responding to tsunami in a marina

[Sojourner]

I think it would depend on the coastline/depth contour offshore. If it stays shallow for miles, might be a bad idea without lots of warning. If it gets deep pretty quick, I'd be outta there in a shot.

[Dan GB]

Originally Posted by Sojourner

I think it would depend on the coastline/depth contour offshore. If it stays shallow for miles, might be a bad idea without lots of warning. If it gets deep pretty quick, I'd be outta there in a shot.

Dwayne Johnson says to get out "... before it crests!"
https://youtu.be/lIcomIb8gco

[captmikem]

Originally Posted by Kenomac

It doesn’t always work out well for those who think they can get out to sea before the waves hit.

they are leaving as the tsunami hit. same result for those running for the hills as it hits.
if you have a half hour warning, at six kts that is 3 miles. if you can get 3 miles off shore your chances go up exponentially.

I would rather be 3 mes off shore in a sound boat with little food and water than on a hillside with thousands of survivors trying to live thru the next few days.
The sea is much safer than the shore.

M

[Montanan]

Immediately leave the boat and the marina, and evacuate vertically, to nearby high ground or up a multistory, sturdy building or parking garage, e.g., cement structure.

Plan ahead by reviewing the evacuation maps and routes and discerning which buildings and structures are designated as tsunami evacuation structures.

Since 1931, Crescent City, California has been hit by 31 tsunamis, google the destruction.

The wave fronts and current flow volume and speed can be immense, tearing up docks and tossing EVERYTHING in its way.


Two letters to remember:

UP!!!!!!

Okay, actually two words: UP FAST.

Okay, three words, UP HIGH FAST.

[Kalinowski]

We kept our yacht at Keehi Lagoon in Honolulu, which suffered a big tsunami a half dozen years or so ago. The tsunami totally destroyed the entire marina. When I went back the morning after, all was gone from the main gangway out and swirling around the lagoon. Boats were sunk everywhere. I had my boat in the yard for a bottom job and did a little jig for Neptune as thanks for my luck. It took about 2 years to rebuild the marina.

[roverhi]

We were in Honokohau harbor on the Kona side of the Big Island when the Japan earth quake happened. There was plenty of warning and word was to get out of the harbor which I did at 11:00pm. Was about a 1/4 mile offshore when the main surge hit that flooded central Kailua-Kona in the early morning. I had no idea anything was going on on shore. At sea it was an almost unnoticeable lump in the water. The wave was supposed to hit after midnight but turned out to be a succession of waves/surges that went from after midnight till late in the evening. After sunrise thought the effects were over and tried to go back in the harbor. When I turned into the outer basin there was a huge whirl pool and another boat that had tried to come in advised to head back out which I did. The surges didn't subside significantly until late in the afternoon. Even then it was a bit of a challenge to get the boat back into it's Med Moor slip at 5:00pm. Fortunately there was a roving band of boat owners who were helping boats get back in their slips. Even after getting back in the slip, the much subsided surges that lasted into the evening.

The harbor largely emptied of boats before the Tsunami hit. A few of the boats that stayed were damaged or sunk when they were pushed under the fixed docks in the trough of a surge and trapped when the next surge came in. Many had no damage as with most of the boats out of the harbor they had a lot of room to move. Talking with some of the power boats that tried to get in their slips before the surge had died significantly was interesting. They said they'd line up with their slip and suddenly be two or three slips to either side with the surge.

[crashkahuna]

Originally Posted by Kalinowski

We kept our yacht at Keehi Lagoon in Honolulu, which suffered a big tsunami a half dozen years or so ago. The tsunami totally destroyed the entire marina. When I went back the morning after, all was gone from the main gangway out and swirling around the lagoon. Boats were sunk everywhere. I had my boat in the yard for a bottom job and did a little jig for Neptune as thanks for my luck. It took about 2 years to rebuild the marina.

I remember that one. My boat in slip at the Ala Wai. The choice was to go to high ground or take boat to sea. Mandatory evac. Chose to help friend take his much larger more expensive boat out. Did not feel anything out there and Alai Wai had minimal problems but yes Keehi, my old marina, was a mess. Anyway we had several hours warning so that made a huge difference.

[owly]

Originally Posted by joel383

The last tsunami warning here just a few folks headed out. Mostly folks who commercial fished, and lived aboard. We contemplated it, but high ground is less than a mile from our live aboard... Including the .3mile walk to the top. You just pray that the quake was far enough away to make it to the car.

More disturbing was the fact that they shut down the cellular data during the warning. Basically no coms. Even calling local wasn't reliable. Stressful. I really need to pick up that baofeng handheld radio I've been eyeing... Especially since the FCC is frowning on them now.


Sent from my iGloo.

Actually Crescent City looks like a port that it would be easy to exit to very deep water fairly quickly.


The Straits of Juan de Fuca are quite deep, and some of the ports on the American side would offer a very quick exit to deep water...... a real live aboard cruiser on the hook at least has a chance.... boat ready to go, not threaded far back in a marina, but tsunamis like any natural disaster do not happen on a schedule, or at a convenient time.


H.W.

[Paul L]

It depends a lot on how close to deep water you are. In Vancouver island you are usually very close to 100ft plus deep water, so getting there isn't going to take long.
How much warning time depends directly on how close the quake is. It can be hours, minutes or non-existent.
We have dealt with a couple of tsunamis while cruising. In Mexico we were anchored deep in a fairly narrow bay when we got a pretty non-descript warning. We upped anchor and headed to deep water. It was kind of tough to figure out when the danger had passed. There were a number of docks that were destroyed in that small wave.

