Harbor rules: Remove boat for hurricane?

[ytquest]

I have, 8 to be precise. Starting with Andrew ... not very pretty and very risky but with over kill ground tackle and a lot of prayers it can be done. The best thing to do in that area is hit mobile river and settle in ( up river ). I am not familiar with any Cain holes in TX. area.

[ytquest]

RTB, Hells gate in Tequesta has Island break but up in Hobe Sound has a few holes. But the best I have found is up river in Saint Lucie if you can leave in time before the bridges close or jump outside for a rough ride. I rode most of mine out at hells gate. only drug once (Andrew).
HEAVY ground tackle, chain and 3 point anchoring with back up hook and plenty of chafe covering. Oh and a prayer !!!

[rwidman]

Originally Posted by RTB

Not very helpful (or nice).....

Ralph

It's the truth. Ignore it if you wish.

[Group9]

My harbor, on the gulf coast of Mississippi requires that as well. (And, boats that have stayed there through hurricanes and tropical storms have not often fared well).

We all take our boats up the rivers and bayous to known hurricane holes when the evacuation order comes. Most of us would do that, even if not ordered to leave, because we like our boats.

[amytom]

Originally Posted by OldFrog75

I'm just curious because this isn't a problem in So. California. Personally I've never sailed in conditions stronger than a gale so I'm wondering how people handle this and whether sailing out into a hurricane is a viable option or whether they have an alternative safe harbor in mind they can motor to in advance of storm warnings.

Granted my only frame of reference is what I see in movies, but the prospect of being on a sailboat in 90mph winds and 50 foot waves is terrifying.

I sailed out into a hurricane once. It was on a destroyer and still not a very pleasant ride. No way I'd do it on my PDQ. A PO tried anchoring it out during Georges in the Keys. Boat was picked up and flipped. Boats can be fixed easier than people.


Sent from my iPhone using Cruisers Sailing Forum

[Group9]

Originally Posted by amytom

I sailed out into a hurricane once. It was on a destroyer and still not a very pleasant ride. No way I'd do it on my PDQ. A PO tried anchoring it out during Georges in the Keys. Boat was picked up and flipped. Boats can be fixed easier than people.


Sent from my iPhone using Cruisers Sailing Forum

My ex-father in law, was on a destroyer in Halsey's typhoon in the Pacific. He said it was the single worst experience he had in WW2.

[wgewaldii]

Thread title says "harbor rules" but most posts are about marina rules. Hard to sort out...

[HappyMdRSailor]

OP Quadrider....

FWIW... Not that I'm endorsing them.... BUT... BoatUS "used to" have a provision that they would pay 50% of a haul in a named warning...

The probability of being able to be one of the few boats to actually haul in time are of course next to zero....

[ranger58sb]

BoatUS has published extensively on the topic. They usually recommend hauling/blocking, but they also point out many possible exceptions. Search their site.

It's also not uncommon that insurance policies cover at least some of the haul-out expenses for named events.

Around here it's quite common to haul/block for a hurricane event. Depends on the marina's capacity to do that, of course. And sometimes folks move their boats from their home marina to another that can pull quickly. Or to another that offers better in-water protection.

We stayed in what was our home slip for Isabel (2003), moved to a different marina and stayed in the water there for Irene (2011), and moved to yet another different marina and stayed in the water there for Sandy (2012). The first two were closer to us; Sandy further away so not so bad.

We only stayed in our home slip for Isabel because we had a 13' beam in a 24' wide slip... so I could put a bazillion long lines on the boat with some hope it wouldn't bounce against the piles and still handle the eventual storm surge afterwards. Worked out for us, but the surge was huge, the marina and nearby houses were flooded, and several of the small boats on wet lifts floated off a bit... but didn't land nicely on their bunks when they came back down.

Our current home marina can haul/block boats fairly efficiently, but I'm told their back lot was underwater during the Isabel surge. No boats damaged, but some cars were flooded. Anyway, I hadn't realized they could work so quickly, and that's why we moved for Irene/2011. The Sandy event (2012) became a bit of guesswork, trying to decide whether surge would be too great a risk to blocked boats (as it turned out to be, for the NJ/NY folks)... so we decide to move then, too, even though the marina could have hauled us in time.

I think at least one big take-away is that the solution is usually a bit situational.

-Chris

[RTB]

Originally Posted by ytquest

RTB, Hells gate in Tequesta has Island break but up in Hobe Sound has a few holes. But the best I have found is up river in Saint Lucie if you can leave in time before the bridges close or jump outside for a rough ride. I rode most of mine out at hells gate. only drug once (Andrew).
HEAVY ground tackle, chain and 3 point anchoring with back up hook and plenty of chafe covering. Oh and a prayer !!!

Thanks for the info. I don't actually plan to get stuck in Florida during a hurricane. We spent the season of 2013 at Brunswick Landing Marina. That's probably where I'll be this year (July-October). Brunswick Landing Marina - A full service marina There always seems to be boatwork to be done, and equipment to install. Hurricane season is when I like to do that stuff, and BLM is a great place for that, as well as being a pretty safe place to hang out.

Ralph

[Sailmonkey]

In the clear lake area of Texas specifically, there are no where near enough slots to hard stand boats for storms, nobody hauls seasonally so the yard space is extremely limited.
As far as hiding up a bayou.....around here for the most part they're too shallow, with a few exceptions.


Sent from my iPhone using Cruisers Sailing Forum

[Julie Mor]

When we were looking at harbors in SE Florida, there was one that was considered a hurricane hole. Some boat owners who didn't have a slip there had a slip available to them in the event of a hurricane, as long as there were slips empty. They also had a big waiting list.

A full time slip there wasn't cheap and there were a lot of empty slips. They probably could have taken 40 or so boats in bad weather. Of course, full timers could stay when the storm hit.

There were buildings all around it, condos mostly, and access was open to the north and connected to a narrow part of the Intracoastal. Building waves wouldn't be an issue, but wind and flying debris would. And there's the occasional boat that broke free to consider too.

[Cavalier]

Originally Posted by RTB

Thanks for the info. I don't actually plan to get stuck in Florida during a hurricane. We spent the season of 2013 at Brunswick Landing Marina. That's probably where I'll be this year (July-October). Brunswick Landing Marina - A full service marina There always seems to be boatwork to be done, and equipment to install. Hurricane season is when I like to do that stuff, and BLM is a great place for that, as well as being a pretty safe place to hang out.

Ralph

Brunswick's a great place.. Also happens to be one of the first sizable marinas which is above 30N (yet another typical hurricane provision) accessible from the GOM and Bahamas..

[Group9]

Originally Posted by wgewaldii

Thread title says "harbor rules" but most posts are about marina rules. Hard to sort out...

I don't know of any "harbor" that requires people to leave. I know of plenty of marinas that have the word "harbor" in their name, my marina included, who do.

But, as much as I hate to bring up Florida anchoring laws in any context, I wonder what the policy is or will be for mooring fields during hurricanes. From what I've heard and seen about how many were installed, I wouldn't be sure a lot of them would be capable of holding a good sized boat in a real blow.

It will be interesting to see what happens the first time with those.

[Group9]

Here are some pictures of boats who chose not to leave our harbor/marina harbor the last time we had a hurricane (and a mild Cat 1 at that).