I Never Sleep Well Before A Storm

[SaltyMonkey]

Glad you are AOK. +1

[The Way]

Originally Posted by Ocean Girl

He he, not sure Way, I just thought how painful it must be to be pelted by a storms driving rain with your bare ass pointing to the sky tending to the lines

Ocean Girl:

That too!

The Way

[bobconnie]

In our area we have one real safe marina in Houma LA. It get's pretty full as you can imagine!! But we have many great safe side tyes in many of the bayous around us ! We go where the shrimp boats go and use anchors for and aft out in the bayou, and many lines ashore. It's worked for us during all the hurycanes in the last 11 yrs we were at home !! But I still would rather run most any storm at sea, much more better then being tied up ashore!! But Im old fashion, learned to fish in my youth, with both skivvies waveing!! LOL

[bobconnie]

And for going in deck in a storm naked, Well I learned my sailing in the PNW, and theres just to much chance of hail in those storms, no way my old body could take the pounding! Not to mention the COLD !! Good way to have two belly buttons LOL

[Ocean Girl]

Glad all is well Rebel Heart.

[Mknebes]

Originally Posted by Rakuflames

Actually this marina, and as far as I know all marinas in the area, have a rule that at some point when a named storm is approaching, you cannot enter or leave -- partly because it's just too dangerous and partly because those that stay are then free to do things to try to secure their boats. So I would be operating on the assumption that it's possible. In fact, at Pasadena they told me they would encourage it.

Hey Raku- are you at Pasadena? If not where are you around here? How was that squall last night? We weren't expecting anything like what we got and were of course scrambling for more secure lines and today called up and asked for a quote for quote for another set of triple pilings. We had been meaning to do that since June but the gusts over 50 reminded us to get it done. Luckily - we also have a slip on property designed just for hurricanes (or extra $$) if necessary. Would love to find out where you are!

Monica

[Rakuflames]

Originally Posted by Ann T. Cate

Some of you might be interested in how the marinas are made safer for cyclone season in New Caledonia at Marina Moselle and Marina Sud.

Both Marinas have concrete walls along their landward sides. When the first cyclone of the season has been predicted, they send down divers, who lay heavy chain down the center of the space between the rows of berths. The landward ends are anchored to heavy eyes on the bottom of the wall, and they have some kind of anchor at the other end, as well. You buy heavy dock lines to have shackled to the chain, and these secure your stern. The marinas required you to have extra large diameter line. Having the stern supported seems to me more secure than just a simple side-tie.

I think one could lay two anchors out astern as far as possible after the marina is closed, in a vee arrangement led back to cockpit winches, so that you could winch yourself aft enough to not have bow contact with the dock. Perhaps that might work for those who do not have a handy mangrove creek to hide in. Mangroves can offer you so much protection that when there's 60 knots at your masthead, you still need to burn mosquito coils on deck to keep the mozzies out!

Of course, it will be a big stringy mess getting everything back in again, but there's no free lunch. And if the dock breaks up, it'll be havoc and boat soup anyway. Interestingly, in Cairns, Qld., Australia, the harbour master causes the marinas to be vacated, and everyone is given a mangrove river location to go to to ride out the cyclones.


FWIW

The marina I'm in now has HUGE fairways. It would be easy to spider-web the boats out in the middle, and I would go for that except for their floating docks. Since we're on a river, we could conceivably have a huge storm surge forced up the river, and if those floating docks float off, spider webbing will not protect you.

When I was a kid we lived in Fort Lauderdale, and my dad used to have all the tugboats moved into the Everglades when a hurricane threatened. Then they would airboat out. We never had anything but a glancing blow while I lived there ('56 - 60'), so it was never really tested. The club marina and the one I used to be at, Pasadena, are both protected on what would otherwise be their most exposed sides by mangroves, and it made a huge difference in TS Debby. I have a video of it up on my blog, how much calmer the water was on the sheltered mangrove side.

[Rakuflames]

Originally Posted by rebel heart

Yeah, this one was pretty boring which is always a good thing. The "M" named hurricanes have historically been the worst for this area, and this last one was "L", so I'm very skeptical of what's in store for us over the next week or two.

In between storms I'm keeping up with coats of varnish and paint. And for leak proofing a boat, nothing will show off your leaks quite like a foot of rain in one day. Almost sank the friggin dinghy.

You guys have had a lot more on your side of the continent than we have. That's OK. You don't have to share!

[zeehag]

our `13th one wasnt as bad as predicted--it was a dud---nice n wet, no wild---

[Tayana42]

Glad to know you are still okay zee. Hope Rebel Heart makes out as well.

[Rakuflames]

Originally Posted by Mknebes

Hey Raku- are you at Pasadena? If not where are you around here? How was that squall last night? We weren't expecting anything like what we got and were of course scrambling for more secure lines and today called up and asked for a quote for quote for another set of triple pilings. We had been meaning to do that since June but the gusts over 50 reminded us to get it done. Luckily - we also have a slip on property designed just for hurricanes (or extra $$) if necessary. Would love to find out where you are!

Monica

Monica I spent two years at Pasadena. Really nice marina and handled Debby extremely well.

i was in Gulfport yesterday for that storm, which was a lot more than a squall (I think of them as lasting 15 - 20 minutes). At 3:30 we saw high clouds that looked like "blow-off" from a thunderhead. At 3:45 we saw cumulous clouds that really didn't look all that threatening, but then it got ... calm. We had a bunch of first-lesson students out in littl 16.5' Catalinas, the guy in charge for that afternoon and another went to look at the radar. That storm was moving very fast, angry and red. The boats were supposed to come in at 4:30, but we called them in at 4. Good thing! They were still pulling boats out of the water at 4:25 and I have to say that if I had been in charge that day I would have insisted they leave the last two, grab some fenders and tie them up to the little dock by the hoist. It was so dangerous to pull those boats out in all that wind.

So I wasn't on my boat, but my cat says she guarded it well.

Send me a PM (box cleared out -- yay!) and I'll tell you where I am. I suspect some people here know, but I'd just as soon ot wave it all around the Internet. But I won't stay here for a TS or hurricane. Lovely marina but not sheltered.

[zeehag]

tayana42---we did good--manuel was a dud and all wet no wild--so it was water collection time again--and ingrid is staying on her side of the mountains, so we should be ok for a week or so---

[Richard5]

Originally Posted by xeon_tsd

I like that idea! Now that I have laser eyes and don't wear glasses this could be really useful.

You say that now. Protect your eyes.

On a different note I'm 55 and still have 20/20 uncorrected. What a blessing! This in spite of all manners of eye injuries including melanoma.

[zeehag]

staying on board in storms is a matter of personal preference and necessity--boats are saved better when occupied, it has been found...yes we save our own first then yours--if yours is too far gone to be saved by a kayak--sorry.cannot do that--if the weather is too bad for me to go to your dragging or breakaway boat in a kayak or a wb10 ROWING boat, sorry folks--gone. can do nothing for ye except to call for assist when all others are also in deep doodoo.
count on your ever increasing and doesnt pay for natural disasters insurance scam to pay out. goodluck.
i do my own insuring--i keep my boat in safe places and i stay on board. i choose my summering for the hidey holes presented in the particular locale. i stay on board because i respect my boat. i bought solid for a reason.
so far--good sense beats money every day.

[CruiserMom]

When a storm is a brewin I take the correct safety I think myself and my family needs. Glad you all stayed safe during the storms you went through on your boats!