We weren't there, but in the Samoa tsunami one cruiser was lost when he was on the dock untying lines while she was onboard getting ready to head to deep water when the wave arrived.

[davenrino]

Re: responding to tsunami in a marina
Quote:
Originally Posted by Kalinowski
We kept our yacht at Keehi Lagoon in Honolulu, which suffered a big tsunami a half dozen years or so ago. The tsunami totally destroyed the entire marina. When I went back the morning after, all was gone from the main gangway out and swirling around the lagoon. Boats were sunk everywhere. I had my boat in the yard for a bottom job and did a little jig for Neptune as thanks for my luck. It took about 2 years to rebuild the marina.

Originally Posted by crashkahuna

I remember that one. My boat in slip at the Ala Wai. The choice was to go to high ground or take boat to sea. Mandatory evac. Chose to help friend take his much larger more expensive boat out. Did not feel anything out there and Alai Wai had minimal problems but yes Keehi, my old marina, was a mess. Anyway we had several hours warning so that made a huge difference.

I am in Keehi Marine Center now and it is very nice after the rebuild. Our contract now says we have to evacuate if there is time. We had several hours warning last time and do have a great Tsunami warning system here. We even have to have a contact that can operate the boat in case of a tsunami when we are off-island.

[Kenomac]

Originally Posted by captmikem

they are leaving as the tsunami hit. same result for those running for the hills as it hits.
if you have a half hour warning, at six kts that is 3 miles. if you can get 3 miles off shore your chances go up exponentially.

I would rather be 3 mes off shore in a sound boat with little food and water than on a hillside with thousands of survivors trying to live thru the next few days.
The sea is much safer than the shore.

M

I would assume they thought they had enough time, just like everyone else who believes it can be done. If the quake happens thousands of miles away, then yes there’s plenty of time to get off shore, but not when it’s more local.

[Blaine]

I always thought I would head for open water from my marina given even a little notice.

Then I experienced the surge from the tsunami in Japan onboard in my marina in Southern California (one of several on the west coast that sustained damage) with absolutely no warning. I'll describe what happened below, but suffice it to say that given any warning whatsoever in the future, I'll get lines around any available pilings and then gather my valuables and get the he** out of Dodge in the direction of higher ground.

I was working on a project below, when I felt my boat at an awkward angle and heard my dock lines groaning. (This was a high-sided motoryacht on an end tie) When I came up for a look, my boat was at a 45-degree angle to the dock and the onrushing water had driven the hull about six feet away from the dock. The dock lines were screaming as I grabbed a handheld radio and leapt out onto the dock.

There were other people on the dock yelling to get lines around pilings. The knee boards (the planks that hold dock boxes and fill the space between the dock and pilings) were popping into the air like popcorn from the docks being torqued. White water was coming over the docks like rapids. Then the concrete docks began to crumble, revealing the rebar inside.

I radioed the harbor patrol to tell them our docks were crumbling and they said "yes, we're aware of the situation and we're considering evacuating the marina." Now, keep in mind that Marina del Rey is the largest man-made small craft harbor in the world with just under five thousand boats berthed here. That statement and the mindset behind it, besides being totally preposterous, showed that the authorities were caught flat-footed and had no plan. I'm not sure what they could have done anyway, besides issuing an emergency evacuation notice, since I've never seen a small craft with the ability to maneuver against such force. We sustained three separate surges, each with less intensity than the first.

When the water calmed down (several hours later), boats were evacuated from damaged docks and relocated elsewhere in the marina. I was relocated for nearly a year before my dock was rebuilt.

This adventure pointed out several things; 1) there may be no notice whatsoever, 2) are you willing to bet your life on the accuracy of any notice that you do get, 3) realizing that even if on foot, you may be able to get into the higher floors of a nearby building where you'll likely be safer than on your boat. My decision has been made.

[Suijin]

Originally Posted by JPA Cate

Now, like atoll, we have some friends who saw the water start to go away, and ran to their dinghy to get back to their boat, and went to sea, and survived to help out in the recovery.

Wow, that is remarkable that they had enough time from the water withdrawing to get to their boat and get to deep water. I may never look at gently lapping water at the beach the same way again.

IIRC, there have been quite a few instances where a tidal wave did not follow the predictions given with respect to timing. While it's one thing to know where the epicenter is, that does not give you precise information on how/when/where a wave will be formed.

Personally, if I felt like I could get to deep water within 30 minutes I might make a run for it. It all depends on the options are to get to some altitude on land.

[ninethlife]

Excuse my recalcitrant nature, but during the last tsunami in Brookings, Oregon, the Coast Guard was at the breakwater entrance threatening pleasure boaters and making them return to the dock and run for the hills. At the same time they allowed all commercial vessels to head out to deeper water. Why can a know nothing with an automatic weapon choose who survives and who gets tsd?

[airacer]

Hello,
I normally just lurk here, thinking of cutting ties, listening and sometimes learning!
This post brought back a flood of emotion, pun intended.

I was less than four miles offshore, on a 58' Cat, during the "boxing day tsunami" in Thailand. Upon entering Kata Beach, the first thing I wanted to do was head back out to sea...
BTW, cell service worked to call the states.
To the point: conditions and circumstances can vary greatly... but if there is time... I want to be out on the open water, if possible.