Prepping for Michael - 100' or 135' of chain?

[EmeraldCoastSailor]

Today was a day of prep for both boat and house; looks will be leaving marina due to storm surge. Plan is to find a spot in a bayou in 9' - 12' with good holding in sand and a little mud; add 3' for bow and 6' - 8' for surge and I am looking at about 20' - 22' to calculate scope against. As long as I feel good about the space, I am thinking of adding 35' of chain to my 100' and running about 10' - 20' of my 7/8" nylon backing rode to provide a bit of stretch. Will also have a 50' dock line attached to my snubber attached to chain just down from chain to nylon splice connection. I can't imagine being able to have more than 150' out due to other boats in area.

Question: would it be better to have 15' of nylon rode out or better to have 45' of nylon rode out to increase stretch effect? Once again I plan on a snubber/dock line backup attached to chain as well. 35' Beneteau just under 6 tons. Everything is stripped and boat is lighten up.

Bonus question: drain the water tanks to lighten further?

Thanks

[Clamdigger]

Get on the phone to Mantus Marine the anchor folks. Ask for Deneen, Greg, or Thomas, they all have boats and the answers you need, as well as THE BEST Snubber I have ever used! Ground tackle and all of the fittings that go with it are their specialty, Hope you have a Mantus anchor and chain swivel at minimum. Dont delay save your boat, then head NorthWest out of this storms path. Wish everyone down there safe passage.

[JPA Cate]

EmeraldCoastSailor, I think the 15 ft. nylon snubber should be okay, but, it is going to need some serious anti-chafing gear. If you leave the boat unattended, she is more likely to drag because of chafe-through, so if you can set it up so that there are more, attached, so that when one breaks, the next one takes over the job, that is good. Also, don't use hose for chafing gear, there is some evidence it keeps the line from being cooled, and it can fail from melting. Some people recommend using dyneema line for the portion of the snubber that goes over the roller, and then shackled to a nylon snubber, for the anti-chafe, and the springiness.

The most important thing of all is to reduce windage. Take the mainsail off, don't just wrap it, with line; and the same for the head sail(s). Remove dodger if possible, and all weather cloths. Some people attach feeder lines and pull the halyards to the masthead, which will eliminate pulley chafe.

Personally, I'd leave the water in the tanks, if it is good. There may be problems getting good drinking water immediately post-hurricane. Plus, it is windage you're worried about, not displacement.

Good luck with it.

Ann

[zeehag]

before you leave marina check the nhc inundation graphics and then figger out your hidey hole. best o luck. there are some on icw between psj and appalach without inundation potential, could be good. i stayed in one of those lil places when i sailed gom during a t-boomer.. was awesome.
ps you need to figger chafe factor on line used as anchor rode.

[a64pilot]

Where are you, and where are you going?
My take is a longer snubber, I had dual 5/8” 25’ snubbers, and it’s not enough to prevent snatching, in my opinion.
Have three likely better, but make it so one takes the load, then if it fails, load goes to the second, then the third, and final all chain of course.
It looks like your going to have one heck of a surge, I hope your already where you need to be, cause it’s getting way to close to game time now.

[zeehag]

ok so michael is gone. how did you fare?

[EmeraldCoastSailor]

Originally Posted by zeehag

ok so michael is gone. how did you fare?

Amazingly she survived and is floating clear in Watson’s bayou east of PC deep in what looks like a war zone. Hundreds of boats are thrown all over the area. Can’t be sure what percentage r total loss as many boats seem intact above water. Many lost, crushed, sunk, etc.

I used a tandem rig with a total of 160’ of chain, a 35# Delta, a 37# generic plow, and 4 nylon connections to chain; two hitches direct to chain held healthy dock lines (1 hitch failed), my normal hook (moused to the chain) snubber tied to a beefy dock line, and the7/8” rode spliced to the chain.

I had a Fortess 16 out and didn’t do a good job of chafe protection so that nifty anchor is gone. I had a 11# Danforth style on the stern to minimize sailing at anchor and its line parted due to chafe.

She was on her ear a bunch I am sure and the inside looks like a bomb went off but the whole area looks like a bomb went off. The chief meteorologist for ABC in PC told me that there was 150 mph wind at Watson’s bayou. My boat clung on for dear life.

[zeehag]

dawg,mon. she is lucky as are you. you were smart to leave the herd.
herd is on beach as toothpicks.
loss of anchors beats the hell outta total loss. good work.
shame about the neighborhoods tho.
i hope rebuild is faster than it looks like it will be. quite the mayhem.
the videos are most revealing.

[gamayun]

Great job securing her and not staying to ride it out. All the best on the recovery and clean up.

[JPA Cate]

Wow, EmeraldCoastSailor!

May you and your boat always be so lucky!

Next time, maybe try some of that kevlar chafing gear. Perhaps you can recover the Fortress by dragging for it? If it had any chain on it, a strong speaker magnet may be your friend. I guess it depends on how much your time is worth, but you could give it a try.

Ann

[Fiveslide]

Congrats. So glad to hear your preparation worked for this one.!