Pensacola area hurricane prep

[Group9]

The river at Pirates Cove in Josephine, Al is not far from you and is a really good hurricane hole. Also, The Wharf Marina in Alabama is on the ICW, is quite protected, has floating docks and does not require evacuation either.

Good call on the Wharf. I would think that would be a pretty safe place to ride a hurricane out if they let transients in for those. Better than Barber's which I think could see some pretty good fetch coming through the front door in a hurricane.

 

[rgano]

Good call on the Wharf. I would think that would be a pretty safe place to ride a hurricane out if they let transients in for those. Better than Barber's which I think could see some pretty good fetch coming through the front door in a hurricane.

In general, I agree about Barbers, but consider this; I went through the western eyewall of Michael on Wednesday, 10 Oct 2018 (cat five, if you recall) 14 miles inland from the Gulf, and the winds at my house were ENE, then worst at N (probably 120), then about 90-plus westerly for an hour or so. Barbers would be a good place in that particular scenario. The problem is, we did not have precise enough landfall location for the eye to be moving boats around and getting them secured and then ourselves to safety. I just reviewed my notes from the time, and we were expecting the eye to landfall west of us (BAD news for a moored vessel at Barbers) all weekend long, but finally woke up Tuesday morning to see it forecast to pass east of us (BETTER news for Barbers). But would there be anybody there at Barbers by then to accept last-minute refugees, and would they? If so, it would have been a good last minute move, but do you want to be doing that kind of last second thing? No. SO here I was, just about 24 hours before winds were forecast to begin picking up with my boat in the lift behind the house and needing better shelter than it was in (see photo for what happened to the boatshed and lift). One consideration was to run it at its 16 MPH cruise to my brother's house on Ono Island in Orange Beach 123 miles west, but in reality, that should have been done on Monday in order for me to be able to return home for final house preps etc. The boat needed more fuel aboard for that run anyway. The congestion on I-10 figured heavily here. In the end, I moved the boat only about four miles south to a canal behind a friend's house at noon on Tuesday after fueling where it was left anchored bow and stern as well as tied off to both sides of the canal with lines fore and aft. Even there, that big pine ended up gently pressing the boat down into the water, but I got there with help and a chainsaw before high tides caused more harm.

So it is all a tradeoff, and while Barbers could be a good hole, a fair degree of certainty needs to exist about the forecast before choosing it. The Wharf would always be a good choice. Canals without nearby trees are great, but unlikely to exist except here, where there are no more trees.

 

[Group9]

One of the things I remember from Katrina was the owner of a beautiful Cape Dory sailboat who stashed it at end of a very long residential canal in Pass Christian, MS. He did everything right and the boat survived without a scratch.

And, then it sat right there for over a year before all the fallen trees across and in the canal, and the other debris was cleaned out enough for him to move it.

Choose your hurricane hole wisely!

 

[rgano]

YES! I was thinking my boat up the canal hiding from Michael was going to be there forever due to the fallen trees, but at least it was safe. In the end it was three weeks before the way was cleared. However, I was not about to risk my expensive five-bladed prop on what might be under there and had a friend with a bass boat tow me out to the bay before engaging the clutch!

 

[Group9]

Well, darn it, looks like Sally is heading straight for us. Going to be moving the boat to our hurricane hidey hole this morning.

 

[rgano]

Yup, it's time for you to go and for me to just hang in there.

 

[DCDC]

We also moved (again) to our spot in the Mobile river delta. Our marina was moving boats with higher air draft out of covered slips so we offered ours for a few days. Saw several boats headed north from Dauphin Island. Several marinas in Mississippi have required that all boats be moved out to ‘safer’ locations.

Good luck to all along the coast.

 

[cardude01]

DCDC

I just moved the boat to Pensacola from Jacksonville for the winter, and now after that long trip I’m wondering about hurricane holes or haulout plans in Pensacola instead of heading back to Jax for the winter.

The Palafox marina where I am currently requires boats to leave during a named storm, and that’s a hard situation for me since I live in Texas still.

 

[rgano]

DCDC

I just moved the boat to Pensacola from Jacksonville for the winter, and now after that long trip I’m wondering about hurricane holes or haulout plans in Pensacola instead of heading back to Jax for the winter.

The Palafox marina where I am currently requires boats to leave during a named storm, and that’s a hard situation for me since I live in Texas still.

