HURRICANE STORAGE - EXIT ONLY

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When we lay up Exit Only for hurricane season, we always cover her up with custom designed covers to decrease the risk of water getting inside the yacht in the torrential rains that accompany major tropical disturbances. It helps to leave the boat in a location that minimizes the storm risks (like Trinidad), but sometimes you can't do that. When we must remain in the hurricane belt, we prepare the boat as best we can, knowing that if a category 5 storm rolls through, it's up to the insurance companies to sort things out. When lesser storms, like tropical storm Fay come through, we rely on things like tie downs and rugged boat covers to minimize the risk of water damage to Exit Only.

I used my Sailrite Sailmaker sewing machine to create covers for the salon, hatches, steering wheels, sailboard, cockpit table, and instrument cluster. I used fabric that has a five year warranty and thread with a five year warranty. The fabric is extremely tough, and some people use it in a double layer as hurricane shutters on their house. It has been tested by Sailright to survive a 100 mile/hr impact by a 2x4 in the double thickness configuation when used as storm shutters on a house. It's tough stuff.

Whenever my boat goes into storage, the covers come out, and everything gets some degree of protection. If a category 5 storms comes through, probably none of this stuff will survive. But for category 1 and 2, the protection is probably adequate to keep water out of the boat's interior if any window caulking should fail.

I've used coverings like these in Australia, New Zealand, and the USA with good results. The coverings shown in this picture took me about two weeks to construct, although I could have done the job in a week if I had done it full time in perfect weather.

The tie down straps in the boat yard are probably not that much of a help on Exit Only, but I'm glad the monohull next to Exit Only has tie downs as it may decrease the risk of the monohull falling over on Exit Only in a storm.

[GordMay]

Very nice canvass work, Dave.
Even on "Exit Only", the tie-downs may help mitigate pitching, should a wind get under the bow or cockpit.

[David M]

Dave,
What is the fabric? Sunbrella? What is the brand and weight of the fabric that you use?

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Originally Posted by David M

Dave,
What is the fabric? Sunbrella? What is the brand and weight of the fabric that you use?

I used Stamoid from sailrite. It's expensive stuff but lasts forever if you use thread that resists UV. Here's the link that describes the Stamoid:

http://www.sailrite.com/Stamoid-12-7oz-Snow-White-59

The Sailrite sailmaker sewed the Stamoid without a problem. I used double sided tape to join the segments together before running them through the sewing machine. The double sided tape also made it easy to sew in the zippers where needed in steering wheel covers, sailboard covers, mast boot, and in the large section of the cover in front of the mast. I doubled the Stamoid on the edges to accept large grommets. I used several hundred grommets by the time I completed all the covers.

The covering for the salon ended up being about 19 feet from side to side. The Stamoid is also part of my security system. For anyone to get into the salon, they would have to cut through the "Stamoid Shield" which would entail some work on their part. Usually people don't bother boats that are not an easy target in boatyards.

These covers can be stored when not in use, and if the thread in the seams ever wear out, it's an easy matter to restitch with new thread as along as you have a sailrite sewing machine.

[maxingout]

Originally Posted by GordMay

Very nice canvass work, Dave.

Thanks Gord.

The people at Sailrite were extremely helpful in showing me how to run the sewing machine, and they showed how to do the seams using the double sided tape. They also sold me a "Guide" attached to the sewing surface that made it easy to run the fabric through the machine and create a straight seam.