Anchoring for a Storm

[schoonerdog]

with 5 anchors that's would probably be true, but SCsailor had just two anchors. I use land lines and tuck up in a hurricane hole...

I think Hannas going to be a little bit of a blow, but nothing extreme. Winters here always bring nights with 60 mph winds, so Hanna shouldn't be anything major. It's Ike that has me a bit worried. I don't like ike.

[cats..paw]

Originally Posted by schoonerdog

I think Hannas going to be a little bit of a blow, but nothing extreme. Winters here always bring nights with 60 mph winds, so Hanna shouldn't be anything major. It's Ike that has me a bit worried. I don't like ike.

Yes, Ike's already packing a wallop. Everything depends on his track.

I'm leaving home at 3am tomorrow to begin securing things at dawn....doubling her mooring chains....wrapping the mainsail cover and dipping her boom....removing the dodger....the usual belt and suspenders drill.....just in case Ike decides to come calling. He and Hanna could be spaced as little as three days apart.

Cheers.

[ssullivan]

Paul's suggestion to stay in VA is a good one. There is a little harbor in the extreme lower part of the Chesapeake called Horne Harbor. I stayed here during some system that was coming through this spring. The harbor is very shallow, meaning most monohulls can't get in. Not as much scope needed for max holding power.

The harbor is located approx 1/2 day's sail up from Norfolk on the West Shore.

Couldn't be more protected. It's like glass in there even with 30 knot winds outside.

I'm even worried about Hanna and Ike!

Luckily, I'm crammed so far up a river, it's nearly all fresh water. I haven't felt a ripple in weeks. I'm about 5 miles from the ocean.

These TS's tend to kick up nasty pressure gradients when they get up north here. We anchored through one in 50-60MPH winds a couple years back on the old boat. I know... nothing like a hurricane, but we stay on the boat at anchor at all times. Windy enough! haha

PS: Kevin's first pic is definitely my favorite.

[freetime]

Originally Posted by cats..paw

Yes, Ike's already packing a wallop. Everything depends on his track.

I'm leaving home at 3am tomorrow to begin securing things at dawn....doubling her mooring chains....wrapping the mainsail cover and dipping her boom....removing the dodger....the usual belt and suspenders drill.....just in case Ike decides to come calling. He and Hanna could be spaced as little as three days apart.

Cheers.

Good luck, take some pics on your boat when she is ready for ike... Sounds scary with this hurricanes, we don´t anything like that over here.

[Pblais]

Well it's time to make the plans into action here. The watch is now official for Hanna on the Chesapeake. The last one was Ernesto and it wasn't hideous but it did a lot of damage. We have a low tide as it approaches and if it can clear by afternoon on Saturday when high tide hits we should come OK. I have the fun job as Dockmaster here and it's one of those times where aside from my own boat I have a bunch of neighbors to beat into submission. I hate being the Dock Nazi.

[BigCat]

Too bad sunshine, white sand beaches, coconut palms, brightly colored fishes and coral go hand in hand with hurricanes -except near the equator, where there is never a decent breeze for sailing. I always tried to find some mangroves to cozy up to, put 4 or more anchors out, and tie to shore when possible.

Except for that one time I had to beat off of a lee shore, out of a deep bight, actually, in 65 knot winds pushing me straight towards mile after mile of barrier reef-

[maxingout]

On Exit Only, I carried an FX-110 fortress anchor to use in storm conditions where there will be a soft muddy or sandy bottom using an all chain rode. The anchor has two different fluke angles, 32 degrees for sand, and 45 degrees for mud. The anchor weighed only 60 pounds, but it has massive holding power. It has a sand setting and a mud setting depending how you assemble the anchor components.

Fortress Anchors - The World's Best Anchors!

In our circumnavigation, I only used the FX-110 one time in Fiji in preparation for a typhoon that never bothered to show up. I set the anchor in the direction in which the greatest wind and storm surge was going to come from.

Since I was staying on the catamaran, I also created a hammerlock anchor system in which I had a 59 pound Max anchor going off the bow with enough scope so that it just touched the seabed. If the primary anchor dragged, or if there was a wind shift that threatened the boat, I would let the scope out on the Max anchor, and it would become our temporary primary anchor if the need arose. I deployed the system, but since the typhoon didn't bother to show up, I don't know how it would have worked.

We were in relatively protected water and we were staying on the boat. If we were in an exposed location or if there was a killer hurricane/typhoon on the way, I would have set out two anchors, gotten off the boat, and hoped for the best.

Good luck on Hannah.

[SCCatSailor]

Looks like Hannah's not necessarily going to be the problem (or if it is, it's too late for me to do any more about it now), but who knows with Ike. I appreciate everyone's input. At this point, I've been able to move into an interior spot in my marina, but wouldn't want to be there in a bad storm. Dave, you said in a bad scenario you would put out two anchors and hope for the best. How would you deploy them? I like the two anchors (delta and Fortress) on a single rode idea, but have never tried it out. Any thoughts?

[BigCat]

Originally Posted by SCCatSailor

Looks like Hannah's not necessarily going to be the problem (or if it is, it's too late for me to do any more about it now), but who knows with Ike. I appreciate everyone's input. At this point, I've been able to move into an interior spot in my marina, but wouldn't want to be there in a bad storm. Dave, you said in a bad scenario you would put out two anchors and hope for the best. How would you deploy them? I like the two anchors (delta and Fortress) on a single rode idea, but have never tried it out. Any thoughts?

