I noticed a lot of the boats have those huge holes in the port and starboard sides of the bows....Couldn't figure it out until I saw these pics and see the sling style lift. Slings just swun back and forth pounding the boats against the pylons. Very f*cked up to see all that carniage.

I don't get this. They KNEW this was coming for a LONG time. Seems to me that taking the time to tow the high dollor stuff on trailers 5 or 10 miles inland would have saved a lot of damage ...

Some may not have had the means to make those arrangements (no trailer or truck)

OMG it is so sad to the damaged caused by the storm and I just cannot imagine the sickening feeling to see that if it was my boat.... I know it can all be replaced but still.

how many people WANTED their stuff replaced? Not saying that is the story but if you have an old boat... want a new one... no money...hmm huricane coming... just a question. Its horrible to see all the damage... I couldnt imagine having to go through that...

After seeing those picture and the damage IKE did to everything, why wouldn't people leave when they we told to. It's just amazing.

You have too feel sad for the people that put their heart & soul into some of these boats like this one.
http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/CARY-...spagenameZWDVW

This is a beautiful boat, I have always admired it. Many of the owners don't have trailers and most of the go-fasts were pulled out. Most boats damaged were cruisers and sailboats, probably 100-1 with go-fasts.There were many go fasts in this marina. This marina was probably the most popular of all of the places to have your boat. It had a family atmosphere. Everyone knew each other. We had a mandatory evacuation, many had other things to worry about besides their boats. On Wednesday night when we pulled our boat out the hurricane was heading 100 miles southwest of us to Freeport, Tx. We put it in a storage yard close by figuring we would have some wind, rain, and small surge. Then the storm moved north and east and our area had a bullseye on it. The surge flooding stopped about a 1/4 of a mile from where we had our boat stored or ours would have been destroyed, too. It is hard to plan what to do when you don't know where the storm is going. We had all planned to leave a week before when Gustav came in and missed us entirely.

Most of boats that were heavily damaged were crushed on the 2 steel beams above that the winches are on. The storm surge raised these boats about 10-12 feet above normal. Several areas of Clear Lake had surges of up to 16 feet.

how did all those trailer boats in the first pic end up fairing so well.... ?? heck, they look perfect to me..

Not talking about the old stuff. I'm looking at the brand new high dollar Donzi's laying on the ground and AT LEAST three empty trailers there that would have temporarily accommodated a 5-10 mile trip away from the coast or to a warehouse somewhere.

WOW, that really sucks. But to some of you non-hurricane experienced OSOer's, try to have some compassion for these folks.
"We had a mandatory evacuation, many had other things to worry about besides their boats"
How do you know that these folks didn't have higher priorities, like getting there parents/grandparents out of nursing homes or their homes, help their kids, if they have any, get outof town, trying to find gas just to get themselves out of town, packing up things that can't be replaced, like legal documents, etc. Maybe they didn't even own a trailer or truck to tow it with!? A mandatory evac. is just that, MANDATORY, the gov't officals don't care if you own a $250,000 powerboat or a $500 skiff, they give you a time window to meet, and then after that they close the bridges, so you can't get your family off the island! Myself, I would never/have owned a boat that didn't have a trailer, and I have pulled my boats everytime a 'cane comes our way, but not everyone has that opportunity or means. Hell, I have the Nordic trailer sitting in my driveway right now, just in case, and my neighbors don't care for it, BUT they understand why it's sitting there.

Should we, the hurricane experinced folks in the USA, have the same amount of compassion if a Noreaster' comes blowing in this winter and mess's up your guy's boats? After all, this what we all pay insurance for, BIG DOLLAR Insurance $$ mind you. And our rates in Fl, are alot higher than anywhere else in the country, so we are ALREADY paying the extra hurricane ins. $$ to live here in boater's paradise. Your insurance rates is of alot cheaper than ours, are now and will always be cheaper. This kind of attitude is a BIG part of what is wrong with our country right now, me first, phuck everyone else!! Try to think what they are dealing with now....
Dean