That's a tough one because hurricanes which strike the Gulf Coast have been known to form rapidly and strike before you could get to Pensacola from Texas if at all because of major road interruptions due to evacuations or storm conditions closing bridges. Palafox is a mere shadow of its former self due to Hurricane Sally. You DO NOT want your boat there in a storm. Faced with the option of returning to Jax or finding another, more protected marina, even as far west as Mobile, I'd look for another marina. Slips are VERY hard to find anywhere around here these days because of storm damage in the last few years. None of the major marinas in our town are rebuilt from October 2018 (H. Michael).

 

[Bryant]

Hurricane

DCDC

I just moved the boat to Pensacola from Jacksonville for the winter, and now after that long trip I’m wondering about hurricane holes or haulout plans in Pensacola instead of heading back to Jax for the winter.

The Palafox marina where I am currently requires boats to leave during a named storm, and that’s a hard situation for me since I live in Texas still.

You don’t want to be at Palafox during a storm. It was completely destroyed during Sally. Pelicans Perch Marina in Pensacola has a travel lift. The Wharf Marina in Orange Beach is pretty safe. Roberts Bayou at Pirates Cove in Alabama is a good hurricane hole.

 

[cardude01]

The marina said all boats have to leave when a storm is named, which is not an option for me living so far away. Storms spin up too suddenly now for me to get there.

I knew all this going into this marina but didn’t worry about it because I figured I would head back to Jax for hurricane season. But damn that was a long ride, and Jax is so far away from where I live I didn’t use the boat much at all.

It would be cool to find a cheap house (ha!) with a good dock somewhere between the locks on the Caloosahatchie River to dock the boat and use during Hurricane season.

I have left the boat at Fred’s dock in Ortona during hurricane season before and that’s a very secure spot, but not a place where one can really go to use the boat since it’s so in the middle of nowhere.

Any good “hurricane hole” marinas is this area? I saw someone was building a big marina along the C river on my trip down, but it’s a long way from being done.

Here’s a property in the Fort Denaud area of the river with a dock in the river. We anchored near here and it’s really pretty.
https://www.zillow.com/homedetails/...ssage&utm_medium=referral&utm_source=txtshare

Another one behind the Franklin Lock with a decent looking dock:
https://www.zillow.com/homedetails/...ssage&utm_medium=referral&utm_source=txtshare

 

[backinblue]

How long are you staying in Pensacola? Granted they get lots of hurricanes in that area but not over the winter. I wouldn't worry much for the next 5 months or so.

 

[cardude01]

How long are you staying in Pensacola? Granted they get lots of hurricanes in that area but not over the winter. I wouldn't worry much for the next 5 months or so.

We were planning on staying until May or so, then heading out. So I’m just pre-worrying. ?

 

[backinblue]

No good boating in TX? That's a bit of a trip to Jax. Both by boat and by car.

 

[cardude01]

No good boating in TX? That's a bit of a trip to Jax. Both by boat and by car.

I kept the boat here in Rockport Texas for a few years. Moved it right before Harvey tore everything up. Not very many interesting places to cruise here IMO.

Plus, we think we might want to move somewhere different in a year or so when the kids graduate from college.

 

[backinblue]

I kept the boat here in Rockport Texas for a few years. Moved it right before Harvey tore everything up. Not very many interesting places to cruise here IMO.

I figured that was the case. Maybe time for you to move instead of the boat! lol

 

[Bryant]

Hurricane hole

You don’t want to be at Palafox during a storm. It was completely destroyed during Sally. Pelicans Perch Marina in Pensacola has a travel lift. The Wharf Marina in Orange Beach is pretty safe. Roberts Bayou at Pirates Cove in Alabama is a good hurricane hole.

We were planning on staying until May or so, then heading out. So I’m just pre-worrying. ?

Give The Wharf a call. Very protected, close to great cruising grounds and closer to Texas than Pensacola.

 

[cardude01]

Give The Wharf a call. Very protected, close to great cruising grounds and closer to Texas than Pensacola.

Ok, thanks!

 

[rgano]

We were planning on staying until May or so, then heading out. So I’m just pre-worrying. ?

Never hurts to pre-worry about 'canes. I was relieved to hear yesterday that the canal-front home behind which I hid the boat from Hurricane Michael in 2018 has been repossessed by the friends who owned it back then and will be available to me for storm evasion for at least a year.

