Bad Weather Decisions

[Lespilot57]

Since I am new here, what considerations/rules of thumb/etc do people take for tropical storms, hurricanes, etc? Specifically, your thought process and decision making on staying in a marina vs. moving your boat ???

[barnakiel]

I think you can only move away if:

a) you are on the cyclone area's edge, or

b) you can move, far, fast (your boat can power fast over possibly turbulent waters).

Perhaps that's why some opt for Grenada/Trinidad.

Etc.

b.

[Cheechako]

avoid being in a hurricane zone july-october.......plan your trips to do so..... or be in a place to haul out on short notice.

[zeehag]

depends on where ye are and what is coming an d what the options are. right now i am in furycame zone in west mexico. we just had 5 named storms in sequence, and we are passing some quiet time until the next formation happens. i stay in a marina. it is a safe one.
my repair guy stays in mangroves not far away from my marina slip. it is safe also.
not far from here is not safe... bays are open to ocean with southern exposure. south, here, is where storms form, and not too far south from here, at that....

many folks here go into golfo de california to escape furycames....but there are other problems with golfo de california, aka sea of cortez... i much prefer tropical mainland mexico.

[pbiJim]

I see you're in Texas & you have a 28 footer. For that size, I'd get access to a trailer & either stick it inside a warehouse or board it up & tie it down in my back yard with big screw-in stakes, like the power company uses to hold telephone poles in place.

If your marina is well sheltered, you might be able to ride out some of the smaller storms. It depends on the individual facility. Ask others who have had boats there for at least a few seasons.

I don't know Benningtons in particular. These are just general comments.

[rebel heart]

I try to stay within a day's motor of some protected bays that are good for anchoring in. Anything forecasting over 50 knots and I'd probably try to get away from the marina.

Some marinas are wrapped tight behind multiple breakwaters. Others are wide open and are just floating docks chained down to moorings with some pylons here and there.

[Sandero]

If you are in the path of hurricanes, you need to have a plan where you can safely anchor, more, or dock your boat. Best may be to haul out when a storm of such magnitude is approaching... and when that happens the yards which do this get booked up and it may be too late. I've hauled out for several hurricanes.. . once in Milford, CT (Gloria) once in Jamestown, RI (Irene)... and weathered on inside the Nantucket boat basin (Bob)and Sandy on my mooring in Northport where I dragged the mooring 700 feet. Sailed through Emily 1993 while in the Atlantic before it was Hurricane force which was bad enough... non thanks.

If you're own boat doesn't break free you may find another one upwind does and comes down on your boat. I'd haul out and remove as much from the deck as you can to reduce windage even when hauled.

[zeehag]

i am in a marina in a sheltered lagoon. furycames form over us and slide along this coast--some are close and some off shore.
figure out via the storm chaser sites where the storm track is supposed to be.
i love storm 2k, accompanied by nhc and wunderground.
i have found that winds over 60 kts require steps to be taken--removal of and tying of covers, etc...reinforcement of roller furling....extra line around boom...secure everything and hunker down. removal of all canvas is also a good idea, if you are not planning on using boat for awhile.
we try to remain ready to flee in case of need.
we had 2 named storms with damage to this area this year--not one boat was damaged or suffered breakaway.
spiderweb your boat to the dock . if you are on a trailer--secure it to ground, npt trees so you dont lose boat from trailer. also so you dont lose trailer....
if you are on the hard, secure boat to ground. not trees.
if you have access to mangroves--go there. they are excellent wind and current blockers.

find someone who has suffered a named storm to guide you thru the process.

wath out for flying objects. they can hurt you.

[estarzinger]

Typically the recommendation is to haul out when NOAA issues a hurricane warning for your area (or a little before). You want to then tie the boat down as well as you can.

Some marinas are safe and others are not. The two key factors are #1 piling height - you can get significant storm surge and you don't want the docks to float off at high tide in the middle of the storm. A rule of thumb is you want pilings that are 10' above high tide level. And #2 is the marina extremely well protected from surge. The wind does not matter as much but if a surge gets in it will snap docks & dock lines. You want the surge to have to go around at least 90 degree corners before it gets to the docks.

Going way up creeks or into mangroves is excellent so long as you can get away from other boats. The biggest danger at anchor is usually from other boats that break loose.

