Here we go....Irma is a knocking

[CurtTampa]

There are three C27's in Tampa Bay, Mine, Brown Eyed Girl and one more over at St Pete.  Not sure what to think or do at this point. Seems bigger than life.  Prayers, voodoo, Chicken Feet, Rabbits foot whatever you got to send some love our way. We need the vibes.
We will all either make it or have some fantastic deals on parts for those C27 owners not crazy enough to live in Florida!  Get your order in early - some parts may be water logged.   I'm half serious.  But in the event I sink I'll be replacing it with trailer-able Compac 23 - I am too old for this sh*t.

Now I have to go tinker with that stubborn generator.

[tmw]

Wish you all the best, luck, skill, voodoo, and everything else possible to weather the storm.  Sailboats can always be replaced, but you cannot, so take care.

[CurtTampa]

Thanks!  It's funny how you realize how much you love your boat at times like this. I just had a new roof  put on the house and would trade it to Irma to spare my boat.

[relamb]

C'mon, you don't need a trailerable 23, you can trailer a 27.  Mines up in Indiana, it will be back after storm season.
Good Luck, whatever happens.
Rick

[AislinGirlII]

 Prayers, voodoo, Chicken Feet, Rabbits foots thoughts coming your way from the Mississippi Gulf Coast. Hoping for you it turns very early off the east coast, and selfishly hoping for me it turns at all..

Tie her up good, my old Chrysler C26 made it thru Katrina off Lake Pontchartrain in Slidell, LA - altho with the amount of storm surge there was as opposed to limited line slack and freeboard height I don't see how she did without being swamped..

[AnchorJockey]

Prayers and best of luck! 27's are tough little boats.

[brackish]

Hang in there but a couple of thoughts from one old guy to another.  If you're old enough to be too old for this experience it is likely that a 23 is not the answer.  Going from standing headroom to "bending" headroom is not a happy thing for old backs.  Get yourself a bigger truck a good trailer and keep the 27.  Or, do what I did when I lived on the Mississippi gulf coast and went through countless storms.  Check your insurance policy regularly, check your lines and if your docks don't float, add lift rings to your piling, take off the sails and covers and let if be.

One of my boats (former) a Columbia 8.7 also made it through Katrina in the water in Slidell, La.

[thomeng55]

I wish I would have thought about it sooner, but you could have borrowed my trailer to haul her to safety. 

Sorry, and best of luck over the next couple days.

Thom

[CoVianna]

Good luck.
Hope all goes well and both you and the boat make it through safely.
I have to say that there is a morbid fascination watching the track of Irma. It's times like these that make me thankful I live in the UK. The British are past masters at moaning about the weather!

[moonlight]

I've got an Islander 36, and a Compac 25, both of which survived (Isidore, Lili, KATRINA, Rita, Bill, Gustav, Ike, Isaac, Cindy, and a few other named and unnamed storms, some closer than others) mostly on Lake Pontchartrain in SE Louisiana.

Each (and others in the fleet) available for near immediate relocation, for a fee.

Proper mooring and preparation works wonders, but certainly doesn't do much against the onslaught you're about to experience and the failure of 90% of your neighbors to secure their s&*#.  Prayers are with you all at this time.

Vaya con Dios

[wes]

Irma is tracking directly toward Clearwater, spiritual home of all Compac sailors. Hoping the Hutchins family and their crew will remain safe and dry.

[relamb]

FYI, the marina where I keep my boat in St Pete had very little boat damage.  It has floating docks.  The biggest failure?  Half a dozen cleats pulled out of the docks.  Rusty bolts cleat-to-dock.  They appeared to be galvanized bolts, not stainless steel.   ...something to check on in the future.
A friend was in an exposed marina with fixed docks, he said 6 boats sank.  I suspect due to the negative storm surge (the local tidal station showed the water got down to 3 feet below low tide level) either fin keel boats got grounded and fell over, or they got caught under the docks and swamped when the tide came back up.
It's not just the boat, it's what you tie it to!

How did you fare, Curt?
Rick

[CurtTampa]

All good. Thanks for asking!