securing for hurricanes

rwidman said:

....... the best people to ask are the other slip holders and the dock master at your own marina. Different marinas face different risks and are constructed differently..........

Click to expand...

+1

Also, this is one of those times that a floating dock is worth every penny.
We put double lines on everything and all works out good - most of the time.

Would it ever be prudent to take the boat out of the marina and run up one of the nearby coastal rivers for ten miles or so and just drop three or four anchors? Along with securing all deck gear and following the other recommended preparations of course. I don't yet have my liveaboard but if I did I would not feel comfortable around all those docks in a marina and the storm surging into a captured harbor. I would want to be in a free flowing river where the water can rise and fall without constraints.

Dream Trawl said:

Would it ever be prudent to take the boat out of the marina and run up one of the nearby coastal rivers for ten miles or so and just drop three or four anchors? Along with securing all deck gear and following the other recommended preparations of course. I don't yet have my liveaboard but if I did I would not feel comfortable around all those docks in a marina and the storm surging into a captured harbor. I would want to be in a free flowing river where the water can rise and fall without constraints.

Click to expand...

For some folks, that's a good plan. Of course, you need a way to get off the boat and back home or wherever you're evacuating to.

Dream Trawl said:

Would it ever be prudent to take the boat out of the marina and run up one of the nearby coastal rivers for ten miles or so and just drop three or four anchors? Along with securing all deck gear and following the other recommended preparations of course. I don't yet have my liveaboard but if I did I would not feel comfortable around all those docks in a marina and the storm surging into a captured harbor. I would want to be in a free flowing river where the water can rise and fall without constraints.

Click to expand...

The simple answer is yes. I think you are referring to what is called a "hurricane hole". If you can find a relatively protected area up a river or creek to secure your boat, you would probably be better off than in a Marina. When we kept a boat at Orange Beach, AL we had such a place in Soldiers Creek off Perdido Bay. We could anchor and secure the boat to shore with long lines. We had some near misses, but fortunately did not get to test it out for real. When in Morehead City, NC we had a place on Queens Creek near Swansboro. I don't recommend staying with the boat. It can be replaced. You can't.

Larry M said:

In the PNW maybe a tsunami?

Click to expand...

Damn you.

Northern Spy said:

Damn you.

Click to expand...

Holy Sh.t!!

Moonstruck said:

............ we had such a place in Soldiers Creek off Perdido Bay. We could anchor and secure the boat to shore with long lines. ...........

Click to expand...

I've heard of people securing their boats to trees on either side of a creek or canal, but how do you deal with other boats? Nobody can get past your boat in either direction and you can't get past anyone else who has done this.

rwidman said:

I've heard of people securing their boats to trees on either side of a creek or canal, but how do you deal with other boats? Nobody can get past your boat in either direction and you can't get past anyone else who has done this.

Click to expand...

I have done it. People who live on canals have done lots of it. When in a hurricane hole there are usually other boats doing the same. Everyone helps each other. No one is going to move a boat until it's all over. So, the first boats go to the rear, and the others fill up. Many of the boats will be charter boats with professional captains that really know their stuff. They will be glad to help you as they don't want any boats getting loose. It's usually not a problem catching a ride back, because you will probably be pressed into service helping to secure other boats.

I live 11 hours away from my boat. Unless the boat is stored out of the water, I pay a local captain to watch after the boat. I get a status report often to make certain everything is OK. He will move the boat as necessary either for haul out or to a hurricane hole. Having a "local boy" is like magic in securing space. As a matter of fact I have two captains that I can call. My primary captain was on vacation in New Foundland when Isaac came up, so the captain I had for back up moved the boat for haul out, supervised some maintenance, and moved the boat back to her slip. Such is living in the mountains and boating on the coast.

After talking to a friend that secured to a tree, I will NEVER say that is a good idea in a hurricane. Trees blow over and can pull your line tight... or worse... fall into running water and drag your boat downstream to who-knows-where. At the height of a storm, you want no part of tending lines either. Especially if there is an emergency.

Don't do it.

Sometimes staying at the dock is not a good option. Hurricane Hugo Cat 5 near Charleston SC in 1989

Impact direction

Moonstruck said:

Sometimes staying at the dock is not a good option. Hurricane Hugo Cat 5 near Charleston SC in 1989

Click to expand...

There is NO escape from a Cat5 no matter where you are!

rwidman said:

If you are living on your boat and a hurricane is coming, it might be best to move to a motel for a day or two.

Click to expand...

I know nothing about hurricanes but I am very surprised that there aren't more advice like the one above. Am I missing something? Shouldn't one prepare one's boat for an impending storm and get the hell out. It's just a boat and no one should be put in harms way protecting it.

GonzoF1 said:

There is NO escape from a Cat5 no matter where you are!

Click to expand...

Only two category 5's have made landfall at that intensity. Most weaken as they approach shore.

Hurricane Frances Cat 3 Ft. Pierce 2004

Lady Dianne is a 100' yacht

We wish you guys well. Not that it`s going to help any,but we really do. Good Luck. BruceK Sydney Australia.

It's that time of year again?

Northern Spy said:

Thanks. I guess Marin and I were wondering as it is fairly common to get sustained gale and storm force winds this time of year in the PNW. Hurricane force is common off of Vancouver Island as well.


Picture of local marina breakwater in a storm.

Click to expand...

Ah yes. It was so much fun trying to get anything done in the Gulf this spring. I think I might have been hiding behind a pile of rocks on Hornby Island when that picture was taken.

