Irene and Slip preparations

[BillyK]

Curious what the crowd is doing to prepare for riding out the storm in their slips? My plan of action is to remove the Furlled headsail, repack tight the mainsail and tie it to the boom with some line over the cover. Removing the dodger, centering the boom and tieing off to both stern cleats. Picking up additional dockline to add some redundancy to my current lines, adding springlines to forward and aft on both sides of the boat. Attaching a safe line to one of the pilings that has a fairly well rusted slide bolt. I'll also be adding two lines between the pilings that separate myself from my neighbor.. hopefully that will fend him off of me if he breaks out of his slip.. i'll probably add a defense line between the pilings aft of my boat as well to keep anyone else that may break free from running into the transom of my girl..

my location is just south of Atlantic City NJ..

 

[Steve Dion]

Billy, if it were me (and it is not) I would remove all canvas from the boat. I would also have oversized dock lines with spring lines fore/aft.

The BoatUS magazine just had an article on this about a month or two back.

I hope you have good docks. I don't know if you saw what happened in Santa Cruz Harbor from the sunami last year but it was bad.

 

[Ed Schenck]

Sounds like good prep if you have to stay in your slip. Where I was for sixteen months in the Pamlico we could not remain in the slip. If we were unable to get to the boat then they anchored it and charged you, $700. each way!

 

[zeehag]

what i am doing here in mazatlan , as we get tormentas and named storms also, is heavy lines to ALL the cleats on my end tie and to all the cleats on the stbd side of my6 boat, which is side facing dock. i am using 1 1/4 in yacht braid and 3/4 in 3 strand, both over 50 ft length. i made spring lines of those and also bow and stern lines with ability to tie to pilings. i plan on placing an anchor midships port side out from dock as a kedge if i have to make clear of dock in big winds. pray we dont get hit this yr.

 

[gpd955]

my location is just south of Atlantic City NJ..

In AC...as you already know.

Basically doing the same thing. All sails/canvas off, double lines, fenders between slips (up until 2 weeks ago, my next door slip was empty) now, springs added to port side, securing boom and all loose items. Then we will walk the dock, as we always do, and secure the boats for the people too careless/stupid to come do it for themselves. Oh yeah, and I'm going to put some water in my bilge to make sure the pump actually works. I have not had water in the bilge (except for a little bit when I overflowed my fresh waer tank) to actually have it work!

Decision to stay aboard will be depending on what the track is. Will stay if it is TS conditions but not hurricane. We are well protected at Farley but I just don't want to be trapped on a boat in a marina in a hurricane!

Good luck with prep everyone and be safe. Thanks to the mobile app, we can keep each other updated!

 

[jfmid]

Wouldn't you take the boom off if not a major project??? I am inclined to remove it to lessen surface area against wind. Of course I am removing my jib from furler and the solar panel. On my smaller boat it is not a big deal to take off the boom.

 

[RAD]

I double up on all the lines and remove all canvas, head sail gets removed from furler and main gets tied around sail cover like a candy cane stripe in both directions then I remove the dink from its davits and tie it up on the floating dock in between my neighbors and my boat
One of my dock neighbors runs four lines from his mast to the poles and floating dock in addition to his normal dock/spring lines is that a good/bad thing to do?

 

[Rick486]

Maxine is on the hard as of today. After seeing the 0800 update with Irene locked on my neck of the woods in RI, I decided to haul. Tough decision but now I will sleep. Good fortune to all.

 

[Captnkev25]

I was down there all morning. Removed my Bimini and main sail and used some Velcro tape to secure my genoa on the roller. Doubled up ALL lines. Shortened my spring lines to keep me a good 3 feet from the dock. I have an empty slip on my south facing side but a neighbor on my north facing side so I ran bumpers all the way up on his side. Made sure my jib sheets were cleated in the self tailers good and tight and that the furling line was in the cam cleat. Took off the horseshoe and anything else I thought could create windage. Now I wait and pray. First hurricane of boat ownership .

 

[sailaway78]

Hurricane experience

Unfortunately, I have some experience with hurricanes. Katrina for starters. For those of you who are in a slip, I don't have much to add that hasn't already been said. For those on the end of a pier, or on a dock, I can give you some advice.
Double anchor your boat, so it cannot get up onto the dock or dry land. I use two anchors, 45 degrees our from bow and stern. Set them good. Leave all your slack for surge in the dock lines themselves. And if you get a hard blow, be prepared to have to work to retrieve anchors. My only problem was during Katrina, I didn't anticipate that much surge, and the stern dock line went up and off the top of a piling. Boat turned and the forestay was rubbing on the boat house next to it. But other than that, no problem, no damage. So, make sure the dock lines can't come over the top of the piling.
GOOD LUCK AND BEST WISHES TO ALL OF YOU GUYS ON THE EAST COAST.

 

[MrUnix]

Storm surge

My only problem was during Katrina, I didn't anticipate that much surge, [...]

Thats why I always try to get out of the water and as far away from the shoreline as possible.. the vast majority of damage is caused by the storm surge. I went through Andrew.. the storm surge associated with that storm in the Bahamas reached 23 feet above mean sea level. In Florida, a high mark was recorded at 17 feet above mean.

