Tornado

pcator

New member
Question. You are on a river in the middle of nowhere and get reports of possible tornadoes or worse you hear what sounds like a freight train coming down the river. Do you beach the boat and look for possible shelter or stay with the boat?

Patrick
 
Boy, what to do....

I guess I'd beach it if possible, tie it to a stout tree, go inland a ways and seek as much shelter as possible. Put my head between my legs and kiss my a.. goodbye as it approached. :cry :disgust :smilep

Charlie
 
As a boy growing up in the midwest, I've seen two tornados up close and personal. The movement of the funnel cloud itself isn't straight line in my experience, so trying to outrun one is a guessing game, at best. If conditions were right for the formation and then a sighting, I'd be more in favor of beaching the boat and finding a low-lying area (such as a culvert) to lie in. Most tornados are not huge in diameter and will pass in a matter of minutes. Much like being in a hurricane, the problem with protecting yourself is less with the wind, but what is carried in the wind.

It's easy to say the odds are in your favor, but you won't convince the families of those who were killed in this recent situation. I'd keep the weather radio on, and an eye on the sky. And be ready to move.
 
I would run up the river as fast as I can. funnel is not going to stay in the river for long. space between you and danger is always a thing.
 
Looks like another (of the many) good reasons to live in Alaska! No snakes, scorpions or poisonous spiders either. It is -50 here today and that puts a small "crimp" on boating, bears are sleeping... but no tornados!!!

Gotta look into that ice breaker bow mod soon!
 
seeing a tornado approaching would set the following events into motion:
1. pull out my insurance contract to check for my deductible amount.
2. instruct my wife to set sail into the wind
3. open up a cold bottle of imported beer
4. tell myself, the worst day boating beats the best day at work
5. open up another cold bottle of imported beer
6. check out the wife, see if she's still behind the helm
7. man that cold imported beer is tasting pretty good right now, better have another.
8. so relaxed right now, can't think what the problem was to begin with.
that's all
pat
 
We have been "Chased" by a couple of water spouts at sea. Basically a water spout is a tornado, but usually of less intensity. In those cases, we took the sails down, and attempted to secure loose item on deck. Fortunately the spout dissapeated before it hit us.

The tornado is much more intense, but even then it is not wide. If I could, I would run away from it--if it looked like it was going to hit, I would agree with beaching the boat and getting down as low as possiable.
 
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