Did not help
My Hunter 34 was in Pensacola when Hurricane Erin hit in'95. I had two wrap the line around type rubber snubbers. Both broke and the line ended up slack. Did not matter much. I had the boat set up so that each corner of the boat had two lines from two different pilings to hold the boat in the center of the slip. Total of 8 lines to 6 piles (2 each of fore springs to bow cleats, aft springs to stern cleats, bow and stern). Figured the way the pilings looked (worm eaten at the bottom just above the sand line), they would go first. Well while I was working for a few months in Washington, DC, they replaced the pilings. When the hurricane hit, I was still in DC and reading about how bad Pensacola was hit (One hotel on Pensacola beach had it address changed several blocks). The wind was on the starboard side and jerked the boat sufficiently to break two 1/2 inch 3 strand lines on one of the bow cleats causing the boat to spend 2 days rubbing up and down a pile on the port side. Lost several fenders (two broke away completely where they were tied to the toe rail, and one was burst), the toe rail was worn smooth from rubbing through half of a 3 foot section of an 8 inch pile, and some minor gel coat nicks. The rudder chain around the wheel was broken from the movement of the rudder even with the wheel brake on. The forestay was also damaged from rolling into the mast on the big 40 foot home built ferro-cement boat on the port side. The two lines broke at the bowline knot (right where the standing part of the line comes through the loop behind it) that was tied to put the line around the pilings (knots can reduce the strength over 50 percent.) Shipped the boat by truck to MD two weeks before Hurricane Opal really trashed Pensacola. The rubber snubbers did not really help any but did not cause major problems. I used them in Boston Harbor while tied to a floating dock. When a big ship would pass the dock would move out of sync with the boat. The rubber snubbers then did a great deal and made it more comfortable to live on the boat in Boston. Except for an 8 inch worn spot on the toe rail, no lasting problems with the boat. Thought she was gone after hearing about Erin. And that big Ferro-cement boat next to me? Well she went trough the boat to the port of her, through the dock, through the boat on the other side of the dock and through another part of the dock. Glad she was downwind of me! Bottom line is to pull your boat or move her to a safe anchorage if you can. Other wise double all lines leaving in enough slack for a ten foot rise in water level.
