The Hurricane Season Has Ended !

[Fortress]

Greetings cruisers! The hurricane season has ended, and that gentle breeze you may have felt recently was a collective sigh of relief. It came from those of us who are located in the Gulf, Caribbean, and east coast US regions, as we made it through another season without a serious blow. Whew!

We are now re-printing a small brochure from a Soundings magazine cover story titled “How to Survive a Storm at Anchor” by noted author Tom Neale. Tom and his wife Mel have lived and cruised aboard their boats since 1979, averaging 3,000 to 5,000 miles per year, including 19 winters in the Bahamas.

You can find out more information about Tom & Mel at tomneale.com

I have attached a copy of this valuable brochure so that you can have Tom's information before the next big storm!

I am also going to have Bob Taylor, retired US Navy soil mechanics expert, and E.S. “Mac” Maloney, former long-time author of the Chapman’s guide books, weigh in on a couple of anchoring topics.

There is some misinformation going around in the boating forums that I would like these guys to address. They both have well over 40 years of experience and no products to sell!

Happy holidays,

Brian Sheehan
Fortress Marine Anchors

[boatman61]

Thats all very well... but its bloody snowing in Portugal and Southern Spain....

[Palarran]

Thanks for the article. I've got one of your FX-55's as a secondary and use a small Fortress for my power boat on Lake Michigan. They really are excellent for holding vs weight.

We did dodge the bullet this year on hurricanes.

[bruce smith]

The water was so warm last year, I was sure this season would be a stinker.

[sneuman]

Originally Posted by bruce smith

The water was so warm last year, I was sure this season would be a stinker.

But, it was! One of the worst on record:

http://www.noaanews.noaa.gov/stories...aneseason.html

‎"In the Atlantic Basin a total of 19 named storms formed – tied with 1887 and 1995 for third highest on record. Of those, 12 became hurricanes – tied with 1969 for second highest on record. Five of those reached major hurricane status of Category 3 or higher."

[Fortress]

sneuman is right. Check out the attached 2010 Atlantic map.

Palarran is right too. We really dodged a bullet.

[mbianka]

Time to do the happy dance! I rode out Hurricane Earl out on the Eastern Long Island in September. A first for me. Luckily, it was a minimal Hurricane at that point though my wind guage did clock on gust at 75. Things started nice enough:
THE BIANKA LOG BLOG: EARL: RED SKY IN MORNING SAILORS TAKE WARNING

Though it was a little unnerving when the Harbor Patrol came by for information from those boats with people staying on board like the next of kin etc...
THE BIANKA LOG BLOG: Earl: Visit from the harbor patrol

Then there were those strange noises coming from the shore as the storm picked up:
THE BIANKA LOG BLOG: EARL: What's that bang?

Happily, the boat came through finewith just my primary anchor (33 lb Bruce) on 100 feet of chain in about 12 feet of water. Though I did have two Danforths on deck ready to go with an anti chafing system in place just in case:
THE BIANKA LOG BLOG: GOODBYE EARL!

I was also able to rig up an anchor drogue which worked very well and I plan to use even in non Hurricane conditions since my boat tends to sail a bit at anchor:
THE BIANKA LOG BLOG: LESSONS FROM A HURRICANE: AN ANTI SAIL DROGUE

Best thing I did was stay put and spend the days before the storm to prep the boat. I now have those systems and tackle ready if/when faced with a future storm when out cruising.

[Fortress]

Good story Capt. Mike. Glad it had a happy ending.

[capt_douglas]

And the first Norther is barreling its way into Florida. NW winds with gusts to 30kts and forecast temps in the upper 50s for Thursday. There's a weather change for ya'.

[Fortress]

Yes, and a welcome weather change. You know it has been an inferno for months here in south Florida. Amusing to watch people break out the winter coats and gloves when it hits 50°!

Stay warm,
Brian

Fortress Marine Anchors

[mbianka]

Originally Posted by Fortress

Good story Capt. Mike. Glad it had a happy ending.

Me too! Nothing like approaching storm winds to get you to start focusing on your anchor systems.

[maxingout]

It's always interesting to get to the end of hurricane season and see what actually happened. Then compare what happened to the predicitions that were made six or eight months previously.

News and weather broadcasts tend to focus on the worst case scenario, and I always take predictions with a grain of salt.

I have an extremely well developed inability to predict the future.

I don't listen to weather predictions beyond three days into the future, and even those predictions have not always worked out where I have cruised over the years.

[sneuman]

Originally Posted by maxingout

It's always interesting to get to the end of hurricane season and see what actually happened. Then compare what happened to the predicitions that were made six or eight months previously.

News and weather broadcasts tend to focus on the worst case scenario, and I always take predictions with a grain of salt.

I have an extremely well developed inability to predict the future.

I don't listen to weather predictions beyond three days into the future, and even those predictions have not always worked out where I have cruised over the years.

This is why whenever some landlubber quotes those fraudsters at Farmer's Almanac, I have to laugh. However, most people don't know the difference between weather and climate.