Possible Hurricane this weekend. Need Advise.

Zed · Aug 27, 2015

Better to prepare totally. You are on a mooring in mid canal? This is actually the safest situation since your boat won't be bumping against any one else. You need to take down anything that can blow. I don't know how much you can remove, but no sails should be on the boat to blow. It is possible that you could use screw clamps wrapped in tubing placed at 3 or four places on the furls jib and tied together so that they would all have to slip together, but if you can take it off that would be better. If you have an OB put it in the boat. If you can remove the rudder remove that too and put it inside.

Lash down all lines tight so that nothing can blow.

The boat will be into the wind, and water will come up over the bow, so everything needs to be sealed fore-ward---no hatches not cleated from the inside, which can blow open, and no anchor openings.

Seal your cabin hatch, and lock it---it can come loose. Put duct tape all around the edges to stop water from possibly coming in there.

Your biggest issue is the pendant connection to the mooring line. According to my research, your biggest issue there is chaff causing the line to get hot and the fibers to let go. If you connect a cyclone dyneema pre-pendant to the thick nylon mooring pendant this will be eliminated. The dyneema is stronger than steel cable and it won't stretch, so it won't chaff(move forward and backward stretching on the bow chock). Your mooring line is nylon and it will stretch where it should, not connected to anything that can chaff. If don't have one if these, expect to pay $150 for a three foot cyclone dyneema mooring pendant. My cylcone pendant which connects to my deck cleat also has a tiny bungee around it as it goes into the horn cleat to keep the loop together.

I have a mooring in the channel of Frenchman's Bay off of Mount Desert Island, Maine. This is what we do up here if we cannot either get our boats to a safe harbor mooring, or get them out of the water.

shemandr · Aug 27, 2015

I think this is called "thread drift" but a starter and closer are different skill sets. But enough about baseball because I don't know very much about it. I will say that the Mets are on track to win their division and I'm only sorry my parents aren't alive to see it.
Bring it back: Prep those boats for a blow! Remember Hurricane Andrew was called weak and disorganized 36 hours before it devastated south Florida.

DAVA390 · Aug 27, 2015

Also Roker on NBC news tonight is pretty sure its gonna be a hurricane going up the coast.

capta · Aug 27, 2015

I would suggest you haul out your boat, as it appears that you may be in for a bit of a blow. As all above have stated, it really isn't about all you do for your boat, if your neighbor doesn't do for his.
Most marinas/yards down there have a special price just for storms.

woodster · Aug 28, 2015

get some rubber hose like the kind you get at home depot for the hot tub and thread your lines through that for this time but from now on after this get some made of leather or order it from a marine supply company like sbo ..ect.

ps strip that boat NOW

BayMan · Aug 28, 2015

I don't have a boat in florida but have asked for insurance quotes from Boat US. They told me that one of the conditions to insurance is that the boat be hauled for any named storm. When I heard that I assumed everyone (who has insurance) must be hauling boats for these storms. It sure sounds like that is not the case. Was my insurance guy wrong? Did I misunderstand? Do you guys have other insurance?

PS - Good luck this weekend down there. Keep the slippery side down.

MrBill_FLL · Aug 28, 2015

I've been watching the radar. to me, It looks like its getting sheared.

OTOH, if it crosses the DR, it can go from 0 to a 3 in 24 hours.

to the OP, you rent your dock(right?) so ask your neighbors when they close the canal, and string boats across. check the dock cleats, and if possible use large trees for anchor points. expect 6-8' surge.

http://www.intellicast.com/Storm/Hurricane/CaribbeanSatellite.aspx?animate=true

on pulling the boat, unless you have prior arrangements, its hard to find storage now. some folks rent docks west of US1 July-Oct just in case...

Gunni · Aug 28, 2015

The NOAA forecast discussion details a prediction for late strengthening of the store after it crosses the Great Bahama Bank and just before it slams south Florida. That makes sense based on the extremely warm water laying in the 120hr path of H. Eric. Still a prediction, but it would represent a potential panic situation for unprepared south Floridians. And there will be plenty of oblivious SoFla boaters. They will clog the travel lifts and marinas looking for help.

Chafe is compounded by very high tension loads on your lines, that generate heat inside the dock line. A good anti-chafe are the polyester webbing sleeves that cover the dock line. They get wet and help to cool your dock lines where they bend around cleats and fairleads. Taylor makes a sleeve, Davis makes a velcro web sleeve, see here:
http://www.westmarine.com/buy/davis-instruments--secure-removable-chafe-guard--6557292

At about $15 each, I keep half a dozen of the Davis version aboard for easy chafe protection.

Surge will possibly be a greater risk than winds, providing the ability of your boat to float high and come down on something hard. Like your dock. So a provision that allows you to adjust your dock lines from shore is a good idea. Double your dock lines and leave enough slack so that your boat can ride an exaggerated tidal range. Long dock lines can be tighter than short dock lines and still allow a big tide / surge range.

