After going to HCSM on February 17th to check on my boat, the thought occurred to me that from a weather perspective, this is actually kind of a historical event for our area. So to get it into the PPYC annals, I thought I’d send this account of the adventure and share some thoughts — and pictures — that may be of interest to our members and others who receive our Newsletters. First, one quick bit of “housekeeping.” ...

This is the first edition of a new direction we’re taking with our Newsletters. We’re moving to an ad hoc approach rather than publishing them every week, and the format will change to accommodate whatever is being communicated in a particular edition. The common identifier will be the header and graphic to distinguish Newsletters from special-purpose email broadcasts like the one on February 17th about our 2021 plans for educational events.

Now, back to my marina visit. Fortunately, I didn’t see anything like the picture of boats in a marina in Texas [in the collection referenced below] that Kathy Ware shared with me earlier that day — or, anything like what a repair contractor I talked with that evening told me he’d seen at other area marinas, particularly involving collapsed covered slips. I actually didn’t see any visible damage, but if my boat on Pier 4 is an example, there could be issues showing up later with that much ice lingering on boat decks and rigging for most of a full week, maybe more before this is over. To see pictures I took, click here: Feb 2021 Freeze At HCSM [you can enlarge them to full screen by clicking the arrows-pointing-outward expand symbol in the top right corner of the slide-show box.]

Once at my slip, finding brace-points to avoid slipping probably resulted in my violating every safety rule there is on boarding a boat. I got into the Cockpit without a fall, though, but then found that I couldn’t actually get into the Cabin. There was a lot of ice and snow on the Companionway cover frozen so solid that I couldn’t slide it back. I just forced it back an inch or so to open the door [which it has instead of slats] because I was afraid I might crack it [it’s plexiglass] if I tried to push it back more than that. I was able to glance inside and see that everything looked OK, but didn’t want to slip through the smaller opening to actually go in [I’m 75 years old and not as limber and agile as I was earlier in life 😊.]

All things considered, though, everything looked OK everywhere. I didn’t walk all the piers, but just looking down Piers 2 and 3 on my way out I didn’t notice anything unusual. I also looked at Pier 5 from a distance when I returned to the main Gangway from Pier 4, and I looked at Pier 1 from a distance before turning back toward the main gate. I’m writing this the morning of February 18th after a night of quite a bit more snow, so there may be a Chapter 2 of this, but the current forecast is for just a couple of days to go before daytime temperatures begin trending above freezing to well into the 50s, so hopefully the worst is behind us. If any of you are out there and see things others might want to know, let me know and I’ll send an update.

I lived in West Virginia for nine years, so conditions like we’re experiencing here now are “just another day at the office” for me. But I was only in my 40s then, so thanks to my good friend and fellow Board member Richard Lewis, who was at the Clubhouse doing some of the many things he does for our Club, for hanging out a few more minutes to verify that I got back to land in one piece.

In addition to not seeing damage, a positive outcome of this adventure is that it made me more ready than ever for Spring — and sailing!

Charles Jones, Communications Director