Guess I had a few things to be thankful for yesterday. #1 that no one was badly injured
and #2 there wasn’t more damage.
We had high winds Wednesday gusting to 45-50MPH. As I walked out to put up the flag
yesterday morning, something didn’t look right. I then realized a 75ft pine tree had come
down during the storm. After examining it I felt sick and stormed into the house half
crying and cursing up a storm. Pat couldn’t believe my dumb luck when she came out to
see it.
I had promised Pat I would get most of the outdoor Christmas lights and outdoor decor up
since the entire weekend is supposed to be rain and snow, so got started on that first.
one of my neighbors stopped by and offered his help if I needed it to take care of the tree.
My closer son-in-law phoned for another reason and also offered to come if I needed
help. Stubborn old fart declined both offers.
As soon as I finished the decorations, I grabbed a chain saw and ladder to start on the tree
demo. When I cut the first 10ft section off the tree, I hadn’t accounted for all the vines
that were entangled in the tree and the section swung down like a huge pendulum
knocking over the ladder and sending me tumbling to the ground 20 feet away.
My neighbor Greg saw in happen and came running over to make sure I was ok. After I
dusted myself off he instructed me we were going to do this together lol. He grabbed
another saw and a couple machetes. We went to work bucking some of what was left and
clearing the vines before doing any more cutting.
Greg insisted on climbing the ladder to make the next big cut. Well, that kicked out
knocking the ladder out from under him as he went tumbling to the ground. It was my
turn to make sure HE was ok.
After that we finished the bucking. I convinced him one more cut close to the boat and
another on the other side of the boat and we should be good. As soon as that first cut was
made, the root ball took over and lifted the remaining 25ft back to a standing position.
I removed the forward section of the Winter cover to check for damage. There are
indentations on the gunwale caps and trim on both sides. For now that is the only damage
we were able to find. I crawled underneath and the hull looks unscathed. I had the
jackstand on some 1/4” press board which both the jackstand and jack punched right
through probably saving far more damage. Finished cleaning up about 4 just before
guests were to arrive for dinner.
