Connecticut storm damage photos.....

We had a major storm here in CT yesterday that brought 60MPH winds and heavy storm surge. Sadly, as you can see from the photos I linked below, my fleet took a real beating. Thankfully, my H18 survived unscathed.....

http://s920.photobucket.com/albums/ad42/bcreamer/Hobie/Storm%20Damage%20Jennings%20Beach%20Fairfield%20CT%20Mar%2014/

Looks like y'all took a beating up there. Our local weather forecasters are predicting a considerable stormier than usual Spring this year. Hope it doesn't get too bad. I have driven anchors into the ground and tied off my H16 when hurricanes have threatened us this far north in Texas. At least some survived the storm. Hope the others had insurance.

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'88 Nationals Blue
Hobie Alter Signature Model
Sail #11

Hobie Mirage Classic

Brutal! Sorry that that happened.

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Looks more like beach erosion damage from storm surge. Not much you can do other then get your boat OFF the beach.

It was a combination of storm surge and wind. It's still gusting at 40 here this morning and was most of yesterday as well! The boats closest to the water were either bashed up or carried away to "safety" 100-200 yards down the beach. Having said that, there was a lot of damage done by boats that simply weren't winterized i.e., tramps removed and tied down. You can see all the boats that were flipped over. Those boats were higher up the beach and not affected by the surge. The wind caught under their tramps and flipped them over, causing considerable damage to nearby boats.

Really an incredible sight. I've been here in town for 15 years and I've never seen anything like it. There are broken rudder castings and rudders all over the place and probably 4-5 unclaimed masts - broken and whole - just laying in the sand. I was speaking to one gentleman whose mast is just gone - he couldn't find it anywhere. I initially thought it might be helpful to right some of the flipped boats by myself but then thought better of it as people might need evidence for insurance purposes. Needless to say, our local Hobie dealer is going to be busy this spring.

I lived in Santa Barbara for 30 years. They have beach storage (with a permit) during the summer but ALL boats must be off the beach during the winter months. Boats not removed from the beach by a certain date were removed by the city at the owners cost. SB experiences severe beach erosion during winter storm swells. Maybe your location should do the same...helps protect all parties involved. Of course there is nothing you can do about derelict boats.

Glad to see your 18 made it.

I concur Tigerboy. Over in Muskegon MI the boats are allowed by permit from April 15 to Oct 15 with a 15 day grace period on each side. (If the weather is nice you can call them and get until the first week in November. I have seen them "remove" catamarans and put them on flatbed trucks. It cost one gentleman $600 to get his H-18 back. They removed six boats without permits that day. A little stiff when you consider it's only $200 for the season. Lesson, get a permit and take your boat off the beach for the winter. (The ice fisherman just abuse them in the winter anyway).

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1989 Hobie 18 Worlds Boat, Magnum Wings & Spinnaker
1987 Hobie Holder 20 #273

dale.vanlopik"at"att"dot"net

Wow thats pretty incredible.....sorry for the losses.

On as side note, im looking for some hobie parts.....and of your buddie got any for sale for a 16

Our town offers both seasonal and year-around beach permits. The owners who pay extra to store their boats year-around - myself included - are willing to accept the risks in exchange for not having to move the boats and store them elsewhere for the winter. It bears mentioning this storm was a freak occurance and most of the damage you see (including 400# Getaways with mesh tramps getting flipped on their sides) could have easily been avoided if only the owners took precautions and used the supplied anchor points to properly secure their boats. Having stood there and witnessed several 16s momentarily become "weightless" on their trailers when the wind caught under their tramps, you can bet I will continue to take the extra 10 minutes every fall and remove the tramp on my 18. Take care!

I saw this coming on the news a day or so beforehand. In VT it was fairly weak (30+ k winds) but I scooted my 18 with tramp on behind some evergreens and that made the difference for me. I was thinking of using the airplane screw-in tiedowns for the summer freak storms. I guess its all about the ground you're anchoring to, but my guess is that you don't need much holding power since the wind flows over generally parallel to the tramp. They hold planes that want to fly.

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H18, H17 & Various motor boats

Glad you guys made out ok in Vermont. Sailing on Champlain must be a terrific!

Wow that sucks. It was pretty gnarly here in southeast CT in New london. I work for a ferry company and we had to cancel because of the storm. My 16 is stored at my parents for the winter but there are still 7 or 8 cats on the beach where I keep mine... hopefully they didnt get too banged up.

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~Kyle Gless '77 Hobie 16

Thanks for sharing these pictures, Brian. Yikes! What horrific sights. I'm right there with you on paying extra to keep your boat at the beach even during the winter. But yes, definitely tie it down well and remove the tramp and other rigging when you're not going to be sailing the cat anyway.

On a related note, my wife and I eloped on Jennings Beach 10+ years ago. It's one of my dreams to have a Hobie Cat there one day (with a house in Fairfield).

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-Roland
Sailing vintage Hobie Cats in West Africa.