Just be down near the Caloosahatchee escape route before late May to avoid any early hurricanes.

We have gotten some pretty viscous winter/spring storms rolling through here; so, you are never totally safe.

 

[BandB]

DCDC

I just moved the boat to Pensacola from Jacksonville for the winter, and now after that long trip I’m wondering about hurricane holes or haulout plans in Pensacola instead of heading back to Jax for the winter.

The Palafox marina where I am currently requires boats to leave during a named storm, and that’s a hard situation for me since I live in Texas still.

Just for information, Palafox can't legally require that in Florida. Now, perhaps they know their marina has problems and feel they still must for some reason or maybe some loophole.

 

[BandB]

Never hurts to pre-worry about 'canes. I was relieved to hear yesterday that the canal-front home behind which I hid the boat from Hurricane Michael in 2018 has been repossessed by the friends who owned it back then and will be available to me for storm evasion for at least a year.

Just be down near the Caloosahatchee escape route before late May to avoid any early hurricanes.

We have gotten some pretty viscous winter/spring storms rolling through here; so, you are never totally safe.

The gulf coast has has a rough series of years.

 

[cardude01]

Just for information, Palafox can't legally require that in Florida. Now, perhaps they know their marina has problems and feel they still must for some reason or maybe some loophole.

I keep hearing folks say that marinas can’t legally kick you out, but this place said if you don’t move your boat they will move it out of there for you, against your will! I was planning on getting out of this area before hurricane season so wasn’t really worried about it, but that seemed pretty aggressive. It actually says that in their rental agreement.

Talked to a local here and she said when this marina got slammed in the hurricane a few years ago (can’t remember which one) most of the floating docks broke free with boats still tied up to them and they all piled up in the back cove of the marina. It was a huge mess evidently.

The circled area is where all the boats and finger piers piled up.


This circled area once had lots of docks. It’s just water now.

This little marina is in a great location just steps from the pretty historic downtown district. Decent floating docks but not much to tie off to. Wish there was a piling between the two fingers for an extra bow tie.

 

[BandB]

Well, I just found the current statute that is applicable and while they can't require you to remove it, they can do so themselves, if they've given you proper notice as it sounds like they have. Here is the link to the full statute and wording of the most relevant.

Statutes & Constitution :View Statutes : Online Sunshine

(1) Except as provided in this section, marinas may not adopt, maintain, or enforce policies pertaining to evacuation of vessels which require vessels to be removed from marinas following the issuance of a hurricane watch or warning, in order to ensure that protecting the lives and safety of vessel owners is placed before interests of protecting property.

(2) Nothing in this section may be construed to restrict the ability of an owner of a vessel or the owner’s authorized representative to remove a vessel voluntarily from a marina at any time or to restrict a marina owner from dictating the kind of cleats, ropes, fenders, and other measures that must be used on vessels as a condition of use of a marina. After a tropical storm or hurricane watch has been issued, a marina owner or operator, or an employee or agent of such owner or operator, may take reasonable actions to further secure any vessel within the marina to minimize damage to a vessel and to protect marina property, private property, and the environment and may charge a reasonable fee for such services.

(3) Notwithstanding any other provisions of this section, in order to minimize damage to a vessel and to protect marina property, private property, and the environment, a marina owner may provide by contract that in the event a vessel owner fails to promptly remove a vessel from a marina after a tropical storm or hurricane watch has been issued, the marina owner, operator, employee, or agent may remove the vessel, if reasonable, from its slip or take whatever reasonable actions are deemed necessary to properly secure a vessel to minimize damage to a vessel and to protect marina property, private property, and the environment and may charge the vessel owner a reasonable fee for any such services rendered. In order to add such a provision to a contract, the marina owner must provide notice to the vessel owner in any such contract in a font size of at least 10 points and in substantially the following form:

NOTICE TO VESSEL OWNER

The undersigned hereby informs you that in the event you fail to remove your vessel from the marina promptly (timeframe to be determined between the marina owner or operator and the vessel owner) after the issuance of a tropical storm or hurricane watch for (insert geographic area), Florida, under Florida law, the undersigned or his or her employees or agents are authorized to remove your vessel, if reasonable, from its slip or take any and all other reasonable actions deemed appropriate by the undersigned or his or her employees or agents in order to better secure your vessel and to protect marina property, private property, and the environment. You are further notified that you may be charged a reasonable fee for any such action.

