Well guys, here's what happened. Boats who left their plugs in floated off and ended up on all sorts of nice places like the railroad tracks or impaled on underwater objects, etc. Boats who chose, like me, to open the seacocks stayed put on the stands and got wet. Yes I know of one who got water in his engine. But at least he didnt get a stove in hull. As for me, my boat got water over the cabin sole and in the bottom layer of drawers so I had to throw some things out. Fortunately no water in the engines. So a few hours with the wet vac and a lot of moisture absorption materials left in the cabin and I should be allright.
Like Mike says, its a guessing game. This is the 4th flood I've been in in the Rondout Creek in a decade (yes I maybe am stupid for staying on the creek, so are 800 other boaters). Having tried it different ways, I've seen boats get hung up and be unable to be floated out. My friend Mark's 37 Sea Ray is on its side in the mud for that reason - his plugs were in but the boat wouldnt float free, probably props stuck on gear and stuff that got wedged underneath. During one flood we stood on a friends boat daring not to move while the creek crested, our weight was the only thing holding the boat on the stands and we dared not open the seacock at that point for fear of upsetting the balance. A neighbor on the next boat wasnt quite so precarious, so he went into the cabin and opened his drains up, the boat's weight settled pretty as you please back on the stands and he was fine.
Remember I was in a parking lot adjacent to a creek, a relatively tranquil one at that. I'm not sure I would have tried the same next to an exposed bay with choppy waters. Those guys on the lower Hudson really had no choice at all but take pictures and call their insurance company - the waters simply swallowed all the adjacent land and the boats too. But in my case I would have rathered bail the engines out than fix a hull puncture. Yes the bottom of my refrigerator got wet too, about 3" up. Not sure yet if this will cause trouble later. No genset in my boat. Hot water tank is set a bit higher so its dry.
Its worth noting also that of the four floods, this was the highest by over a foot. Hurricane Irene, then a record flood itself, would have stayed under my cabin floorboards the way I measured it. But Sandy came right over. So I wasnt 100 percent right in my judgment this time, but I'll take being 90 percent right after seeing the damage I saw to the other boats nearby who had their plugs in. A few got lucky and floated out to safety - most didn't.