I'm beginning to think that despite our winter winds there's a lot of bad mooring habits in this part of the world that don't cut it down there in Hurricane Alley.

That's some photo, I wonder about all those logs that must have missed the break wall and went barrelling down the bay and hit who knows what.

"Also, this is one of those times that a floating dock is worth every penny."

In Long Island Sound the surge is expected at about 10 ft , with of course waves on top of the surface.

Most floating docks do not have pilings that are 20+ ft above normal high water.

Laying to in a creek would give a boat a better chance of not being sold to the insurance co.

FF said:

Most floating docks do not have pilings that are 20+ ft above normal high water.

Laying to in a creek would give a boat a better chance of not being sold to the insurance co.

Click to expand...

Right you are Fred. Fred lives on one of the best hurricane holes around. He should know. The picture from Hugo was where the floating docks went away taking the boats with them. The picture from Ft. Pierce is from my marina. Maybe you can see why I get out, hauled, and tied down.

mahal said:

I know nothing about hurricanes but I am very surprised that there aren't more advice like the one above. Am I missing something? Shouldn't one prepare one's boat for an impending storm and get the hell out. It's just a boat and no one should be put in harms way protecting it.

Click to expand...

That is absolutely correct, in my opinion!
Steve W

This boat was tied down in a boatyard during hurricane Ike. No damage to boats with floating slips.

Keith said:

This boat was tied down in a boatyard during hurricane Ike. No damage to boats with floating slips.

Click to expand...

Ouch! Looks like no high ground at the boat yard. I still think that the storm surge is usually worse in the Gulf than the Atlantic side. My insurance company and I still prefer to take our chances with a haul out. No method is fool proof. I would rather be in Fred's cove behind the locks away from any surge.

If I were going to layup the boat for any period in South Florida, it would be at a yard or dock on the Caloosahatchee. Inland, fresh water, and away from the surge.

We are baby sitting our companies' floating cranes and various barges in Port Newark,N.J. New York Harbor is closed at this time. We are one of the few emergency response vessels that will be allowed to move during the next 48 hrs (for ship rescue at sea if need be.). This last high tide had 1' of dock left above water and it should be 6-12 feet higher tonight and tomorrows high tide. Wind hasn't even started to crank yet.
Our two largest heavy lift cranes were busy for 9 months after Katrina doing wreck removal in New Orleans of sunken tugs, barges, shrimp boats etc. Needless to say, the company wants to use best efforts to keep them safe.
Be careful everyone!

Tears ago-I lived in SE NC, just above Little River, SC. The first hurricane I had to with with a boat was David. We followed several shrimpboats up a creek off the Calabash River, all tied to trees with as many lines as you had. We stayed on the boat and were fine, a bit scary, but fine. I know one guy with a 53' Hatt who tied the boat up to a bunch of derelict pilings in the Waccamaw River during Hugo. He and his son stayed on the boat and made it through.

Up a creek (with a paddle?)trees being blown over is not really a problem. After Hugo hit Charleston, you could drive north of Charleston and half the trees in the Marion Nat'l Forest were blown down, but they all break off about 25-30 feet above ground. You tie down to the base of the tree.

After Hugo, the ICW from Charleton, from Isle of Palm all the way to Deewee/Bull Island was littered with boats that had been swept out of marinas. They were all on the inland side of the ICW, At the north end of Isle of Palms, opposite the Wild Dune Marina and the Isle of Palms Marina, there was a huge pile off boats, probably a mile long, just piled on top of each other in the marsh. It was actually pretty amazing to look at.

THD said:

...............After Hugo, the ICW from Charleton, from Isle of Palm all the way to Deewee/Bull Island was littered with boats that had been swept out of marinas. They were all on the inland side of the ICW, At the north end of Isle of Palms, opposite the Wild Dune Marina and the Isle of Palms Marina, there was a huge pile off boats, probably a mile long, just piled on top of each other in the marsh. It was actually pretty amazing to look at.

Click to expand...

Some of them are still there.

mahal said:

I know nothing about hurricanes but I am very surprised that there aren't more advice like the one above. Am I missing something? Shouldn't one prepare one's boat for an impending storm and get the hell out. It's just a boat and no one should be put in harms way protecting it.

Click to expand...

Of course you're right about that....it is just a boat, but if something were to destroy my boat, even though it's just a boat, it would probably have a deep emotional effect on me, and I'd likely spend a great deal of effort, time and money trying to avoid that wise and objective viewpoint. Lots of us love our boats,....a rediculous and foolish attachment that is, nevertheless, human.

healhustler said:

Of course you're right about that....it is just a boat, but if something were to destroy my boat, even though it's just a boat, it would probably have a deep emotional effect on me, and I'd likely spend a great deal of effort, time and money trying to avoid that wise and objective viewpoint. Lots of us love our boats,....a rediculous and foolish attachment that is, nevertheless, human.

Click to expand...

I guess I understand a little more now. It's the "love" and "attachment" part I was missing. I guess we all feel differently about our boats. I would be sad if my boat were destroyed but only until it is replaced.

Good luck to all that are in this storm's path.

healhustler said:

Of course you're right about that....it is just a boat, but if something were to destroy my boat, even though it's just a boat, it would probably have a deep emotional effect on me, ......

Click to expand...

Not as deep an effect as being dead!

You have to know when to let it go and take your chances. You do the best you can to move it or secure it, but that's all you can do.

In addition to risking your life and perhaps your family's lives, you put rescue people in danger if you expect them to rescue or evacuate you when the situation gets past what you can handle.