MasterMike
D22
We had a somewhat epic experience at the Wed night races at North Flathead YC in NW Montana. We managed to NOT be in the tornado, nor were we out in the 70 mph gale that blew everything to pieces. Yike!
It was nuts - I've never seen anything like it.
We arrived later afternoon, had a sandwich on the dock, then rigged up and putzed around in the bay right next to the club. My son, who had never sailed, did well, and had a great time.
Got pretty dark, with big thunderheads boiling over the mountains. Some lightning started flashing around us, so we zipped in and started taking everything down. Races canceled. Radio reports of a tornado (in Montana?) and extreme conditions at the other end of the lake 30 miles away, coming our way.
A rough-looking bunch with a beater Hobie Cat came in to get off the lake, and carried it up to the grass to wait it out. We had the Laser masts down when a huge wind started up, branches started breaking, and I heard a huge noise behind me. The Hobie had lifted off the ground, flown across the ramp, flipped over in the air, hit the top of an Opti storage shed and taken half the roof off as it flew over. Ended up upside down in the marsh. We laid in the grass holding the trailers down and trying to keep things from blowing away. Pouring rain and lightning everywhere. People started running for cover. You could hardly see the grass for all the broken tree branches.
Then the lake started coming up, like a storm surge in a hurricane. First the dock, then the ramp, then the parking lot were under water. It was getting creepy. Couldn't hear with the howling wind.
We managed to weigh the big stuff down or clamp it under a boat hull and head for the building, where we could stand behind a wall and watch the marina from a deck. The horizon was completely gone. Big curling waves started coming over the bulkheads, hitting the big boats. Old piling timbers and debris began hitting the docks like battering rams. 4 or 5 jibs ripped to shreds on big boats. The major bulkhead dock then split in half, with timbers shattering and bolts ripping out of beams. The brand new steel piling was flopping around loose. An owner and some brave volunteers managed to move a few boats before it came apart completely. They cut the power to the piers as the conduits were about to separate. The cell towers blew down and no one could call. There was a big accident on the highway across the bay, with fire trucks and ambulances.
After an hour or more it died down some and we helped recover a few things, then got the Lasers tied down and were about the head out. Another round of lightning and pounding rain. The thunder crack was directly overhead and immediate and would knock you to your knees.
A guy asked if he could use our phone as he had to reach some people. We asked if he had been there at the club when it hit. No, he said, he'd been swimming for 2 hours out in the lake after his boat sank! He went out into open water to try and ride it out. Somehow a Sheriff boat found the crew in the open water and brought them in. It was a 30' keelboat.
Big adventure, new respect for storms.
It was nuts - I've never seen anything like it.
We arrived later afternoon, had a sandwich on the dock, then rigged up and putzed around in the bay right next to the club. My son, who had never sailed, did well, and had a great time.
Got pretty dark, with big thunderheads boiling over the mountains. Some lightning started flashing around us, so we zipped in and started taking everything down. Races canceled. Radio reports of a tornado (in Montana?) and extreme conditions at the other end of the lake 30 miles away, coming our way.
A rough-looking bunch with a beater Hobie Cat came in to get off the lake, and carried it up to the grass to wait it out. We had the Laser masts down when a huge wind started up, branches started breaking, and I heard a huge noise behind me. The Hobie had lifted off the ground, flown across the ramp, flipped over in the air, hit the top of an Opti storage shed and taken half the roof off as it flew over. Ended up upside down in the marsh. We laid in the grass holding the trailers down and trying to keep things from blowing away. Pouring rain and lightning everywhere. People started running for cover. You could hardly see the grass for all the broken tree branches.
Then the lake started coming up, like a storm surge in a hurricane. First the dock, then the ramp, then the parking lot were under water. It was getting creepy. Couldn't hear with the howling wind.
We managed to weigh the big stuff down or clamp it under a boat hull and head for the building, where we could stand behind a wall and watch the marina from a deck. The horizon was completely gone. Big curling waves started coming over the bulkheads, hitting the big boats. Old piling timbers and debris began hitting the docks like battering rams. 4 or 5 jibs ripped to shreds on big boats. The major bulkhead dock then split in half, with timbers shattering and bolts ripping out of beams. The brand new steel piling was flopping around loose. An owner and some brave volunteers managed to move a few boats before it came apart completely. They cut the power to the piers as the conduits were about to separate. The cell towers blew down and no one could call. There was a big accident on the highway across the bay, with fire trucks and ambulances.
After an hour or more it died down some and we helped recover a few things, then got the Lasers tied down and were about the head out. Another round of lightning and pounding rain. The thunder crack was directly overhead and immediate and would knock you to your knees.
A guy asked if he could use our phone as he had to reach some people. We asked if he had been there at the club when it hit. No, he said, he'd been swimming for 2 hours out in the lake after his boat sank! He went out into open water to try and ride it out. Somehow a Sheriff boat found the crew in the open water and brought them in. It was a 30' keelboat.
Big adventure, new respect for storms.
