I was surprised in Longport NJ
We keep our 35.5 at a Marina, just inside the Great Egg Inlet, in Longport NJ. A few days before the storm hit, I made the decison to keepher in the water and not on the hard based on the advice of my boat yard pro. Wind gusts were to 70 MPH +but the tidal surge was not as bad as expected. I had prepared the boat per the yards instructions doubling up lines, closing sea cocks, adding fenders, stripping down canvas etc etc. Luckily we dodged the bullet . .No damage what-so-ever, Not even a drop of water inside or in the bilge . .Zero . .Zip . .NaDa! By the way I did keep the jib and mainsail on but was shown how to "spider web" ties around them so they would not catch the wind. I rigged up shock lines on the boom to keep it from swinging and installed snatch blocks on the toe rail at the bow so the jib sheets could run through them straight down instead of horizontally to the cockpit [the idea was to keep the roller furling from unfurling and windage off the sheets .the more wind pressure the tighter the sail wrap]. The only weird thing after the storm was the incredible amout of salt residue over everying exposed to windward . .it looked like a film of ice. I learned a lot about hurricane prepping my boat. But I'm sure had there been a direct hit it probably would have been for naught anyway. Fred Miller S/V M Squared
