Storm Eunice with wind velocities of 125 - 145 km/h brought everyday life today in this country to a standstill causing a lot of damage. So far 4 persons died due to falling trees.
Example of a falling tree in Amsterdam.
Two big storms on one weather chart is quite uncommon. First storm Dudley passed over us and one day later Euniche which was more powerful. Climate change? Nah.
After Dudley and Eunice and two days of rest another severe storm called Franklin is sneaking up on us and expected to also cause a lot of damage.
Here it is:
Daily mail is a bit over the lines but anywayâŚ
Since the title is âtimberâ I decided to bring up this question:
Sometime ago we bought an articulated rudder for one of our boats (boat 240â LOA, 2500 tons) from a Dutch firm. They sent a tech guy out to us in Seattle to talk about it.
One concern we had: log-strike. On the BC Inside Passage, particularly in Spring, hitting big-ass logs is an issue. Forty years ago they chewed up propellers on our boats. Nowadays not so much, because our boats are much bigger, and we learned to just use SS as propeller material. Much stronger than bronze. But log-strike is still a concern for anything mechanical underwater.
The Dutch tech person was confused: Logs? What are âlogsâ?
Reply: Big trees floating in the water. Brought down by avalanches in the mountains. Lost from log-tows. That sort of thing.
Tech guy: They allow that around here?
So my question is, in the European ports, are logs not a hazard, or do they call them something else?
The inland passage features floating logs and deadheads not because of avalanches. They get loose in logging operations such as when booms break apart in storms. Independent operators known locally as beachcombers tow them to the sawmills with small boats and collect a bounty. Their boat numbers are preceded by the letters LS to indicate they have a log salvage license.
I donât see where logs could be an issue in European or American ports where large vessels dock.
Iâve seen both. Iâve seen the obvious sticks that have broken loose from log tows/booms (no base/roots). Iâve also run into the âwildâ version, roots attached, farther north. Smaller than the log-tow escapees. We ran in to one at night in Tribune Channel BC on the training boat. Bent the shaft.
Worst time of year for us for stuff floating in water is spring. Local told me it was because of ice-out in the mountains, flushing out all the winter windfall. Also, in terms of commercial logging, could be spring tides lifting all the stuff on the beach from last yearâs ops.
Thereâs a place called Drew Harbor near Heriot Bay BC (top of Desolation Sound). Nice enclosed circular harbor. Good for yachts. The âbeachâ is covered with logs from logging operations. Natural trap for them. Float in, canât float out. Quite impressive âcorrugatedâ beach.
Lots of timber coming out of the Baltic countries (hence Baltic ply). But apparently floating logs not an issue?
No more timber⌠Europe got rid of them long agoâŚ
Jokes a part. itâs a very uncommon to spot them on the water.
Maybe Norway or Baltic but nowhere else.
I worked as a stunt double/boat operator for a CBC episodic called The Beachcombers back in the early '80âs that centered around the guys plying this trade; a Canadian version of Mayberry /Gilliganâs Island which ran for about 20 years starting in 1972. Some of the episodes are on YouTube. The work was spotty but a ton of fun.
The ones with root balls and branches still attached show up a LOT better on radarâŚtheyâre very common north of Cape Caution
The Inside Passage kinda has a perfect combination of factors for floating logs. Timber growing at the waterline or on steep slopes immediately above, logging operations that still use water for transport, short and fast-flowing rivers, occasional high-speed wind gusts in areas that donât see constant winds, and a somewhat enclosed area for them to all float around in
Floating logs used to be a major problem in the Oslo fjord, until the Tofte and Peterson pulp plants were shut down a decade or two ago. The logs were mostly lost overboard during discharge, and a source of endless revenue for the local yards.
Aside for countless glancing blows, I hit one square on with a skiff, running on the plane off Drøbak in the dark. It was a very unpleasant experience. The first thing I knew, aside from some violent movement, was the infernal sound of the outboard screaming its head off, having gotten flipped into the boat. I got wrapped around the center bench seat in the most improbable manner, and donât want to know what injuries I would have sustained if I wasnât wearing a heavy duty 4-ply neoprene survival suit.
On the rivers running through our country no logs to be seen. If any they were already fished out of the water long before entering the Dutch waters. We were deforested, a clean sweep, during the Middle Ages to build all those warships and traders which operated in large areas of the globe.
You would expect that there is a cut off rpm for just such an occasion installed on those outboards.
Much of the Norwegian coastal areas were cleared of oak for the same reason.
PS> The Dutch didnât leave much oak forest, but quite a few little Dutchmen were running around in villages on the west coast.
There generally is. This was an old Mariner branded Yamaha 2-stroke 25, so Iâm not sure if there was a limiter in the CDI. Either way, the noise of an outboard coming out of the water at full tilt is pretty dramatic.
For those of you who havenât sailed the BC Inside Passage:
Classic log-strike happens at 0430, right when the watch gets sleepy and unguarded. Then suddenly BOOM, the impact on the forefoot. Mate on watch panics: Shit! Did I just hit a yacht?
Then BOOM-BOOM-BOOM as the 60-foot log is over-run, and bounces along under the hull, waking up the crew. But the mate breathes a sigh of relief: Good! Not a yachtâŚ
BOOM! the final strike, seemingly always right under where the ER watch station is. The assistant holds his breathâwait for it-- GRUNDLE-GRUNDLEâ the log hits the giant 2500 HP Cuisine-Art of the wheels.
Captain doesnât bother to call the watchâŚ
I always pull the engine out of gear when I feel a strike. It doesnât do anything for the hull or wheel but it can do wonders for the reduction gear coupling.
More the reality:
The first thing i towed was a log. The last a self dumping log barge.
