Don't Try This On Your Own Boat....
- Thread starter Maine Sail
- Start date
He's lucky he had a lee shore to run up on. During H.Ivan boaters dragged out of Thistle Bay, Grenada and were never seen again. I stayed aboard during H.Irene in much more controlled conditions, never again. You can't work deck lines and anchor rodes in 90kt winds, and the options for escape close.
I was aboard mine during Irene also.. But I was up in Mobjack Bay, up the river, in a tight well protected little cove, trees all around, and lines to 7 different pilings.
I would not have minded being several hundred miles away!!
I would not have minded being several hundred miles away!!
Hmm, just like my ex-wife: at one time she would rock, but then it stopped. Suddenly...
I was in a nasty squall off Fire Island a couple of years ago. It came up pretty fast and I did not have time to take the engine off my dink. The dink flipped with the engine on. It doesn't take much once the seas build and the wind gets under them. I was lucky I was able to get the gas tank off in time and didn't lose it.
I've been at the dock during hurricanes Irene and Sandy. I remember watching the boat bounce around, heeling with bare poles, tugging on its lines and thinking I was just at the limit to which I can control this thing. I could not imagine being out on a mooring and expect that there would be anything I could do if things got out of control.
In my case off Fire Island the wind was up to about 50 mph, my plan was if the anchor dragged I would go on deck and cut it free, then try and motor into the wind until it passed. I don't think that plan would work in a hurricane.
I've been at the dock during hurricanes Irene and Sandy. I remember watching the boat bounce around, heeling with bare poles, tugging on its lines and thinking I was just at the limit to which I can control this thing. I could not imagine being out on a mooring and expect that there would be anything I could do if things got out of control.
In my case off Fire Island the wind was up to about 50 mph, my plan was if the anchor dragged I would go on deck and cut it free, then try and motor into the wind until it passed. I don't think that plan would work in a hurricane.
When I am sailing in kinda bad weather, I think about the boat and what it has seen over the years.. and how frightening it would have been to have been aboard.. during storms like Katrina and Gustav and Andrew and quite a few others where Ms. Cloud did just fine tied up in the marina.. The howling of the wind for 12 + hours must have been horrendous.. It was bad enough on land several more miles inland!
I was at home in Hurricane Irene. My home made sailing dinghy was upside down in the yard, it weighs about 135 pounds. The curvature of the hull created lift in the 70 to 90 mph winds and I watched the whole boat rise up in the air and then fly across the yard and almost smash into the neighbors house. I put it right side up to fill with rainwater and it was OK after that. Amazing to see something that heavy tossed around like a leaf in the wind.
Do we know were that was filmed?
West coast/naples area? or east coast (mia/ft lauderdale)?
fwiw, Wilma was not the real deal. (at least on the east coast side). it crossed from west to east, late in the season. which was unusual. 135 mph max. on the east coast we had maybe 120mph.
in Ft laud and Miami, we had some trees down, lost power, but everyone still had a mailbox.
-When it goes over 130mph, nobody has a mailbox, and anyone without shutters had broken windows... Which often results in a lost roof, wet carpets, wet mattresses, etc. And when you don't have a dry place to sleep people get desperate....
its just foolish to think about riding it out on a boat.
Some old salts in the keys, said the best place to be is in the mangroves. tie off to them, they will hold. use the anchors as backups
West coast/naples area? or east coast (mia/ft lauderdale)?
fwiw, Wilma was not the real deal. (at least on the east coast side). it crossed from west to east, late in the season. which was unusual. 135 mph max. on the east coast we had maybe 120mph.
in Ft laud and Miami, we had some trees down, lost power, but everyone still had a mailbox.
-When it goes over 130mph, nobody has a mailbox, and anyone without shutters had broken windows... Which often results in a lost roof, wet carpets, wet mattresses, etc. And when you don't have a dry place to sleep people get desperate....
its just foolish to think about riding it out on a boat.
Some old salts in the keys, said the best place to be is in the mangroves. tie off to them, they will hold. use the anchors as backups
Over the years I have been caught out in hurricanes. Best suggestion is stay on shore as you can replace a boat but not human life. However, learn from the old die hard locals, not the weekend warriors how to put a boat out on the hook.
In North Carolina, I purchased three times the suggested anchors for a boat with heavier line at least 150 feet or more per line depending on depth using chafe gear where the lines go over the boats. This included 50 feet of chain per line, making a total of two full lines with anchor and chain. Next go to the closest anchoring hole. Throw the first line out to the east and back up full power till it holds. I threw the second line out to the south and again backed up again till the anchor held ensuring that the circle of the boat going around did not hit any other boat. Always worked for me listening to the old salty sea dogs who were local vs. the weekend warriors. Also, get off the boat and return after the storm.
In North Carolina, I purchased three times the suggested anchors for a boat with heavier line at least 150 feet or more per line depending on depth using chafe gear where the lines go over the boats. This included 50 feet of chain per line, making a total of two full lines with anchor and chain. Next go to the closest anchoring hole. Throw the first line out to the east and back up full power till it holds. I threw the second line out to the south and again backed up again till the anchor held ensuring that the circle of the boat going around did not hit any other boat. Always worked for me listening to the old salty sea dogs who were local vs. the weekend warriors. Also, get off the boat and return after the storm.
That's a very, very interesting comment. If I were to follow your direction of thought, then I must be completely incompetent because I've ridden out over 50 tropical cyclonic storms aboard various vessels in my career, and not lost a single one? THAT'S INCOMPETENCE? If you are correct, then I'd be on something like my 30th boat by now and my insurance rates would be astronomical, I'm guessing. I don't see how you can relate competence to sticking with the vessel and doing all in one's power to see it survives. It really isn't luck when a manned vessel survives a storm. I don't carry 5 anchors, chain and rode around on the boat because she is too light. Read the Spike Africa quote below and see if you qualify as a sailor in his definition? After all, isn't keeping the vessel safe, the job of a competent captain?
It is different when one is on a big ship or simply caught in a storm but to take a dinghy out to a boat during the storm to see if the boat is ok, I would err on the side of safety.
In 2001 we stayed with our boat during a tropical storm and along with two other owners we maintained dock lines on other boats through the night. I was amazed at all the nails and spikes that had been put into the pilings over the years. One Island Packet 40 suffered severe gouges below the deck joint before it was caught. We probably removed over 50 various sized gouging weapons that night.
Something to look for in your boats slip.
Ray
Something to look for in your boats slip.
Ray
