Saturday morn, we thought that Dennis was going to hit Pensacola and
all we would get 200 miles east was tropical storm force winds and
maybe a slightly higher tide, So, Saturday morn, I went down to Shell
Point (just south of Tallahassee) and tied my boat a little better,
secured some dinghys and came home.
Sat evening and Sunday, we had tropical storm force winds here in
Tallahassee, some falling limbs but our power never went out once, no
big deal.
I never see TV and the radio in my truck doesnt work and the internet
was down so I had no idea of the damage. Got to work this morn and got
a call from a relative of my technician Karl sayoing he had not heard
from Karl since Fri eve. Karl lives on his old Hunter 27 at St. Marks
just south of Tallahassee and on Fri he had been talking about
anchoring out in the Wakulla River. I figured I better go check on him
and check on my boat too. Got to St Marks to find the town had been
flooded by a 10' surge and he sherriff would not allow me in but took
Karls name. I drove over to Shell Pt, about 8 miles west and on the
way saw Karls car so we stopped and talked.
Sat night, he spent on his boat but Sun Morn the water began to rise
rapidly. He went to put his car on higher ground and the water had
risen so fast he was unable to get back to his boat, then he was unable
to get back away from the marina. He climbed on top of the bait shed
and waited for it to recede and spent the night atop the shed in the
rain and wind. I told him to call people to tell everyone he was ok.
Later in the after noon, he actually shows up for work!!.
Apparently, St Marks really got hit bad by the surge. Many boats
destroyed. Karls says there is seaweed all over his boat somehow as if
a large wave inundated it (St Marks is 5 miles upriver from the open
Gulf.
At Shell Pt, I encountered a lot of standing water, a lot of debris but
all boats at flaoting docks were ok. My dock came within 1' from
flaoting free and my finger pier had broken free. I had tied it to the
pilings as someone here had reccomended (Thanks for the advice). Small
Holder sailboats still on trailers belonging th the Sea Scouts had been
carried into the nearby marsh.
I could see much damage closer to the open water (I am about 3 blocks
back in a canal). I just saw a video on Fox taken at Shell Pt of a
ground level house blasted clean by the surge. There are many mobile
homes just above ground level that probably had damage but I did not
want to add to anyone misery by gawking so I just went back to work to
find Karl working and complaining how tired he was. What a slacker!