today I
doubled up my stern lines and lead one pair to the backstay chainplate.
This
will help stabilize the stern in side to side motion--although it is still
angled
somewhat--it is my only option. My second pair of stern line lead more
forward to winches and then to cleats. These act like springs, but if the
others fail, can still keep the stern roughly where I want it. I think the
combination of the four stern lines should be sufficient although I'd like
something in a larger diameter.

3. Cleats: It would be better to have two massive cleats on either side
of the upper portion of the transom--I think I'll add a bit more backing
material there before I do that. The transom is over one inch thick in that
area--still I can see loads hitting such cleats at an awkward angle. I will
have to design extra backing to make these tough enough for anything
up to and including towing.

4. Even though it is not my responsibility to fix the middle piling on my
north
side, I plan to do it anyway, as I can expect further damage if this is not
done.

5. I thought about staying on the boat. If I did I'd get more work done,
make it more comfortable and I'd be there to protect it. Sleeping
on the boat is a very good idea when high winds are due in.

All the running around, and climbing on and off the boat took it's toll on
my knee. I was in pain.

Needless to say, after a late night last night checking and adjusting
things,
splicing 6 eyes around 6 thimbles, and a day tweaking everything, 30 minutes
pushing another boat off the dock to reposition fenders, plus all the other
details, I was ready for a few beers, so I spliced the mainbrace with my
friend Paul. It was a satisfying end to the day.