Plattsburgh Boat Basin - September 2, 2011

Wind is blowing 15-20 from the south today, almost as much as when we were anchored at Nichols Point last week. The marina, despite the breakwater which extends to the southern side, and Sanderling are rockin' and rollin' almost as much as our anchorage when we had 25-30 mph winds! At least I can get off the boat by walking along the docks that are rolling and pitching - sea legs are definitely required.

I've just uploaded to our Picasa web site a few photos I took of a catamaran that was damaged when tropical storm Irene passed over Vermont a few days ago. Our blog dated August 29th has some information about how we spent TS Irene at anchor. The photos were taken August 31st the day after we arrived at the marina.

Here's the link to the photos of the catamaran: http://tinyurl.com/3kb6lmx
The photos are the last 8 photos on the page (other photos are a mix from our current cruise).

The catamaran is a 42 foot Venezia with a beam of around 24 feet. She was on a mooring at the Plattsburgh Boat Basin when Irene blew through. People I talked with who witnessed the event said that a total of four boats (all sail) broke their mooring pendants and were blown onto the breakwater which protects the marina and the mooring field. Unfortunately, the breakwater does not provide wind protection from the north, and that is where the strongest winds came from during Irene's passing. I understand that the owner's pendant broke during the height of the storm, as occurred with two of the other boats that went adrift; on the 4th boat, the marina's pendant parted. A fifth boat pulled it's mooring (1500+ pound blocks of concrete) through the mooring field (carefully avoiding other moored boats) before the owner, who was aboard, cut the line and motored into a slip on the south side of the marina. A crew of marina personnel (there was a hurricane party taking place during the storm) went out in a small boat during the storm, pulled the floundering boats from the breakwater and got them into the marina.

The cat is still sitting where she was placed when removed from the water, and I haven't noticed any activity regarding removal of equipment or repairs.

The water level on Lake Champlain at Plattsburg has risen about 1.5 feet since Irene; all of that extra water is creating havoc throughout the region. There was little damage to boats in the marina itself, and minimal damage to the marina. Marina employees have been working the past couple of days to lengthen the chains holding each dock section in place; many sections were listing as a result of chain that was too short to permit the dock to float level at the surface with the increased water height.

Judy is currently in Kansas for her mother's 90th birthday and I'm here in Plattsburgh taking care of the cats and Sanderling. We'll start heading south after Judy returns early next week; hopefully the Champlain Canal will be open to the Hudson River by then.