What Do You Do During Hurricane Season ?

[J Ventura]

In hurricane season I wait for more frequent phone calls to go and take some boat somewhere else asap. Just got back from taking a boat North of Cape Hatteras before the 1st , to keep the insurance terms. And I watch the weather and the equipment more closely , like most people.
Now we are looking at a season of high likelihood of hurricanes according to NOOA , and on top of that we have the Gulf of Mexico turning into an oil basin. A hurricane stirring it all up , moving it all into the Gulsftream and over Florida and the Keys , Cuba , Northward and who know what else. That is a really scary vision. And it just keeps gushing.

[Ocean Girl]

Trying to guess which area will not get a hurricane would win you a prize but you can at least find a marina that will best protect your boat. Most marinas in Texas do not force you to remove your vessel for a storm, but not all marinas are created equally.
Some things I looked at to help me pick a marina for hurricane season :
1) Check with your neighbors and locals on how the marina did in the last storm.
2) look at the tide risers, are they high enough for a 20 ft storm surge? strong enough?
3) is the marina open to the sea or well protected?
4) how old are the piers? how do the cleats look?

My boat rode through IKE (Watergate marina) with no damage except the dock lines heated up and fused (but did not break). Entire piers of boats were damaged and many boats were lost because piers broke up, not because the boats were not properly tied up. I moved from that marina to a marina that lost zero boats during IKE (Waterford) which is located right next door (go figure). Waterford has very high pilings on floating piers to withstand a high storm surge, the cleats are strong and over sized. Also one of the best features is that the marina has a narrow entrance with high land all around. Frankly, it is a perfect hurricane hole and well worth the extra 100+ a month in rent.

Hope that helps, there are some great threads from Ike that could help you decide the location to ride out hurricane season, try a search.
Erika