Do the best you can and then step back, you may be able to jump back in after the eye comes on. But don't compromise your safety.

Gunni · Aug 28, 2015

And their pool enclosures, dock boxes, roofs, dog houses, grills, etc. I have spent as much time tying off my neighbors boats and lashing crap into their cockpits as I have prepping my boat. You also don't have the benefit of a marina operator and his dock-hand minion to walk the waterfront and police the preparation. I would consider going door-to-door to see what everyone is going to do. Maybe organize a unified plan. Hopefully this will just be a drill and you'll dodge a bullet.

MrBill_FLL · Aug 28, 2015

Which direction does the open end of the canal face? (looks east by shadows)

so you loose boats head towards you... if so, I would turn bow into the open end.

I agree that loose boats are a big concern.

I would also consider using my anchor, payed out with a dingy, up canal. (assuming no pipes or cables in the canal) - not in tension, but as a final backup, if the dock lines fail, it may keep you in the canal. (say 30' of slack)

I don't think we'll know what it is until Sunday night... which might be too late to prep, if needed.

and it looks like full moon is sat... so could be higher surge.

ps: I would want to be windward of that big yacht...

Kings Gambit · Aug 28, 2015

Your location along a dock/seawall of a canal in a neighborhood is not all that wonderful since, as others have noted, you have the guys near you to worry about as well. Since you may have a couple of days still, perhaps strip the boat and take it to a marina as a transient for a few days, if there are any with slips still available (rather than hauling). At least you might get a "4-pt" tie. In doublewide slips we were required to tie across to the other boat in there with us to get two breast lines and two stern lines secured (along with spring lines). Chances are the thing will drop to, or remain near, tropical storm strength over the peninsula. A short duration of 50-60 kt winds is not that dangerous if your boat is stripped and secured. Possibly no significant storm surge in the canals if it drives straight up the peninsula.

Don S/V ILLusion · Aug 28, 2015

pateco said:
Haul and put where? All of the marinas close to me would be more exposed to the storm and high winds than where I am docked now?

Is it less likely to blow over on stands than in the water?

Not if properly blocked or tied and 'windage' is minimized. Generally, it is more secure on land evidenced by the insistence most underwriters have for hauling. You are already in one of the safest places to be (canal) so its a 'crap shoot' whether hauling is the best bet.

As to where, I'm unfamiliar with your area but certainly, the longer you wait, the less room there will be. Most underwriters share the haul cost. If the current predictions are reliable, the worst scenario will be a tree falling on your boat.

Kings Gambit · Aug 28, 2015

If taking a marina slip, consider whether the marina docks are floating docks. If they are, you'd be better off there than side-tied along a fixed canal dock (in my opinion), even if more exposed to direct wind.

kloudie1 · Aug 28, 2015

Getting a little concerned here on the northern Gulf coast now too.. Uncertainty cone is growing..
To date, I have done a hurricane tie up in our marina 24 times since 1991 when I bought the boat; many were tropical storms which brought surge but the winds didn't get to hurricane strength. Katrina was the worst.. I got some chips on a corner of the transom and lost the top lifeline on port side .. I have been lucky so far, but every time I leave her tied like that, I cringe when I drive away, not knowing whether she'll be there in a few days. Most times, I have spent as much time helping other folks on our canal as I have securing my own boat.. just to keep other boats from getting loose and making a mess. I wish you guys in FL luck and a decreasing storm !

Benny17441 · Aug 28, 2015

Wait until Sunday to pull the trigger. There is still a high degree of uncertainty on whether Erika will develop or fall apart. As the forecasted path and strength are fine tuned you will have a better idea of what needs to be done. to say you need to tie up in the middle of a canal at this point is premature.

Kings Gambit · Aug 28, 2015

Benny17441 said:
Wait until Sunday to pull the trigger. There is still a high degree of uncertainty on whether Erika will develop or fall apart. As the forecasted path and strength are fine tuned you will have a better idea of what needs to be done. to say you need to tie up in the middle of a canal at this point is premature.

I disagree based on personal experience. I lived on a canal in St. Petersburg, FL in a first stage (flood) evacuation zone for 11 years. Securing the boat takes a lot time; do it first (as someone eariler said) and do it now. For example, if a storm is "36 hr" away, you don't really have "36 hr" to prepare, especially if you have a job and it's the middle of the week, etc. You have maybe one, to one and a half, business days (8 to 12 hr) to get some things done. The last storm that hit near us in October 1998 had us evacuating pianos from the house under threat of flooding. I'm sure the wife would have been very "understanding" if I were down at the marina tying up the boat while she was packing her valuable stuff to evacuate in a few hours. Somebody had to go get a trailer!-- by the way--U-Haul ran out of trailers that weekend. It's like reefing--when you start thinking about doing it, you probably should be doing it. That's why I think dropping it off in a transient slip at a marina near there works--you can do it now, tie it up, and move on to other business until the storm passes.

Possible Hurricane this weekend. Need Advise.

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