[capngeo]

Cat 1&2: clean up the flappers on your boat, double tie and stay in the marina

Cat 3: go to a hurricane hole (that you have already scouted out) Triple anchor with kellet and pendant

Cat 4: Spider web in the mangroves

Cat 5: Call insurance company, get on a plane to somewhere else.

I speak from experience:

1. Mitch (in the slip, Key West)
2. Irene (in the slip, Key West)
3. Wilma (in the slip, Key West)
4. Katrina (in the slip, Key West)
5. Georges (hurricane hole near Snipes Key, NE of Key West)
6. Andrew (spider webbed in the mangroves, Little Shark River, Everglades)

BTW, Andrew was a mistake; I **THOUGHT** he was going to hit KW direct, so I moved north to the 'Glades...... Big mistake, but I did get to go through an eye of a Cat5!

[estarzinger]

By the way, BOATUS's biggest insurance losses come from hurricanes, and they have tried to learn as much as they can to help protect their insured's as well as they can. They have a bunch of articles here on the topic: BoatUS – Hurricane Center – Preparation for Boaters

[pbiJim]

Originally Posted by capngeo

Cat 5: Call insurance company, get on a plane to somewhere else.

In a Cat5, with a boat too big to haul out, one might also weigh the advantages of stripping out all the electronics & other water damageable items, then go the drastic route: Find a place about 40 or 50 feet deep with a nice soft sandy bottom, anchor up hard as you can, Bahamian style, then scuttle the craft. She will probably take a lot less abuse sitting on the bottom than she will getting knocked around top side in a cat 5 monster. Bringing her back up off of the bottom is a lot less work than repairing a smashed hull.

If you have inboard engines or extensive inside wood work & appliances permanently installed, then this option becomes less attractive.

[Lespilot57]

How unrealistic is it to sail away from one? Obviously speed it's moving, days of warning time, etc. play a huge factor. I'm wondering if sailing 90 degrees from its path for a couple of days would work.

[goboatingnow]

Originally Posted by pbiJim

In a Cat5, with a boat too big to haul out, one might also weigh the advantages of stripping out all the electronics & other water damageable items, then go the drastic route: Find a place about 40 or 50 feet deep with a nice soft sandy bottom, anchor up hard as you can, Bahamian style, then scuttle the craft. She will probably take a lot less abuse sitting on the bottom than she will getting knocked around top side in a cat 5 monster. Bringing her back up off of the bottom is a lot less work than repairing a smashed hull.

If you have inboard engines or extensive inside wood work & appliances permanently installed, then this option becomes less attractive.

Then replace the whole water damaged interior , the engine , wiring , mechanicals etc , !! Lol. This idea might have had sense in the 19th century !

Dave

[zeehag]

this year , so far, i have had 5 named storms form over my head.
when storms form for the east coast and carib, there is warning, and there is news overage and all kinds of noise in advent of the storm. you cannot miss it. you have plenty of time to find suitable hiding place for the duration or just for the storm.

pacific ocean furyames and tropical storms form over south mexico. they run northwest until they decide to own a name and then try to kill mexico--is just a matter of surrounding high pressure areas as to where these babies head--early summer they slide up coast, with involvement of coastal areas--we , as i said, were rained on and blown some for 2-5 days in sequence for 5 names so far.
flossie is on her way to hawaii...
cosme was huge. she was 600+ miles across. do you remember how large katrina was.....not even as big in diameter as cosme, but cosme wasnt cat 5, she was a baby, with no future.....
but......those babies dont usually hit land as a frontal assault until late august until nov .
jova hit barra de navidad, where i am , in nov, after a long and wild dance in pacific. i was watching that one from mazatlan, as we were within the strike zone
bud. last year, found me in la cruz de huanacatle's marina la cruz... we didnt have much of anything--that bud was not for us, thank heavens. sailing went on as usual in banderas bay==charters were continuous, was beautiful--we had some breezy weather no bad stuff...no problem.

i sailed 2009-2010 in gulf of mexico from slidell to so fla --made 6000+miles in someone else's boat--a 37 ft sloop...we came into slidell for ida--was enough time to get to shelter--when the sky is steel grey--kiss your ass goodbye. until then you have time to hunker down. is a good idea to do so.
heading out of port is a bad idea.
staying in unshelltered marinas is a terrible idea.
hauling out can be a bad idea....
staying in water can be a bad idea....
being out in gulf of mexico is a terrible idea...ditto atlantic..
sailing from NY to bahamas when something is starting to form off azores is not necessarily a grande idea..could be problematic.....

got mangroves??? use em.