If you can snuggle into a really small cove, the usual is to put out anchors in every direction and maybe tie to trees or posts ashore, too. An alternative would be to establish a mooring with 3 or 4 anchors evenly spaced with a huge swivel where they connect, a huge chain left slack from there to the boat, and a good sized nylon line to take the load and provide some springiness. The chain is a back up in case you wear through your nylon despite your best efforts to prevent it.

The problem with floating docks is that hurricanes can bring high water that causes them to raise the docks right over their pilings-or to break up in the waves. Then you are attached to a lot of floating debris and adrift boats, which is very not good.

[Pblais]

Looks like Hannah's not necessarily going to be the problem

I spent all day cleating down boats and badgering boat owners to tie up boats, secure hoses and electrical cords. Taking off sails and canvas and otherwise sweating up a storm. You think it would be cooler before a tropical storm. I figure it's already been a problem and it's not even here yet. Rain just started though so I guess we get a 24 hour wild ride. We may only get gusts to 60. Good luck to all of you with boats on the Atlantic east coast.

[captfolly]

...good luck sccatsailor... we have a prout snowgoose that is right now tied with many lines in between two finger docks at the st johns marina on the stono river here in charleston... where is your boat berthed?? not many of the marinas here seem very secure for any storm conditions..!!...and the open marsh areas are not a lot better!

[Tropic Cat]

Originally Posted by Pblais

I spent all day cleating down boats and badgering boat owners to tie up boats, secure hoses and electrical cords. Taking off sails and canvas and otherwise sweating up a storm. You think it would be cooler before a tropical storm. I figure it's already been a problem and it's not even here yet. Rain just started though so I guess we get a 24 hour wild ride. We may only get gusts to 60. Good luck to all of you with boats on the Atlantic east coast.

Hanna went past us this afternoon. It wasn't bad at all here, with winds around 25 mph gusting to 40, but then again the eye of the storm was 100 miles east of us. I understand she's picked up speed and is now moving at 20 mph. Good luck to all in her path.

Hurricane Ike looks to be heading into the Gulf.

So far this 'season'.....so good.....

[SCCatSailor]

Originally Posted by captfolly

...good luck sccatsailor... we have a prout snowgoose that is right now tied with many lines in between two finger docks at the st johns marina on the stono river here in charleston... where is your boat berthed?? not many of the marinas here seem very secure for any storm conditions..!!...and the open marsh areas are not a lot better!

I'm at Patriot's Point - I often feel it has a big bullseye painted on it the way it sticks out into Charleston Harbor! You're right about the open marsh problem; that's why I started this thread. While I'd love to find a small cove with trees ashore, the reality here is rivers and creeks surrounded by marsh. Some say to go far up the Cooper River and anchor, but that puts you in the middle of nowhere, with no good place to be picked up and no safe place to secure the dinghy (and I'm not staying on the boat). So, what I was thinking about was going up the Wando River (where I can land the dinghy at a friend's dock), but the only suitable place to anchor (where I would have enought swinging room to put out all of my chain) would be in the river itself. So, I'm trying to figure out the best anchoring set up, considering the inevitable tide/current shifts and wind shifts.

So far, just lots of rain and a little north wind here. Good luck to all.

[maxingout]

Originally Posted by SCCatSailor

Looks like Hannah's not necessarily going to be the problem (or if it is, it's too late for me to do any more about it now), but who knows with Ike. I appreciate everyone's input. At this point, I've been able to move into an interior spot in my marina, but wouldn't want to be there in a bad storm. Dave, you said in a bad scenario you would put out two anchors and hope for the best. How would you deploy them? I like the two anchors (delta and Fortress) on a single rode idea, but have never tried it out. Any thoughts?

I have never used two anchors in tandem. I always worried that if dragging of the anchors occurred, the furrow created in the seabed by the dragging of the nearest anchor would make it easier for the primary anchor to drag in the same furrow.

When I lived in Puerto Rico for five years at Roosevelt Roads Naval Station, we had an exposed anchorage to the southeast in a very large harbor, and the swells and wind rolled up the harbor in storms and hurricanes. I have been through lots of tropical storms and had a couple of close encounters with hurricanes, and in all instances I did the same thing. I set out two anchors to windward (the south east) which was our zone of greatest exposure - our danger zone. I set the anchors at an angle of 45 degrees from each other, and in the direction of greatest risk from wind, storm surge, and fetch.

I also did one other thing that was important to me. My cardinal anchoring princple was: HE WHO ANCHORS LAST, ANCHORS BEST. I was always one of the last people to take the boat out to anchor before the storm, because I wanted to be windward of all the other yachts. I have watched many yachts dragging anchor and smashing into other yachts. I have also seen anchors dragging across the bottom until they caught the anchor rode of a properly anchored vessel. The dragging boat then did one of three things.

1. It dislodged the anchor of the other boat causing both boats to drag.
2. It cut the anchor rode of the other yacht setting it adrift during the storm.
3. It hung up on the other anchor rode, sliding down the rode until the dragging yacht slammed into the non-dragging yacht.

I had awesome ground tackle, I anchored to windward, and I emerged unscathed when the storms were over.

In every storm that I have ever been in, I always anchor to windward if at all possible. That's my plan, and I'm sticking with it.

[BigCat]

Originally Posted by maxingout

When I lived in Puerto Rico for five years at Roosevelt Roads Naval Station

No, thanks, it's the tiny, repulsive, mosquito-infested mud-lined mangrove hole for me. I would have said that there would have been quite a few of those within a half day's sail from there. I'd be looking for a place so small that hardly anyone could drag down on me, because hardly anyone else could fit in there.