EASTERN SHORE, Md. — Riding out a storm with the windows shut and the doors secure is one thing but being out on the water is a whole different ball game. Storms like Hurricane Dorian get the attention of many boat owners on the Eastern Shore.
Their two main concerns? High winds and high tides.
Dennis Carter of Grasonville has been working on the water for more than a half century and has seen his share of storms.
"Mostly respect because the forces of nature, they're great," said Carter.
Carter has great respect for the power of mother nature. The winds are coming from the north and east for this storm but when they blow from the south the winds push the water up the bay and that's when you have dangerous high tides.
You have to use extra lines to secure, you definitely have to watch your tide surges," Carter said. "How high the tide rises, you know and most of all you have to stay in this little cove because outside of this cove we don't have any protection from the storm."
It's a cove he knows well. He swam in this water as a young boy growing up on Kent Island. As they ride the storm out many watermen don't do it from the comfort of their homes, they stay right on the boat to keep an eye on their lines and adjust if they have too.
"We stay on the boat because the boat is our life," Carter said. "Without the boat we don't live. We can't survive without our boats."
As they make sure that their lines are tight and there hatches are secure, they're confident they will ride this one out. They also know there are probably one or two more storms lined up off the shore in the coming weeks.
