Tuesday September 26: Great News!

We were able to walk to where Yesterday's Dream is sitting and found the boat to be in way better shape than we could have hoped.

The worst cosmetic damage was on the bow of our boat where another boat's anchor platform was rubbing on ours up, down and sideways. Fortunately there was no anchor on it though or it would have been so much worse. (We saw some boats that were clearly in contact with an anchor. Anchors are designed to dig in and hold!  It is not pretty.)

There is a small boat under the back edge of our boat that is probably keeping it from being more on its side - definitely a good thing.


The rudder, prop and keel all look ok. Of course we won't know for sure until the boat is in the water and running.






The bottom looks good as well - you can see the small boat that our boat crunched a little. Not a good thing for it for sure.











We marveled at how close the boat on the port side came to being a battering ram with it's anchor platform and anchor.

I'm sure that could have torn out a chunk of railing had the boats still been floating.

One piece of the flybridge railing is missing. My theory is that the emergency throwing ring I had bungee corded to the railing and stanchion was taken by the wind. That was one tough bungee cord!





The other piece of railing missing (well, not really missing as the pieces are likely all there) is the front railing. The hardtop of the boat next to us likely took it out when the water finally receded and the boats all settled.

Two stanchions broke and bent and a length of the railing is broken. Seems to be lying on the deck - or at least part of it.


So, we're not sure when we'll be able to get into the boat but based on what we saw yesterday, we are very hopeful. Of course the boat will need to be surveyed to make certain there is no damage structurally.


The real loser in all of this mess are the folks who live here in the Keys. It is an unbelievable mess.

The picture above is one of the numerous piles of trash which has already been collected around Marathon. A lot of the trash is due to the water surge. Refrigerators, and other appliances lined parts of the highway waiting for pickup and disposal. They were all ruined when the saltwater flooded the residences. A continuous pile of debris lines not only the side streets but the main streets as well. It was encouraging to see a large amount of heavy equipment; cranes, trucks, bulldozers, etc. working to clean up the debris. We wonder how they are going to get rid of all this stuff.

The foliage looks like Ohio in the winter with most of the leaves stripped from the trees and the mangroves. It's just a mess. It is a sad time for the Keys but the work going on is amazing. There is clearly a great deal of outside help trying to clean things up.