You are an inexperienced boat owner on a 40 foot
trawler with high windage, and are attempting to pick up a
mooring or
dock, or
anchor in storm conditions. Which are winds 54 to 73 MPH. Who do have on board as crew ? Is the
wind blowing you away from the
dock. Who is handling your dock lines, you wife . or are you
single handing. Do you have experienced crew ? There is a lot coming into this picture.
And, the recommendation is to tie up to a
FUEL DOCK....filled with gas and
diesel fuel, lines and pumps. Just something to think about.
The harbor will be filled with whitecaps, and
docking anyplace could result it great damage to boat and docks, and maybe , inured or
overboard crew, holed vessel slamming into the dock, tearing out dock
cleats, or with the added weight of your boat, damaging the docks them selves .
You have no idea of the stability of the docks, pilings,
cleats, etc. Trying to anchor in those conditions can also be extremely problematic. What is the bottom quality, how deep, how much room do you have and what is your swing room when the
wind shifts with frontal
passage, other vessels, docks, or land .
Best
advice, do not put yourself into that position in the first place. be aware of the
weather situation, and plan to be in a safe harbor well ahead of time, or do not go out into expected heavy weather conditions. Or ride it out at sea but be aware of lee shores and
reefs.
As to moorings, you have no idea as to the condition of the
mooring, or if it has been maintained, or that the owner is coming in to pick it up. As to end ties or empty slips, as well as moorings, STAY ON BOARD. You may be asked to leave and you should be standing watch to take care of any problems.
With all of the magical electronic aids as to being aware of approaching weather, you should be able to plan well ahead in these days and times.
Does that always
work. Nope. Mother nature can form up a horrendous surprise storm without any warning, and you may have to do whatever it takes to survive. Know what you and your boat and crew can handle.
In foreign
ports, the weather broadcasts are in their language, not necessarily in your native language, and you need to stay well ahead of the situation with your own vessels weather forecasting
equipment. You need to be able to read the warning signs, wind direction, barometic pressure drop, swells rolling in, as well as your boats weather station information. Stay ahead of the
power curve if possible.
Give the harbies or the coasties a call, have
charts of the harbor or bay, they may be able to direct you to a safe anchorage area, or even an open guest slip. Can you use a bahamian moor with two bow anchors .
We have been caught only once with no warning. And that was in Gustavia Harbor, St. Barts. Clear skies, normal winds, beautiful day. An unforercast low pressure system ( tropcal depression _ formed over the islands, within an hour tall steep , dark walls of rain clouds and wind arose. No one was expecting any inclement weather. It had been sunshine, trades, and great sailing .
We had been briefed by the bare boat
charter company, not to pull into any slips in Gustavia Harbor. But pick up a mooring inside or anchor.
when we entered , before all hell broke loose, All of the moorings were taken, and some boats had anchored inside the mooring field next to the moored vessels. The cruising guide recommended the right side of the harbor for mooring. And that is where all of the vessels were located.
I did not want to anchor in a mooring field, and so we motored over to the left side of Gustavia Harbor and laid out our anchor that was 150 feet of chain and 150 feet of
rode. 300 feet total . We were anchored in about 25 to 30 feet of
water, with plenty of
scope and away from other vessels.
Then, a dark black wall of clouds approached, the skies became over cast. We could not speak French to get any WX report, and we had no magical wx fax, or maps .
I told Erica that I did not like the looks of the weather, but she is from Mass., I am a
california boy....I stood anchor watch while she went down below to
shower...her plan was going out dancing on saturday night at the clubs. She gets all squeeky clean, and I am watching his weather system approaching. This may turn out not to be good.
Now, she being the Admiral, says for me to to take a
shower and she will stand anchor watch. OK, I take a quick shower, came out and spied the
rum sitting on the
galley counter, and poured a jigger or two into a plastic glass. Stark naked.
About that time, I feel a strong wind slam into the boat. Erica shouts, " Den, we are dragging." I grab my cut offs and go tearing up the companion way ladder, and see that we are indeed dragging. The wind is howling, and I
race up to the
anchor locker to let more
rode out and reset the anchor. A great huge and heavy monster for our 37 foot
sloop.
The
engine was running to charge up the
batteries. I had No shoes, no gloves, just shorts. Erica is at the
helm.
About the time I take the line loose to pay out more
scope, the wind increases in great force, rain is going sideways, visibility has dropped to a few yards. The anchor line is smoking thru my hands, and Erica , at the helm, asks, if I want her up at the bow.
