Hurricane Anchoring Tactics

[Delancey]

For what it's worth, being on the hard is no guarantee.

In the case of Hurricane Sandy, the surge floated all these boats off their jack stands and pushed them into a nice neat little pile about two hundred yards away.

Out of the whole lot, only and old ex-Admiral's cup boat with like a 10 foot draft didn't get floated by the surge.

Meanwhile, several hundred boats at the same marina on floating docks survived without harm.

The last photo sadly shows an old Herreshoff which sank in place as the water rose. Bad Dog's rigging got caught in the Herreshoff's rig as it drifted by, otherwise it would have been in the pile too.

So if you are planning on tie-downs holding you boat in place, keep in mind it's the other boats you have to watch out for!

[Blue Crab]

Originally Posted by belizesailor

.

That....and then get off the boat and catch a flight to somewhere else!

I've lived most of my life in the hurricane zone, seen what Cat 4-5s can do, and seen tropical stroms spin up into hurricanes at the last minute (resulting in people on boats dying). I'm amazed that people still foolishly try to ride them out aboard....nothing you can physically do in winds much above Cat 1 anyway. I'm not willing to die, or even risk dying, for a boat. Secure it the best you can and get the hell outta dodge!

Somewhere someone mentioned the real problem with being deep in the mangroves is there's no way out.

As a bit of gallows humor, when I was with the Coconut Grove Sailing Club, the rule was you had to move your boat for big storms. Inevitably, several boats would be left on the moorings by folks with no plan, absentee owners ... If you left your boat, you lost your mooring privileges, much to the delight of newer club members who were on the waiting list for a spot.

[Blue Crab]

Note how unprepared many boats are here. Sails and sunbrella still on.

[Delancey]

Crazy right? I think people are oblivious and just don't know better, or they just don't care/figure that's what they are paying insurance for. After the storm I noticed a number of roller-furled headsails that had come free and flogged themselves to death.

Really? Can't be bothered to take down a headsail when there is a HURRICANE aimed right at you?

Personally, I went so far as to remove my boom and stow it below in preparation.

[belizesailor]

Originally Posted by Blue Crab

Somewhere someone mentioned the real problem with being deep in the mangroves is there's no way out.

...

Dinghy/skiff out. I've helped secure charter fleet boats before where we just used the chase boat (big skiff) to shuttle back and forth.