JENSEN BEACH, Fla. — Boaters in Jensen Beach spent Thursday securing their lines and tying down their boats, worried 40 mile per hour winds could send their vessels careening down the Intracoastal.
A month ago, WPTV reported 50 mph wind gusts sent at least seven boats moored at the Jensen Beach Causeway flying, damaging several of them. It also caused part of the dock at the boat ramp to break loose.
"They had worse wind here than I had offshore," boater Jim Hillman said.
Hillman said with wind gusts expected up to 40 mph, and a coastal flood advisory in effect, he made the decision to brave the strong surf and secure his sailboat Thursday.
"I spent the day putting extra lines on the mooring ball and getting everything tidied up," said Hillman. "Fingers crossed!"
WPTV talked to boater Jeremy Saxon as he powered up his dinghy to get to his own boat moored at the Jensen Beach Causeway.
Saxon said after seeing what happened during November's storm, he's not taking any chances.
"It was nothing pretty, and I don't want any part of it," Saxon said. “I'm actually about to get my boat out of here. I'm not going to play around with it, so I'm going to go over to Peck Lake and take it from there.”
Steve Ellwood said he took several precautions to make sure his boat stayed safe at the causeway.
"Then we took the engine off our dinghy, so when it flips upside down it won't get wet," Ellwood said. "It doesn’t look good, doesn’t look good."
Parts of the dock at the Jensen Beach Causeway boat ramp are still damaged, and WPTV saw and felt strong winds Thursday.
However, while WPTV saw boats on the water take a beating, the wind didn't feel as strong as it did the last time around.
Still, Saxon said he isn't sticking around to find out if Mother Nature plays nicer this time.
"The waves over there are already three or four feet so, yeah, I'm on my way out of here," Saxon said.
