Storm Surge: A Firsthand Account

The author’s boat after being damaged from other boats landing on it during Superstorm Sandy’s storm surge. Patrick Sciacca

I did everything right to save my boat, but when Superstorm Sandy’s historic storm surge rushed into the bays and canals of the South Shore of Long Island, New York, it wasn’t enough.

I was in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, when my brother called me in late-October 2012 to discuss hauling our boat for Sandy. I had just spent a couple of days with this storm at the Fort Lauderdale International Boat Show, and after seeing its impact there, I concurred it would be a good idea to put the boat on the hard. We had hauled it the year before when Hurricane Irene hit our area and our boat fared well.

During Hurricane Irene, our boat was put on jackstands at the rear of the boatyard, its highest point. No water even came close to it as Irene came ashore. But for Sandy, our boat was placed at the lower end of the marina. My brother, being a wicked-smart dude, chained our boat to the marina’s facedock, just in case. If the predicted storm surge materialized, the boat couldn’t travel more than 40 feet from the jackstands.

When Superstorm Sandy hit a couple of days later, that’s exactly what happened. A combination of a moon tide and double-digit storm surge lifted our boat off its jackstands, but the chain did its job. Our boat traveled the length of the chain, and it actually settled perfectly balanced amidships on top of a garbage dumpster that got turned on its side. We’d made it, sort of.

The boats that were not chained and that had traveled from other marinas floated freely and collapsed atop our boat. We’d done everything we could, but sometimes the storm wins.

The tower was hammered. The bowrail was ripped out. There was fiberglass damage in myriad areas. The engine cowlings were cracked and so on. 

But at the end of the day our families were safe, and that’s all that matters. So we fixed the boat. It took time, but we got there. We enjoyed it for a few more seasons before we sold it.

As boaters, we weigh risks all the time. We accept those risks and mitigate them as best we can, because our passion is being on the water. And that will never change, storms be damned.

My thoughts are with those in the path of Hurricane Milton. You’ve prepared, and now it’s time to get somewhere safe.

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