Dock catastrophe at Grand Lake

D

drjohn71a

New member
A string of snow and ice storms topped off by about 18 inches of snow in a day or two has caused the collapse of the dock structures at TeraMiranda Harbor, on Grand Lake, OK. Over half of the boats under the roofs have sunk and most others are damaged to some degree. They are now under sub zero temperatures, so it will be a while before all the damage is surveyed.

Can you believe that, just about 10 days before this, after having been in the water under that dock roofing for four years, Tom-a-Hawk was pulled from the water, cleaned and sealed in shrink wrap up by the airport runway!

What a close call for me and the new owners! I put the pictures so far on Tom-a-Hawk's album. Here is the link:

http://www.c-brats.com/modules.php?set_ ... _album.php

John
 
John-

That's quite a tragedy!

Good thing you escaped it!

We have water pumps and spray systems to melt the snow here at Bridge Bay on Lake Shasta, but if it were really cold, the warmer lake water would just freeze up on the roof and bring it down that much sooner! :shock:

Joe. :teeth :thup
 
Timing is everything!

Years ago my last Ranger 20 sailboat was prominently displayed on a dealer's resale lot next to a dual highway. A drunk rocketed across the shoulder/ditch in the middle of the night and lodged his car in a power cruiser that had replaced my boat a couple of days earlier. The drunk succumbed of his injuries and the car was still running at daylight when someone spotted it. Shame was it took another six months to sell my boat for less than its insured value.

Bill Uffelman
In Carson City NV through June
 
Last year roofs collapsed from the weight of snow all over the northern Cheasapeake Bay. Big boats big claims. I think it broke a whole bunch of people. For me just one more reason not to leave a boat in the water.
Glad to hear your baby is safe and sound. -40 below out there today, that's cold :!: Those pictures tell a thousand words alright.
Yowser
D.D.
 
DD,

I was wondering if other places were suffering similar fates, esp. with those massive NE storms. I'll admit I'll be thinking twice about storing my next boat in the water all the time...

But, it is nice to be able to use it easily...

As far as the insurance goes, my experience is that they rarely pay what you'd expect by reading the policy, so even though I had New Replacement Cost insurance on my TomCat, I'd rather not be involved in the hassle.

I'd rather not be the owner of a fixed up, sunken boat. Been there, done that.

John
 
Man, that hurt to read. Having Mother Nature take one boat is a shame, having her take a marina full is just painful. Your timing was good, but I know you feel for your friends and neighbors. :cry:
 
John,

Sorry to hear about the loss of so many boats due to the severe weather.

However, with your intuitive abilities maybe you could share your picks in the next lottery?
 
Must have been over ten years ago that a Portland marina with covered slips collapsed when heavy wet snow piled up. Amazing damage done and even some boats out in the open took on enough snow to begin sinking. What an advantage it is to have a trailerable boat. John
 
On December 29, 1996 the weight of heavy snow collapsed the roofs at the Port of Edmonds Marina sinking more that 200 boats and damaging hundreds of others. The snow which blanketed the Pacific Northwest between Christmas '96 and New Years Day also damaged marinas at Oak Harbor, Kingston, Port Orchard and the Port of Everett.

(The above is paraphrased from an article that can be found by googling Edmonds Marina Collapse). I remembered the storm well, as I had to shovel heavy wet snow from some of the roofs of our out buildings on our home place.

Although, I keep my boat at home in a shop (which was constructed with a well pitched roof that I feel comfortable with), if I were to keep my boat in the water under cover, I would certainly be paying close attention to the construction and pitch of that roof (most marina roofs don't have a lot of pitch).
In the Puget Sound area we usually don't get a lot of snow accumulation, but the snow we do get is wet and heavy. (Big difference from the "dry" snow I was use to in Montana).

As for the shop where I keep my boat at home, I'm in greater danger from a tall tree falling on it. If any trees appear to imminently threaten it, I fire up the chain saw. But I still have too many trees in "striking range".
 
Dave - I remember that snow storm well. At the time I had a house with a relatively small pitch on the roof and a patio that was covered with an almost flat, corrugated fiberglass roof. It snowed 12" one day, was clear and cold the next and then snowed 12" again in a storm that transitioned to rain. 24" of water saturated snow is a lot of weight. I shoveled off my roof and patio covering twice - once after the first 12" and again after the next.

At the time I remember thinking that this wasn't really rocket science. Flat roof, lots of snow = lots of weight. Why the Edmonds marina (or one of 100's of boat owners there) didn't figure this out and shovel it off prior to the disaster is beyond me. It probably would have required a few $100 to a few $1000 in labor to prevent a few $1M in damage. I know if my boat were in the marina at the time, I would have walked/ run the 10 miles there and shoveled off the snow myself.
 
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