Plans for hurricane season 2023?
- Thread starter LydieBP
- Start date
Unless you can trailer your boat, moving out of the path of a hurricane could be logistically impossible. Hauling out, if you can find a yard to haul out in, only puts your boat on the hard. You're still right on the coast subject to wind and storm surge. Hope for the best, plan for the worst and carry on.
I would be careful about drawing any conclusions based on the very small sample size represented here.
Well said.
If you live on the coast, all you can do is strip the boat of canvas & sails, place extra lines with chafe protection, place extra fenders, & deploy sufficient anchors if you decide to get away from a dock. All of this needs to happen within 48-72 hours as well as allowing time to secure the home & evacuate if necessary. As far as taking the boat up some river or bayou and staying on the boat to monitor lines & anchors, ain't going to happen. I like my boat; however, the safety of my wife & me is more important than a boat. That's why I pay exorbitant insurance policy premiums in the event of a catastrophic loss.
Hurricane season is fairly routine. Monitor the tropical forecasts, set your plan in motion if necessary, & hope for the best.
Last edited:
A problem in the Stuart area is that marinas typically don't have a lot of dry land storage. In part because boating is year round with no layup period. They don't need a lot of storage on land And some of what used to be storage are condos or other development. Boats in the large marinas have few places to be hauled. And the larger yachts have not much access to large travel lifts.
An option is to remove your boat from the area. You don't have to go that far in many cases. I know of a case when someone moved his boat to the Bahamas for one of the storms last year. 100 miles can make a big difference.
Others go to a hurricane "Hole" but only so many can fit in that space.
I'm sorry to say from my limited observations that many do nothing letting fate take it's course and depending on insurance to fix it.
An option is to remove your boat from the area. You don't have to go that far in many cases. I know of a case when someone moved his boat to the Bahamas for one of the storms last year. 100 miles can make a big difference.
Others go to a hurricane "Hole" but only so many can fit in that space.
I'm sorry to say from my limited observations that many do nothing letting fate take it's course and depending on insurance to fix it.
Yes, I agree and that is what I've been seeing over the past few years on my little bay on the ICW. People are tying down as best they can, raising lifts as high as they go, and hoping for the best.
I don't see hardly, any if any boats around my bay disappear ahead of a storm. Yet that is what is advised on hurricane season boat prep and insurance websites.
One idea I had several years ago for my slip in Cutchogue NY was placement of a helical mooring some distance away from my boat in the direction of open water. The mooring I dreamed would be placed and left there (I think the town would disagree). When a storm approaches a steel cable could be run to the helical mooring and attached to the bow of the boat while the boat would be tied with the usual spider web of lines moved 15' away from the dock. Obviously the helical mooring cable would some sort of shock absorption rigging.
What was far easier was to remove the boat to a more sheltered marina which is what I would normally do. That was typically a three night stay at transient rates -$500. That could be a couple times a season given the uncertain paths that storms take on their way North. The key to relocation is an early start - not something that's always possible.
What was far easier was to remove the boat to a more sheltered marina which is what I would normally do. That was typically a three night stay at transient rates -$500. That could be a couple times a season given the uncertain paths that storms take on their way North. The key to relocation is an early start - not something that's always possible.
Hurricanes aren’t that wide generally, less than 100 miles wide or less within which the most destructive stuff happens and pinpointing the actual path isn’t that precise so it’s always a - where to go, when to go, should I bother going quandary.
And then limited usually only to boats small enough to transport which lend themselves to throwing a dart at a map to pick where to go.
For most of us, a lawn tractor moves faster than the boat which dictates the “duck and cover” plan is the only practicable alternative unless you go 500 miles away.
Our boat is in St Lucia now and still not immune to hurricane threat.
And then limited usually only to boats small enough to transport which lend themselves to throwing a dart at a map to pick where to go.
For most of us, a lawn tractor moves faster than the boat which dictates the “duck and cover” plan is the only practicable alternative unless you go 500 miles away.
Our boat is in St Lucia now and still not immune to hurricane threat.
Thank you to every one for sharing your experiences and ways of preparing your sailboat for the hurricane season. I really appreciate the input from fellow sailors having to deal with this facet of sailing and cruising.
Here is a publication I found useful, by Boatus, "What works, a guide to preparing Marinas, Yacht clubs and boats for hurricanes".
Here is a publication I found useful, by Boatus, "What works, a guide to preparing Marinas, Yacht clubs and boats for hurricanes".
I have hauled in St. Augustine. Strapped down to ground anchors. Mast down to reduce the risk of lightening strike taking out every thing electric on the boat (had a friend last year who had a six month repair and $150,000 insurance claim from a strike. Misssed most of the winter season). Reread my insuarnce policy to find that every sail and the dinghy had to come off. And there's a new clause I've never noticed near the end of the policy that requires me to have the fire extinguishers inspected and weighed every year by an independent firm. An agent said that the insurance company can use this clause after a hurricane claim to say the policy was never in force and just refund my premium.
Last edited:
"new clause I've never noticed near the end of the policy that requires me to have the fire extinguishers inspected and weighed every year by an independent firm".
Wow , the devil is in the details i guess. Preparing for lightning , for sure , Florida is a champion for lightning strikes per sq mile .
Wow , the devil is in the details i guess. Preparing for lightning , for sure , Florida is a champion for lightning strikes per sq mile .