I was fortunate enough to have a Venture at the time on a trailer, so I got it pretty far away from shore (about 15 miles inland). Unfortunately, we apparently got hit with a microburst which ripped out the telephone pole the boat was chained to, and then somersaulted the Venture and attached trailer across the backyard. The next day I found the boat, upside down, on the kids swing set (which was cemented 4 feet into the ground at all legs).

Lesson learned: Plan for the worst, hope for the best! Good luck guys.

Cheers,
Brad

 

[Tom23352]

A slip is no place to be if you are going to take a direct hit or are in the NE quadrant of a major hurricane (cat3+). If you are west of the center by 50 miles or so you might be ok. I don't know of any boats that survived being left in a slip on the Mississippi coast from Biloxi west when Katrina hit. The boats in all of the boat yards were also washed away. Best bet is up a creek or canal with line to trees on both sides. My boat rode out a 28' surge from Katrina with 700+ feet of line tide to trees on both sides of 40' wide canal. When I got back to the boat 5 of the 8 lines were parted but by some stroke of luck the boat settled back into the canal and only had some gel coat gouges where it was hit by all of the houses being swept away. When Ivan hit Pensacola the floating finger piers floated up over the piles with all the boats still attached. That was an awesome mess.

 

[Benny17441]

Sounds like you have a plan but I would also remove the mainsail. Yes, double up on all lines but allow enough slack for a higher than normal surge. Add spring lines to control boat in position where it will be free to rise and fall but restricted as far as movement to the sides. Close all through the hulls and check the bilge pump and insure its working and the batteries are fully charged. Also check all deck scoops and drains to make sure they are free of debri. Where there is apossibility that the boat may rub against a pylon go ahead and install fenders secured by double lines. Close main propane valve. I have removed the anchor from the roller to brevent it from thrashing against the topsides or perhaps falling in the water. You can go about doing all the preparations but if the boats next to you are not properly tied down you can be in peril. Here in Florida we have many absentee owners and the sailors at the marina will help secure those boats as well. Some marinas will want to handle it themselves and others will allow sailors to add lines but whatever you do do not allow an unsecured vessel to remain next to you. Not science, just good common sense.

 

[Fly_H23]

For once I am glad to be far inland instead of on salt water. Good luck can't replace proper preperation for a hurricane!

 

[Idratherbesailing]

Posted this by itself, thought it might work better in this thread....

Those of us on the Gulf coast have some experience with tying up for hurricanes, so I thought I would pass on a method that let my boat survive Katrina's 15+ feet of storm surge at the dock...with only minor damage (the water rose so much that the bow rammed into the roof over the finger pier walkways). You use NEW 5/8 inch 3 strand nylon, run the lines from the back of the boat to over the bow, and from the bow mooring points over the stern. You need to have about 50-60 feet of line for each line for a typical 30 foot boat. Pad well where lines might chafe if the boat rises. You tie the lines tight, and the 15-20% stretch available in the NEW nylon line keeps the boat centered in the dock and allows for a rise of 10-12 feet before the stretch is gone from the NEW ropes. Most of us used two sets of lines, one set tied tight, and another set with a few inches of slack as backup for the first set. Of course, you have to have good points to tie to off the bow and stern to use this method.
It is imperative that you use only NEW rope as the system works because of the stretch and the lenght of rope. Most boats tied this way in my marina on the lakefront in New Orleans survived, those that didn't were generally sunk by other peoples boats that had broken loose, so help tie up your neighbor's boat is also good advice. The rope, once stretched, loses a lot of strength, so don't use it again for hurricane duty or such. It is also important to not use too large a diameter - 5/8" seemed to work well for boats such as mine, 37 Gulfstar, 20,000 lbs. Might use 1/2 inch for a smaller (less than 30 feet) boat.
Another old hand in the marina showed us this method, and it works well. It will handle the typical 5-7 foot rise from smaller storms very easily.

 

[Fotosailor]

I was down there all morning. Removed my Bimini and main sail and used some Velcro tape to secure my genoa on the roller. Doubled up ALL lines. Shortened my spring lines to keep me a good 3 feet from the dock. I have an empty slip on my south facing side but a neighbor on my north facing side so I ran bumpers all the way up on his side. Made sure my jib sheets were cleated in the self tailers good and tight and that the furling line was in the cam cleat. Took off the horseshoe and anything else I thought could create windage. Now I wait and pray. First hurricane of boat ownership .

I sympathize - My first hurricane as an owner too

 

[igor]

I'd go sailing!

 

[BrianW]

Respect the surge when attaching dock lines. Remove boat from slip if at all possible. Remove all sails. If you have any short piling at your slip, they are your enemy. If you are trailerable, pull it out. Before Hurricane Ivan, I was on a long waiting list for a boat slip. After Ivan, after the dock was reconstructed, I had my choice of slips. BrianW

 

[Sailm8]

All of the damage in our area from hurricane Charley was from improperly prepared boats that broke away. This was my first hurricane and I did not like the idea of messing with someone else's boat. Never again. I will have no problem tying down someone else's boat. We had a trawler break loose and sink or total 6 boats because it was improperly tied up and 1/4 miles away!
I also have 2 48 inch augers buried in the shore with chain to make sure at least my boat will not break away.

 

[dscribner]

I'll raise the nose of the trailer so it can drain.