Hurricane Nicole Onboard Diary

Canaveral Barge Canal after Nicole © Cade Moore

Sailing Photojournalist Jan Pehrson was caught unexpectedly on the 36-foot sailboat "Slowpoke" directly in the path of Hurricane Nicole, a rare November hurricane making landfall on the Florida East Coast with 70-75 mph winds.

Read her first person account here:

Hurricane Nicole Diary 1 - Sudden Unexpected Evacuation

Captain Ken and I have to move "Slowpoke" immediately from Canaveral Port due to approaching tropical storm Nicole. "Slowpoke" is tied to the dock like a spider web, after riding out the last hurricane, Hurricane Ian, in the slip.

She is secured like Gulliver in "Gulliver's Travels" by Jonathan Swift. In the novel, the little people tied Gulliver up with a myriad of lines and captured him. Unlike Gulliver, "Slowpoke" is tied up for her own safety, but we must obey evacuation orders and leave in the morning.

We will go to the safest nearby place -- that's to tie up in the Canaveral Barge Canal to the mangrove bushes. Wish us luck. The port authority has given evacuation orders for the entire Canaveral Port, including all the large cruise ships and hundreds of small boats like ours. The mangroves are going to be crowded.

The winds aren't expected to be that strong, maybe 40 knots gusting to 55, so I'm not sure why the port authority has given this order, but we must obey and get out. We should be OK as we have plenty of diesel and gas and water and we can make our own electricity and have a lot of food so we'll be fine.

Captain Cade Moore of “Flow” on the morning after Hurricane Nicole, celebrating on the bow of undamaged boat, grateful to the nearby mangrove trees for their shelter during the night before when the storm gusted through at 70 plus mph - photo © Cade Moore

Hurricane Nicole Diary 2 - In the Mangroves

This morning "Slowpoke" was towed 4 miles up into the mangroves of the Barge Canal when Cape Marina at Port Canaveral was evacuated. Storm Nicole (I think now called Hurricane Nicole) is moving towards us on the Florida East Coast.

We learned that one reason for the evacuation is that a big storm surge is feared, and the Port Authority does not want the boats' dock lines floating up over the pilings and the boats floating around free.

Now "Slowpoke's" bow is into the mangroves, pointing towards the Northeast where the strongest winds are forecast for Wednesday and Thursday. We have two lines out on the port side, tied to palm trees. We have two lines out on the starboard side, tied to many feet of anchor chain and big anchors. We are waiting for Nicole.

Considering the circumstances, we think we are as prepared as possible.

We transited a lock coming here from Cape Canaveral. This lock will protect us from the storm surge that they are worried about and will cause flooding on the coast.

Fingers crossed.

Hurricane Nicole Diary 3 - Hurricane Hole

After finishing their day's work out on the Atlantic, the commercial shrimpers arrive in our hurricane hole, lighting up the sky. Like us cruisers, they nose into the mangroves, wade ashore, and tie up to palm trees. These folks who work on the ocean for a living are here, like us, to hide from Storm Nicole, now causing a swell of 20 to 25 feet out on the Atlantic Ocean. They can't fish. The worst is expected to come tonight, they are now forecasting 60-70 as the storm changes its trajectory.

Captain Ken of “Slowpoke” on the morning after Hurricane Nicole, celebrating on the bow of undamaged boat, grateful to the nearby mangrove trees for their shelter during the night before when the storm gusted through at 70 plus mph - photo © Cade Moore

Hurricane Nicole Diary 4 - My First Hurricane

Very challenging night on "Slowpoke" but Captain Ken and I made it through Hurricane Nicole safely. Nicole made landfall about 50 miles south of here with sustained 70 mile an hour winds, gusting higher.

As the eye passed at four AM, our winds changed direction, and clocked from north to east to south.

"Slowpoke," and many of the boats anchored and tied to palm trees around here, ended up pushed by the southerly winds up against the mud banks of the mangroves, aground. We sailboats are parallel to the shore on the north side of the barge canal that extends east to west. All of us will pull out of the mangroves when the wind finally dies down and the marinas re-open after inspection. We are OK, "Slowpoke" is unscathed, and it's time to rest up now.

During Nicole, water was flying, driven in sheets across the sky by the wind, wind so strong we had to hang on tight and couldn't move about the deck. We wore our life jackets, dressed in long pants and gloves in case we ended up on land, put our valuables in dry bags, and tethered on. We waited throughout the night for the violent gusts to end, and the unknown to become known. We thought about trying to adjust some of our lines, but the forces were too great to do this safely.

We were not in peril, so rather than act on impulse we watched and waited. Less is often more.

Some boats were damaged by the storm. All night long the coast guard responded to distress calls -- this is the first time I've personally heard a "Mayday" over the radio.

Slowpoke is a Morgan Out Island 36, so fortunately came through unscathed after this experience of being up-close-and-personal with the mangroves.

Designed for coastal cruising with a modified full keel, her big-fat-bottom hull shape is ideal for this service. It protects her rudder & propeller and entire underbody from damage if she runs up on a sandbar, or in this case on mud.

This unfortunate sailboat, life raft deployed, was blown onto a nearby bridge during Nicole. This boat was anchored in the river and dragged. “Slowpoke” and “Flow” were tied in a safer place, the mangroves of the Canaveral Barge Canal, and did not drag - photo © Jan Pehrson

Hurricane Nicole Diary 5 - Afloat

Good morning from "Slowpoke" following Hurricane Nicole ! Slowpoke is floating gracefully now, alongside the mangrove-lined shores of Canaveral Barge Canal.

A combination of high tide & not being driven onshore by 70 mph winds did the trick and floated us. We rose from the mud. Zero damage, no lines parted, no anchors lost. Just muddy. We gave a big SIGH of relief. Due to the shape of her fat bottom, "Slowpoke" didn't really mind sitting in the mud, but it's better to be floating -- that's what boats do best after all.

The chartplotter shows our track during the storm. Yellow is mangroves. White is water. We are now in the white (water) part and so floating! Yay!

Mangroves make rookeries for fish and aviaries for birds. They create new islands. Now I know, from personal experience, they also shelter boats in their lee during storms. We are grateful. And if things get really tough, some mangrove leaves are edible if prepared properly

They taste like salted celery we hear!

Jan Pehrson and Captain Ken sheltered from Hurricane Nicole in the mangroves of the Canaveral Barge Canal on the Morgan Out Island 36 "Slowpoke."

Tied up in the mangroves next to Slowpoke was Cade Moore, sheltering on his Hunter Passage 450 "Flow"

The morning after the storm passed, after the sun came out, Cade launched his DJI Mavic Mini 2 drone and took photos of the barge canal facing east towards the Atlantic Ocean, see above. That's "Slowpoke" bottom left, "Flow" in front of Slowpoke, and various sail and power boats and commercial shrimpers in front of them, tied up to the mangroves.

Jan Pehrson is a sailing photojournalist who spends summers in San Francisco, California and winters in St. Pete Beach, Florida. As a racing and cruising sailor and Coast Guard licensed skipper, Jan's familiarity with sailing and the sailing community lends an in-depth element to her prolific array of photographs and articles. Contact her at www.janpehrson.com.

Cade Moore and his wife Mesha are former powerboaters. They just bought "Flow," and are planning to attempt a circumnavigation starting in 2023.