Boat Storage in Hurricane Season

[Teej]

Our first winter snowbird escape for 5-6 months on our catamaran is now only three months away and the planning needs to begin. Starting in January 2010, we plan to cruise the Bahamas for at least several months and then south to Cuba (Canadians on a Canadian flagged boat so we're ok with Cuba). Cruising the Bahamas and Cuba could easily be stretched to the full winter but we are thinking maybe we should end our first winter by pushing on to Puerto Rico or the BVI's. We need to plan where to store our catamaran after this first winter cruising season in preparation for the next cruising season which is to do the Caribbean islands down to Trinidad for the next season (Jan - June, 2011).

Our uncertainty for this winter's cruise is whether to bring the boat back to the U.S. and store it on the hard from July to Dec, 2010 or in view of our second year plan, described above, it may make more sense to store it in the Bahamas or go as far as Puerto Rico this winter and put the boat on the hard there, which gets us closer as a departure point for season two.

Wondering about boat storage for June,2010 to Dec, 2010 may seem a little strange as that is 8 months from now but I need to renew my boat insurance and indicate where it will be during the next hurricane season.

In consideration of our cruising destinations this winter and next, suggestions and specific recommendations on a boatyard that will be able to haul our 23'beam Admiral 38 catamaran will be greatly appreciated.

Thanks in advance
teej

[s/v Moondancer]

Hurricane safety on the hard is a fallasy, while you are relatively safe in Cat I's and II's once it gets up to Cat III's and IV's the damage in yards becomes extensive. The pic is of a Greanda yard after 'Ivan' in 2004. 'Ivan' was a Cat III in Grenada.


While the 'hurricane zone' yards have improved tie downs and cradles etc if they get a Cat IV there will be repeats of the above which is why there are 1000 boats on the hard at Peakes and the Power Boat yards in Chaguaramas Trinidad as I write.

However, the way boats are secured in Trinidad is so complacent, because they have not had a hurricane in recent memory, if they ever get one, or is that when they get one, there will be 1000 boats on their sides. Last serious hit was Flora in 1963 a Cat III that went over southern Tobago.

[George]

Google what these bandits did a few years ago after Hurricaine George hit. Go south to Grenada - T&T or north to ?

[GordMay]

Originally Posted by s/v Moondancer

... While the 'hurricane zone' yards have improved tie downs and cradles etc if they get a Cat IV there will be repeats of the above ...

... However, the way boats are secured in Trinidad is so complacent, because they have not had a hurricane in recent memory, if they ever get one, or is that when they get one, there will be 1000 boats on their sides. Last serious hit was Flora in 1963 a Cat III that went over southern Tobago.

Strap Down Boats Stored Ashore
➥ BoatUS.com: Hurricane Resource Center - Hurricane Preparation

[Pete7]

Originally Posted by George

Google what these bandits did a few years ago after Hurricaine George hit. Go south to Grenada - T&T or north to ?

George, have you got a link?

Pete

[barnakiel]

Dig a hole and put your boat in it. If a cat, strap her down VERY well.

b.

[Vasco]

Teej,

Your plan is fairly ambitious if you're going to cruise the Bahamas a few months and then do Cuba and then head south. I would suggest, seeing it's your first season, doing the Bahamas and Cuba and then head north for storage. Check with your insurance company whether you can store in Florida. Do that and next year you'll be able get or fix all the little things you need at Stateside prices and then beetle on down south.

[Teej]

Originally Posted by Vasco

Teej,

Your plan is fairly ambitious if you're going to cruise the Bahamas a few months and then do Cuba and then head south. I would suggest, seeing it's your first season, doing the Bahamas and Cuba and then head north for storage. Check with your insurance company whether you can store in Florida. Do that and next year you'll be able get or fix all the little things you need at Stateside prices and then beetle on down south.

Rick, I note that you spend your time between the Bahamas and Ontario. When you mention heading north for storage, have you any specific suggestions as I presume that is what you do. It would take me out of the hurricane zone and that would be give me a cheaper insurance rate. My present insurance affords coverage in a named storm but at a premium. I could switch to Jackline insurance if I were to store the cat out of the hurricane zone. Your further suggestions would be of great help to these cruiser newbies!! Thank you.

