Morning after Helene reveals hit-and-miss damage at Bayfront Park

Shortly after daylight Friday, dog walkers and joggers around Bayfront Park got their first look at exactly what Hurricane Helene had left in its path.

Susan Garrett was there, celebrating the fact her sailboat, the Adamerica, had survived Helene’s huge storm surge and was still safely tied up in its slip. 

”I can't believe my boat’s safe,” she said. “I can't believe it's still there, as high as this water got. She is strong,” she said, punching her fist in the air.

Not everything survived, she said, as she walked around the area. “My dock box is gone. And my steps” she uses to get onto her boat.

From the outside, things looked good. “it looks fine. It's floating at the right waterline. Bilges must be working fine,” she said. She noticed her winch cover had blown away. “There may be a ding or two in the hull,” where the boat hit a piling overnight.

Photo by Jim DeLa

Other boat owners were not as fortunate.

One unlucky sailboat has been pushed against the dock at O’Leary’s Tiki Bar & Grill, heavily damaging the dock and leaving the vessel at a precarious angle. 

Another large sailboat was washed up onto the island, near the jogging track on the back side of the park.

Debris was scattered throughout. A single ice skate. Shoes, cushions, chairs and trash; and a mariachi garden gnome, seemingly guarding metal barricades that had been tossed about by winds and high water. 

Photo by Jim DeLa

Garrett said she was relieved the Adamerica didn’t break loose and cause other damage. “A boat’s a boat. I worried about damage to other people’ boats,” she said.