" No, Full
power, full power ! " Now, this was the only time, that I ever took out a boat that I was unfamilar with that I did not, prior to leaving, flake out the chain and rode on
deck and , check for chafing, pace off the chain and rode, and look to see that the bitter end of the anchor line was secured in the
anchor locker.
With full power, the boat slowed enough for me to get some wraps around the
windlass and cleat the anchor line down. I closed the locker. We had stopped and were no longer dragging.
Rain is horizontal, we can only see a few feet, the wind was up in the 50's to 60's. We kept the
engine on and in
gear to take some of the load off. This all began at about
3 pm in the afternoon. The
VHF was on 16, and other boaters were asking for help.
This is not the U.SA. and those skippers were on their own....deal with it !
We both stood anchor / helm watch until about 2:00 am, The wind began to slack, and the rain lightened up, we eased the
gear shift into neutral and found we were no longer dragging. Winds had peaked at 64 mph. ( 74 plus is
hurricane ) That is a lot of air.
Finally, the winds receded and the boiling with white caps harbor became more calm.
We crashed down below.
Good thing that we did not try to anchor in that mooring field. Others did , but I cannot control what others decide to do.
The next morning dawned clear, near calm, and beautiful. Our bearings that I had noted in the log had not changed. So, we dinked ashore. Talked with the port authority, to see if this system was done. Well, remember that we did not speak french, and we had to talk with other sailors and local folks who could speak
english.
Two of the bare boats with the same company, who were told not to pick up a slip, had ignored that order, they came in well before us, and when the wind hit, lines were slack, boats crashed into each other and the stern to the quay. Ome lady fell
overboard between the boats tying to fend off,.....back at the base, they had all of the staff, including office personnel on board the tied up boats, and it was a mess, engines running, lines fouling, hulls bashing,
rigging tangled, and quite a chaoitic scene.
Other residents of St. Barts told us , that several local
fishing boats had not reported back, and they were concerned. Heard no more about the missing boats by the time we departed a couple of day later. These were seasoned skippers, so all turned out well.
We had a beautiful sunday, and rented a car, and explored St. Barts, and partied down at Le Select, and a couple of other marina restaurants.
Two days later, it was time to sail to
Anguilla, so we haul up on the anchor rode, and the chain. The anchor is not breaking out. I can see it snagged on something a couple of feet below the
water. So, into the dink, knife in hand, I pull myself up to the chain....
Sometimes the god of pure luck scramble to our aid. The heavy anchor flukes were caught on a thick mooring line eye. Yep, an old mooring line had been lying flat on the bottom sand. When the ripping wind tore in, our anchor dragged across the bottom and the flukes snagged on the eye of that very, very thick mooring line eye.
That is what saved our okoles from huge problems. Since the line was old and lying on the bottom in about 30 feet or so, it was of no use to anyone, so I cut thru it, and we were free. The 2 to 3 inch diameter old mooring line dropped away and sank and we slowly motored out to sea, hauled up the
sails, and were on our way.
No one, not even the port authorities were aware of any tropical depression, it just formed in our immediate area.
Oh, and as the anchor line was rapidly slipping thru my hands when that wind bashed into us, I thought of losing all of the chain and line that I had not inspected when checking out the vessels systems. The next morning after the storm, I opened up the anchor locker
hatch, we had maybe 3 feet of line left....and the bitter end was secured. Still, foolish of me, to not inspect the chain, line and
security of the bitter end of the anchor line well before departing the
charter outfit docks in St. Matin..
I guess the best
advice is to avoid problems in the first place, be prepared, and not put yourself into extremes.
But if necessary, we would.
1. Call the harbies for a slip or dock assignment ( If possible), or anchoring area that would give you the best protection and holding ground. Refer to your
charts as well the cruising guide.
2. Maybe find a down wind end tie, so that the boat is not being blown off the dock, but with loads of boat fenders in place, be pushed toward the side tie. A guest dock at a waterfront bar might
work as well.
3. Be practiced in all types of anchoring methods, with stout anchors, and plenty of chain and rode. Also, have a second bow anchor and be practiced in using a bahamian moor.
4. Do what you need to do. And that might be to remain well out a sea away from land . But, again, be ahead of the power curve, and avoid major problems in the first place.
5. Entering a harbor with large seas rolling in, could be extremely dangerous, and possibly broaching, and wind up out of control, and winding up on the breakwater rocks. Shallow water, and higher waves at the channel entrance. Bad Ju-Ju .
Re: Taking refuge in a port during a storm
Linear Mode
Recent Discussions