When Hurricane Ian hit SW Florida, we were a few days south of Chicago, in the inland river system. So for us, it was not a factor at all. Although for SW Florida, things were much different. I’ve accumulated lots of footage of the wreckage that we saw as we passed through that area over the last couple months. This footage was all taken between 1 to 3 months after the storm, and it’s clear to me that it will be years before things are, hopefully, back to normal. I could have put tons more footage in this video, but after a few mins, you kind of get the idea. The amount of wreckage is a bit overwhelming, and I’m no environmentalist, but the amount of garbage in the mangroves is actually pretty sickening.
Anyway, it’s late January as I type this, and we anchored in Marathon’s Boot Key harbor, and we are discussing whether we should leave our hatches open overnight to cool things off. Just wanted to rub that in a bit….
3 responses to “Jan 20: Hurricane Ian”
One of the bits of flotsam in the mangroves I’m aft Myers is a Tartan 34 just like mine. So far in that it took the owner 2 wks to find it. & no, not jealous at all of your open hatches; Beaufort may not be tropical but it’s acceptable winter weather, rarely below 40 at night. Having the hatches closed keeps the rats out! Enjoy the keys!
Funny you mentioned rats. We were at a free dock in Cocoa Village (Fl), and one of the other boats on the dock mentioned seeing a rat crawling along a dock line the previous night. He said it didn’t make it, but that certainly put the fear of God into me every time I tie up anywhere.
I was in the Homestead area shortly after hurricane Andrew in 1992. I was part of a team sent by Reebok to deliver water & ice to those without electricity. The destruction was unbelievable.They had started piling the garbage along side one of the highways ‘temporarily’ because they had no place else to put it. I was in that area for something else 20-25 years later and that pile of garbage was still there.