Tornados
- Thread starter Ehoyles
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It could pick it up like a bathtub toy! 6 or 12 pilings! Safest place to be........? NOT ON THE BOAT!!! Ever see the vid of the yacht that was dropped? If the boat was lifted out of the water any height and dropped you are dead! I want NO part of any of that!
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Great topic.
I don't know the answer to your question but we have talked about this a few times with our dock neighbors. We are docked on a point with the river to the east and north and our lagoon to the west. If I had enough warning I think I would stand in the water along side a bukhead on the east side of the point. There is about 40’ without a boat and sometimes we have a short floating dock there. The top edge of the bulk head would be above our heads and we would stand on a floating dock or in 2' of water. I think dropping a line over the edge from a cleat above would be a good thing to hang onto or tying around our waists. The key is having some sort of warning which doesn’t happen all that often with tornadoes.
Niles
I don't know the answer to your question but we have talked about this a few times with our dock neighbors. We are docked on a point with the river to the east and north and our lagoon to the west. If I had enough warning I think I would stand in the water along side a bukhead on the east side of the point. There is about 40’ without a boat and sometimes we have a short floating dock there. The top edge of the bulk head would be above our heads and we would stand on a floating dock or in 2' of water. I think dropping a line over the edge from a cleat above would be a good thing to hang onto or tying around our waists. The key is having some sort of warning which doesn’t happen all that often with tornadoes.
Niles
Unlike a hurricane where the major damage is the water surge that can last for hours, a tornado is over very quickly and is just very high winds. I believe it would survive the wind but the debris is the main cause of the damage. I am not suggesting the boat would not be severly damaged (if not destroyed) but if one was in the engine room the engines are made of iron and could act as a shield from the flying debris.
suwanneered
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If it rolled over where would the engines Be?You would be smashed in the process.Have you ever seen a tornado?Winds close to 300 miles per hour and a vacum that no Dirt Devil has!Best to get on land even in a ditch!!
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We know several folks that rode out the Tornadoes that hit Grand Bahama Yacht Club back in the Spring of 2010. Many rode out the storm that hit Freeport killing I think three people working on cranes there. Several concrete poles were seriously damaged by boats slamming into them. Trees were torn apart and at least one person reported watching a sailboat being picked up thus tightening the lines.
I doubt any of these folks had an option other than to get in a car and run but most were transient waiting for a weather window to cross the gulf stream. It scared the crap out of them. Many boats sustained quite a bit of damage however I think the only injuries were to their egos. But they did not get a direct hit. I suspect if you take a direct hit yer gonna be junk so weigh the odds yourself.
I doubt any of these folks had an option other than to get in a car and run but most were transient waiting for a weather window to cross the gulf stream. It scared the crap out of them. Many boats sustained quite a bit of damage however I think the only injuries were to their egos. But they did not get a direct hit. I suspect if you take a direct hit yer gonna be junk so weigh the odds yourself.
I don't see how it would crush anyone as the engines are solidly mounted even if upside down. The whole objective is to get out of teh line of fire from debris hitting the boat in 300 moph winds.
I do not think anyone would plan to be on a boat if there were other options, like running away
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After watching the three moving through Cullman and years ago I watched one in Kansas, I'd made up my mind to take off in a perpendicular line from the first sighting.
If your in a boat, tied to the Dock, Cast off....get way out where you can see the Tonado and track it by sight.
Then make your move.
Tornadoes move about 25 Mph. They seem to track in long runs of nearly straight lines, although they curve towards the North east..it seems!
Tornadoes have awsome power. This one picked up house trailers and let them down hundreds of Yards from thier foundations. 70' House trailers weigh lots more than 40' boats.
It picked up nearly 50 yards of 8" deep Macadam pavement, and side walks.
A guy in a Boat or a Car has a lot better chance if your moving, and can make a move, than if you stay put and hope it dont come your way.
If your in a boat, tied to the Dock, Cast off....get way out where you can see the Tonado and track it by sight.
Then make your move.
Tornadoes move about 25 Mph. They seem to track in long runs of nearly straight lines, although they curve towards the North east..it seems!
Tornadoes have awsome power. This one picked up house trailers and let them down hundreds of Yards from thier foundations. 70' House trailers weigh lots more than 40' boats.
It picked up nearly 50 yards of 8" deep Macadam pavement, and side walks.
A guy in a Boat or a Car has a lot better chance if your moving, and can make a move, than if you stay put and hope it dont come your way.
Put your scuba gear on and dive deep- you don't typically see fish floating around in the air from a tornado so maybe you'd be safe with them??? 
We had tornados rip through the area of our marina this spring. Friends that liveaboard told me they were sitting in their salon and watched the fingers of the dock lift up 5' out of the water and they could see under the dock! I am fairly certain my wife would not be staying on the boat in such a storm. Not sure what we'd do if anchored out. Scuba gear sounds the best to me. That is also how Hooper survived the Jaws attack while Jaws proceeded to eat Quint and sink the Orca!
We had tornados rip through the area of our marina this spring. Friends that liveaboard told me they were sitting in their salon and watched the fingers of the dock lift up 5' out of the water and they could see under the dock! I am fairly certain my wife would not be staying on the boat in such a storm. Not sure what we'd do if anchored out. Scuba gear sounds the best to me. That is also how Hooper survived the Jaws attack while Jaws proceeded to eat Quint and sink the Orca!
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I read of Fish from Salt water falling on land from Hurricanes, but not Tornados.
Here, the biggest Tornado went right across a lake. Unfortunately nobody witnessed or got photos. I really was curious about the Tornado picking up water, but now I wont know I guess.
In the late 50's on my way to Korea, we detoured north to escape a (hurrican on water) and the danged thing turned NE and caught us.
We went through two days of pure He.. and water came from the sky like rain only more like standing under a waterfall.
Mother nature is still the Boss!
Here, the biggest Tornado went right across a lake. Unfortunately nobody witnessed or got photos. I really was curious about the Tornado picking up water, but now I wont know I guess.
In the late 50's on my way to Korea, we detoured north to escape a (hurrican on water) and the danged thing turned NE and caught us.
We went through two days of pure He.. and water came from the sky like rain only more like standing under a waterfall.
Mother nature is still the Boss!
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there always seems to be a fair number of sunk boats in marinas after these storms.
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+1 on the perpendicular path. Not sure about casting off, but if you are on the hook, that is certainly different. We did the dance a few times going across the Gulf Stream last fall >
As you can see it's a darn goofey track! We tried out running them by taking a Northerly course. The stream was giving us good shove but it wasn't enough so we cut in between some cells in an attempt to get back on track for West End.
Once you get an eyeball on one in the distance adjust the radar gain to make it appear on your screen and keep your eyes on it. We were good until one formed over our heads. It was at that point I pulled a loop and ducked in between cells again.
In a while the one that formed got nasty large and it was only three miles away. The water kicked up with the wind and we were hoping it would die off. Not. If anything it all built up and "trained" right in line with our path to West End.
As you can see I did not immediately give up on West End. It closed in on us a bit and that was it, we were gone for Lucaya with our eyes glued to the radar and the throttles pushed farther.
This is another very good reason to have radar on your boat if you travel in open water.
By the way the forecast was for a 20% chance of showers, not T-storms. Just sayin'.
Northern Lights
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About 25 years ago a 70' cruise boat on Perry lake in Kansas was on a dinner cruise when a tornado came thru the area. If I remember right 27 people were killed, I don't remember how many survived. There is a storm shelter here at the marina, if a tornado heads this way that is where I'll be not on my boat.