Saturday night, we experienced three hours of very heavy weather beginning with a violent start at 7:00 PM – horizon to horizon lightening, 50+ knots wind, torrential rain, pea to dime-sized hail, and later, tornados. Luckily, we were on the inside of Charleston’s Mega Dock and were partially shielded from the boiling seas. Our TV reception stayed intact, as local TV weathermen reported on the passing storm’s most violent tracks. REALLY UGLY!!
Most anxious moment was when the National Weather Service gave a tornado warning for our moorage in southwest Charleston (that scary beep-beep sound and the ominous mechanical voice.) The boat was no place to be in a tornado. We stuffed flashlights, wallets, pills and cell phones into our foul weather gear and planned to make a run, 500 feet down the pier, to shelter in a steel, 230 foot coastal cruiser, American Spirit, which was moored there. Luckily, we didn't have to flee. The tornados veered south and by 10:00 PM, most of the storms had passed.
Ebb Tide II underway
