Indiantown Marina, boat owners prep ahead of Nicole

MARTIN COUNTY, Fla. — Crews at Indiantown Marina are trying to make the most of the next 48 hours to squeeze in as many preps as possible as Subtropical Storm Nicole makes its way to Florida.

Just when Indiantown Marina owner Scott Watson was ready to start putting hurricane season behind him, Watson learned that the storm was making its way to Florida.

“I thought it was over. As a matter of a fact, this week we were going to start putting things away that we normally have out during hurricane season,” he said, “and when I woke up at 5 o’clock this morning, I noticed we had a storm on the way.”

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That means Indiantown Marina will have to wait to put away boat stands and blocks and start pulling out some of the 40 boats in their hurricane club. The marina is also trying to make room for other boat owners, who might be looking for last minute, high demand storage.

“We could have as many as 1,000 with the amount of people that call us wanting to get hauled out, but we only have so much time and resources to pull that off.

The challenge for everyone is the quick turn around compared to what they’re used to before a possible hurricane.

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“Any where from a week to 10 days, this one is popping up we got three days and that’s going to make it interesting,” said Gilled Philippine.

Gilled Philippine finalized his boat preps Monday.

“Storing everything that could fly away,” he said. “Keeping everything that could fly off the boat, kind of stored away, too. Doubling the lines, putting extra fenders, basic stuff.”

It’s not his first time preparing for a hurricane, but agrees this one is tight.

“It’s faster, that’s for sure,” he said.

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He is planning to stay on board during any potential storm.

“We can check on leaks,” he said, “old boat has leaks.”

Meanwhile, Watson had some advice for boaters who are not hauling out.

“Just be prepared and have plenty of rope on hand, so you can tie your boat off. Tie it appropriately, put a second set of lines on it,” he said. “And should we have a storm surge, make sure you have lines tied to the boat, so if the water was to rise 5 or 6 feet, it’s still tied to something.”