[Keegan]

Originally Posted by Teej

Rick, I note that you spend your time between the Bahamas and Ontario. When you mention heading north for storage, have you any specific suggestions as I presume that is what you do. It would take me out of the hurricane zone and that would be give me a cheaper insurance rate. My present insurance affords coverage in a named storm but at a premium. I could switch to Jackline insurance if I were to store the cat out of the hurricane zone. Your further suggestions would be of great help to these cruiser newbies!! Thank you.

FYI-Jackline allows one to stay in the "box" for an additional fee so you can switch to Jackline regardless of in the box or out of the box. I switched to Jackline last year thinking I would be out of the box but ended up adding to the premium last July to keep my boat in the "box". Plans eight months in advance are nice but they may change once you get going.

[osirissail]

- I was here in Grenada for Hurricane Ivan and the large lose of boats in the boat yards was due to stupidity and complacency. Since then things have been seriously changed to greatly reduce a recurrence of such a total disaster.
- - But the original question, I believe was about yards in the Puerto Rico/Virgin Islands areas. There are seriously good boatyards there that will store your boat as properly as possible for any hurricane. Normally the yards have concrete pads with embedded tiedowns anchoring your boat securely to the earth and the boatyard is sufficient above sea level to minimize flooding problems.
- - There are insurance companies that have pre-approved these boatyards for hurricane season storage. You can research the CF threads and find out which yards qualify. However, these boatyards are in seriously great demand and have limited space so you need to commit and pay for a space very early in the year. Puerto Rico's Puerto del Rey marina/boatyard just south of Fajardo told me they fill up by late Feb for reservations for a place in the boatyard. Other boatyards in the Virgins also fill up with reservations long before hurricane season starts so you need to do your research and make a commitment very early.
- - You might also investigate the Port Antonio Marina in Port Antonio on the northeastern end of Jamaica. www.errolflynnmarina.com/
That would be a natural for ending a Cuba cruise. I think their advertisements speak about hurricane season storage. Then the following November you can leisurely head eastward.

[Linda Sitton]

We are planning to leave from Kemah, Texas to the Bahamas and Caribbean destinations still to be decided in January of 2010. We plan on sailing for 4-6 months perhaps longer.

We have radar and plan on having more than one system on board to keep track of weather. My husband has over 6,000 miles of blue water experience and we have bare-boat chartered from Florida to the Bahamas but this is our first extended cruise in our boat which is a Seawind 1000, a 33ft cat.

My main question is this: Can you prudently sail the Bahama and or the Caribbean in July-December if you cautiously watch the weather and take appropriate action to get out of harms way. We understand we would have to go bare in regard to insurance but quite frankly I think we have decided to go bare anyway because of having to keep them informed of where you are when. We don't want to have a schedule and I don't want to have to deal with keeping my insurance up to date as to where we are. I am sure I would not and my insurance would be voided anyway. I really don't have a rebellious nature, I am just realistic.

[osirissail]