 

[Bryant]

Hurricane hole

Ok, thanks!

The Wharf has several bars and restaurants, a movie theater and a concert amphitheater. We take the boat there, go to concerts and stay on the boat. Jimmy Buffett will be there again in June. You won’t be disappointed.

 

[cardude01]

Well, I just found the current statute that is applicable and while they can't require you to remove it, they can do so themselves, if they've given you proper notice as it sounds like they have. Here is the link to the full statute and wording of the most relevant.



Statutes & Constitution :View Statutes : Online Sunshine



(1) Except as provided in this section, marinas may not adopt, maintain, or enforce policies pertaining to evacuation of vessels which require vessels to be removed from marinas following the issuance of a hurricane watch or warning, in order to ensure that protecting the lives and safety of vessel owners is placed before interests of protecting property.



(2) Nothing in this section may be construed to restrict the ability of an owner of a vessel or the owner’s authorized representative to remove a vessel voluntarily from a marina at any time or to restrict a marina owner from dictating the kind of cleats, ropes, fenders, and other measures that must be used on vessels as a condition of use of a marina. After a tropical storm or hurricane watch has been issued, a marina owner or operator, or an employee or agent of such owner or operator, may take reasonable actions to further secure any vessel within the marina to minimize damage to a vessel and to protect marina property, private property, and the environment and may charge a reasonable fee for such services.



(3) Notwithstanding any other provisions of this section, in order to minimize damage to a vessel and to protect marina property, private property, and the environment, a marina owner may provide by contract that in the event a vessel owner fails to promptly remove a vessel from a marina after a tropical storm or hurricane watch has been issued, the marina owner, operator, employee, or agent may remove the vessel, if reasonable, from its slip or take whatever reasonable actions are deemed necessary to properly secure a vessel to minimize damage to a vessel and to protect marina property, private property, and the environment and may charge the vessel owner a reasonable fee for any such services rendered. In order to add such a provision to a contract, the marina owner must provide notice to the vessel owner in any such contract in a font size of at least 10 points and in substantially the following form:



NOTICE TO VESSEL OWNER



The undersigned hereby informs you that in the event you fail to remove your vessel from the marina promptly (timeframe to be determined between the marina owner or operator and the vessel owner) after the issuance of a tropical storm or hurricane watch for (insert geographic area), Florida, under Florida law, the undersigned or his or her employees or agents are authorized to remove your vessel, if reasonable, from its slip or take any and all other reasonable actions deemed appropriate by the undersigned or his or her employees or agents in order to better secure your vessel and to protect marina property, private property, and the environment. You are further notified that you may be charged a reasonable fee for any such action.

Very interesting. Evidently that’s why they said they would move the boat if I didn’t.

 

[cardude01]

The Wharf has several bars and restaurants, a movie theater and a concert amphitheater. We take the boat there, go to concerts and stay on the boat. Jimmy Buffett will be there again in June. You won’t be disappointed.

I called them up. They have a waiting list to get in, so I put my name on it for June. We shall see.

 

[backinblue]

There is no option there to haul boats for land storage during a storm? Looks like not many boats in that small marina. It's pretty common where I am that in the days leading up to a potential big storm, boats are being hauled as quickly as posssible.

 

[BandB]

There is no option there to haul boats for land storage during a storm? Looks like not many boats in that small marina. It's pretty common where I am that in the days leading up to a potential big storm, boats are being hauled as quickly as posssible.

Pensacola Shipyard, Marina, and Boatyard has capability.

Just keep in mind that it's impossible to haul more than 5% or so of all boats in Florida even if the boat owners all wanted it.

 

[ragin cajun]

Ya might want to check w/ Pelican Point Marina in Bayou Chico, which is less than a mile or 2 from Palafox Marina. They have haul out service and a hurricane "club" which gives you a spot for a haul out.

 

[cardude01]

Ya might want to check w/ Pelican Point Marina in Bayou Chico, which is less than a mile or 2 from Palafox Marina. They have haul out service and a hurricane "club" which gives you a spot for a haul out.

I called them but to be in their haul out club you have to keep the boat there. Maybe I’ll move it there before hurricane season. My wife likes the location of this current marina.