My husband and I have just purchased a H340 and keep it in a Marina at mile marker 0 on the ICW. I would like to get some opinions on the best way to try to secure a boat during storms. (Nor'easters, hurricanes, etc.) Our previous boat was a power boat that normally would be hauled and put inside. Our slip on a floating dock. I guess my question is, would doubling the lines in the slip be the best route or would anchoring further inland be a better bet. Thanks for the input.
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Floating dock
Here is what can happen at a floating dock. All of my docklines were oversized and the knots held just fine. The @#$% welds in the structure of the dock broke and let the finger piers move into the side of my boat. According to every marina slip contract I have ever seen, the marina is NOT responsable. My advice: buy good insurance and try not to worry about what you cannot control. My damage was the result of a thunderstorm on a lake in Oklahoma! The entire dock (including approx. 80 boats) was moved about 100 feet by the storm.
Here is what can happen at a floating dock. All of my docklines were oversized and the knots held just fine. The @#$% welds in the structure of the dock broke and let the finger piers move into the side of my boat. According to every marina slip contract I have ever seen, the marina is NOT responsable. My advice: buy good insurance and try not to worry about what you cannot control. My damage was the result of a thunderstorm on a lake in Oklahoma! The entire dock (including approx. 80 boats) was moved about 100 feet by the storm.
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Surprising
I'm reading a book called 'SeaQuest', written in the late 60's. There is a picture in it of a fleet of sailboats anchored in a bay that caught my eye, since it was not like the closeups throughout the book of sailing greats like Slocum. The caption reveals the flotilla rode out a hurricane without any casualties....a fact the author thought worthy of a full page paragraph. Guess my point is, the damage from storms historically comes from the structures near the boat. Instead of worrying about holding fast to the structure.....put more time in buffering the boat from the structure....or getting away from it all together. Jack
I'm reading a book called 'SeaQuest', written in the late 60's. There is a picture in it of a fleet of sailboats anchored in a bay that caught my eye, since it was not like the closeups throughout the book of sailing greats like Slocum. The caption reveals the flotilla rode out a hurricane without any casualties....a fact the author thought worthy of a full page paragraph. Guess my point is, the damage from storms historically comes from the structures near the boat. Instead of worrying about holding fast to the structure.....put more time in buffering the boat from the structure....or getting away from it all together. Jack
do what you can, then let go
Do what any prudent mariner would do: take sails off and stow them; reduce windage any way you can; if you keep the boat at the dock, fix it so that you and your neighbor do not cross masts; double your lines; etc., etc., etc. Some folks will take their boats down to Great Bridge or Deep Creek (the Chesapeake, Va. one, not the Newport News Deep Creek). There is really no protected anchorage within a day's sail of Norfolk: no Hurricane Holes I would trust, anyway. Some marinas insist that you remove your boat during a hurricane: better check! Floating docks are the worst. Personnaly, I am more afraid of our neighbors (across from Rebel Marine where we keep Alure) will break loose and collide with us than Rebel's pier failing. That storm surge will strip all our boats, if Isobel hits here next Friday. Good luck and keep those insurance premiums up to date! Chesapeake Bay magazine had an article last month about a guy from Hampton who anchored out in Mill Creek and had to swim to his boat to maintain it during Floyd. Don't try that, though. joe
Do what any prudent mariner would do: take sails off and stow them; reduce windage any way you can; if you keep the boat at the dock, fix it so that you and your neighbor do not cross masts; double your lines; etc., etc., etc. Some folks will take their boats down to Great Bridge or Deep Creek (the Chesapeake, Va. one, not the Newport News Deep Creek). There is really no protected anchorage within a day's sail of Norfolk: no Hurricane Holes I would trust, anyway. Some marinas insist that you remove your boat during a hurricane: better check! Floating docks are the worst. Personnaly, I am more afraid of our neighbors (across from Rebel Marine where we keep Alure) will break loose and collide with us than Rebel's pier failing. That storm surge will strip all our boats, if Isobel hits here next Friday. Good luck and keep those insurance premiums up to date! Chesapeake Bay magazine had an article last month about a guy from Hampton who anchored out in Mill Creek and had to swim to his boat to maintain it during Floyd. Don't try that, though. joe
Anchor out or trust the slip
It's going to depend on the surge. Take a look at this article from Sailnet.
It's going to depend on the surge. Take a look at this article from Sailnet.
Head inland if possible
Before a hurricane most larger boats on the Mississippi Gulf Coast head as far up the bays and bayous as they can and then tie-up/anchor as best they can. No small boat will survive a category 5 hurricane. Will your floating dock handle a 25 foot storm surge? Do what you can and then leave. Camille pictures on link below. MArk
Before a hurricane most larger boats on the Mississippi Gulf Coast head as far up the bays and bayous as they can and then tie-up/anchor as best they can. No small boat will survive a category 5 hurricane. Will your floating dock handle a 25 foot storm surge? Do what you can and then leave. Camille pictures on link below. MArk
Each storm is its own beast
What you do is dependent on the storm. As others said, add lines, reduce windage, etc. for gails, maybe even a category 1 hurricane. Once you get into category 2+ hurricanes, it is the storm surge that is "the destroyer". Best to run as far away as you can. When the tide is 15+ feet above normal, no lines in the world are going to help and your boat may well land on top of someone's house. So, small storms, just add more security, big ones, run like the devil.
What you do is dependent on the storm. As others said, add lines, reduce windage, etc. for gails, maybe even a category 1 hurricane. Once you get into category 2+ hurricanes, it is the storm surge that is "the destroyer". Best to run as far away as you can. When the tide is 15+ feet above normal, no lines in the world are going to help and your boat may well land on top of someone's house. So, small storms, just add more security, big ones, run like the devil.
for whatever its worth....
I had a boat barely survie Hurricane Bob in Lewis bay, MA. No docks survived the hurricane. My new philosophy is as follows: I am busy on many fall weekends and find it difficult to sail more than once or twice after labor day. I have the boat hauled every labor day weekend since hurricane Bob in '93. It isn't worth the aggravation to try and squeeze in those few extra sails. I think my boat has a far better chance on a good set of stands that are chained. That same summer Arnold Swartzeneger had his boat anchored near us. Huge motor sailor with full-time captain. Get this... the captain and crew rode out the hurricane by powering the boat into the wind while anchored! They were one of the few boats in Lewis bay that survived the storm. Good luck to all, but hauling now seems the most sensible.
I had a boat barely survie Hurricane Bob in Lewis bay, MA. No docks survived the hurricane. My new philosophy is as follows: I am busy on many fall weekends and find it difficult to sail more than once or twice after labor day. I have the boat hauled every labor day weekend since hurricane Bob in '93. It isn't worth the aggravation to try and squeeze in those few extra sails. I think my boat has a far better chance on a good set of stands that are chained. That same summer Arnold Swartzeneger had his boat anchored near us. Huge motor sailor with full-time captain. Get this... the captain and crew rode out the hurricane by powering the boat into the wind while anchored! They were one of the few boats in Lewis bay that survived the storm. Good luck to all, but hauling now seems the most sensible.
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