Linda
- - I can only assume that you own the catamaran outright - no bank loans. With bank loans insurance would be a mandatory requirement to protect their investment. Then you would still need insurance for any marina/boatyard activities in USA waters. Elsewhere in the Caribbean basin having or not having insurance is a personal decision as discussed ad-infinitum in other CF threads. There are some international insurance companies that for a price, will cover you while you are "in the box."
- - As to sailing in the Caribbean basin during hurricane season - many people do it and have done it successfully. And many people have also lost their boats. This year has been unusually quiet - maybe Mother Nature is trying to lure you in. In the past three summers in the southern Windwards we have not had any serious weather problems. Not so with the Leeward Islands.
- - Besides hauling in a hurricane boatyard, many cruisers just have on board multiple anchors and lots of rode and are prepared to "ride out" storms and hurricanes. But normally these people live in the area and know the local knowledge of where to hide and how to hide.
- - "Prudently sail the Bahamas and or the Caribbean in July-December" - simple - No.
- - On the other hand, surviving this past season has been a piece of cake so far (knock on head(wood)). I would suggest you need both the extra equipment mentioned to secure the boat during a storm and the knowledge of how to do it. Plus the knowledge of where to do it in each location.
- - Radar only tells you what will hit you in the next few minutes to an hour. Satellite access to the internet will tell you what the probabilities of getting hit by a storm are for up to a week or two. But you need to know how to read the data available.
- - Bottom line, you would be traveling through areas and waters with an 800 lb gorilla (Mother Nature) hanging over your shoulders and you will be wondering all the time if she might or might not smack you. If you have great Karma you could do it no sweat but if like me (who has been chased at sea by storm systems despite multiple evasive actions) you would get hit, maybe a glancing blow, or maybe a direct smash. If an insurance company will not insure you during that time frame and location, then I doubt you could call being there "prudent."

[Keegan]

Originally Posted by Linda Sitton

My main question is this: Can you prudently sail the Bahama and or the Caribbean in July-December if you cautiously watch the weather and take appropriate action to get out of harms way. We understand we would have to go bare in regard to insurance but quite frankly I think we have decided to go bare anyway because of having to keep them informed of where you are when. We don't want to have a schedule and I don't want to have to deal with keeping my insurance up to date as to where we are. I am sure I would not and my insurance would be voided anyway. I really don't have a rebellious nature, I am just realistic.

YOu should start a new thread and ask this question so that you get several repsponses but here is my answer. Depends on how you rationalize the meaning of "prudence". Every year many boats stay in the Bahamas/Caribbean during hurricane season and keep a close watch on the weather. All the charter companies have boats in the hurricane zone during hurricane season. Most years cruising boats get destroyed by hurricanes. It is hard to get out of the way of a big hurricane because you do not know exactly how it will track, so sometimes you will have to secure the boat the best you can and pray a particular storm does not hit you. Its kind of like being at a bowling alley but you are a bowling pin and the hurricane is the bowling ball. Can you afford to lose your boat or your life? If you are lucky, like many are, you will look back and say, wow I am glad we did that. IF you are unlucky, you will not have a boat or one or more of you will be dead.

[Teej]

Back to the origninal theme of the thread please as I am anxiously trying to determine hurricane season storage frome June to Dec 2010. I need to renew my insurance next week and have to provide my cruising plan, including hurricane season plan.
Helpful CF comments to date suggest bringing the boat back to the U.S. out of the hurricane zone, following our extended cruise to the Bahamas and Cuba this winter and spring. I'm now leaning that direction.
Based on your direct experience with or knowledge of catamaran storage boatyards to accommodate catamarans on the hard in a U.S. boatyard north of the hurricane zone, please help us with your suggestions.

As Canadians we have no knowledge as to where to leave our cat in the U.S. out of the hurricane zone. We presently have a cruising permit for Florida (which of course is in the hurricane zone) but we are leaving for the Bahamas soon and want to leave it "out of the zone" next season as next season we need to store it from June to Dec.

In anticipation, THANKS very much in advance!

[Vasco]

Originally Posted by Teej

Rick, I note that you spend your time between the Bahamas and Ontario. When you mention heading north for storage, have you any specific suggestions as I presume that is what you do. It would take me out of the hurricane zone and that would be give me a cheaper insurance rate. My present insurance affords coverage in a named storm but at a premium. I could switch to Jackline insurance if I were to store the cat out of the hurricane zone. Your further suggestions would be of great help to these cruiser newbies!! Thank you.

Teej,

In the five years I've had the 393 she's never been north of Charleston. My insurance covers me 12 months a year anywhere to the T & C. I have stored in northern Florida for the past four years. I got tired of the trip north. By the time I get back to Florida in June, I really don't feel like slogging up north to the Chesapeake although storage is much cheaper there. In named storms my deductible is $10,000. I am covered by the same Canadian company that insures my other boat which now doesn't leave the great lakes. If you need further info pm me.