ST. MICHAELS, Md.- Despite the fact that Hurricane Joaquin may or may not hit us directly, boat owners, the Chesapeake Bay Maritime Museum, and marinas like Ferry Point in Talbot County, are trying to secure boats from rain, wind, and even flooding.
Boats are coming out of the water, and going on to dry land. Lewis Hardy with Ferry Point Marina says if you can't get your boat out of the water, there are some steps you can take to keep your boat safe.
"I suggest putting extra lines on the boat, actually leave them a little bit loose," said Hardy. "Make sure that the boat won't get into the poles, but leave them loose enough that if a surge lifts the boat up, it can move instead of the lines holding it down."
More battening of hatches was taking place in St. Michaels. At the Chesapeake Bay Maritime Museum, one of the first things you see when you come through the door is a plaque, showing where the water level was when Hurricane Isabel hit back in 2003. It brought a 6-and-a-half-foot storm surge on campus, so the whole goal is to get the boats into safe harbor to protect our Chesapeake Bay heritage.
"Isabel, Delaware, Volunteer, you're not going to see these boats anywhere else. Some of them are the last of their kind, so we're going to take care of them," said Museum President Kristen Greenaway.
"We're going to be backing the boat of out the slip 5 to 10 feet, we'll be doubling up all the lines and giving her lots of slack, because we're worried about the storm surge this year," said John Marrah, owner of the Patriot, a larger ship sheltering the museum's smaller boats from the storm.
The queen of the fleet, the Edna Lockwood was hauled out to protect her from the storm, the riskiest move of the day.
"She's the last one in the world," said Boatyard Manager Michael Gorman. "We try to mitigate the risk of losing her."
