ANOTHER LESSON FROM SANDY: Securing the dingy

Another lesson I learned after Sandy is when to use and when to secure the dingy outboard.  I was on board the day before Hurricane Sandy hit. Due to the pressure gradient between the departing high pressure and the approach of Sandy the winds piped up to 25 knots with gusts to 35. I was concerned that those winds out of the northeast might make rowing back to the docks northwest of the mooring impossible. Turns out I was able to row the Porta Bote fine in that direction in those conditions without using the engine. But, the big mistake was leaving the outboard on the dingy after I reached the calm conditions inside the marina basin. When I tied up to the dock it was very calm as the the land and bulkhead protected the area from the blowing northeast winds. I thought the dingy would be fine there. I left the motor on because I thought I would need it when I would have to get back on BIANKA at some point before Sandy had totally departed the area.  I tied it on the northwest side of the dock so I also thought the dingy would also be secure even when the winds backed around from the southeast later in the storm   I did not expect the docks to break apart and flip the dingy sending the Honda BF-2 outboard to the bottom.  Below is what it looked like after spending a week on the bottom.

Luckily, I did take my oars with me when I left so I was still able to get back to the boat after the storm. So the lesson learned was to remove the outboard and everything else in the dingy if you are going to leave it at a dock. Though removing it some place secure on land might be the best solution if it can be easily done. I'm in the process of try to revive the drowned outboard which I will post about here in the near future.