Hurricane Question

[Jsta_Rebel]

Originally Posted by zeehag

i filled my dink 1/4 with water. patricia did the rest. it wont fly away if it is heavy in water.
did same with 2 kayaks. dropped my booms and lashed em to my boat securely, not to cleats, but intrinsic parts of boat. my main was still on boom--lashed within an inch if its lil dropped boom life.
all made it thru 215 mph steady winds with 250 mph gusting. oh but i dont know anything, so donot follow my advice. i am only out here in this stuff every summer x 21 or more named storms per season. h ah ah ah aha h ah a.and i only been studying em since age 8. mebbe 60 u-years., but that is irrelevant.hahahahahahahahaha

I'm not much into cats, but I am into your posts. I also believe your furrycane posts are fairly spot on. Remember the saying.. You can tow a boat to water, but she can't sail herself.. Have a good evening mi lady..

[zeehag]

ha ha ha ha thankyou i hope everyone is already prepped and hunkered and ready for maxicane--it aint gonna be pretty and it int hitting nc as a 2, sadly. make it 3 . if , that is..it is not intensifying now as it sits n spins. bastid wants to stengthen' thebest model for this storm seems to be nhc. all the gurus agree. try it. you will not be disappointed..it is underrating the storm at present so this should be interesting.

and the actual track will be remaining unknown and only presumptuous until after cuba tells it where to go. so--hold your pants and bloomers on....just prep.
remember patricia was a cat 7. in a boat in a 5--fawzzicckles it is a 7, homes.

thankyou. we have beautiful awesome mazatlan weather here--not even a wannabe formation in sight-i am disappointed. BUT, season aint over til it is over......
have you folks seen pix of this beautifully formed storm???
would be a shame to waste that beauty on a mere cat 4.
watch out.

[Jsta_Rebel]

Beautiful night here in Anguilla as well. Mathew passed us last week but was kind enough to drench the lesser Antilles with some much needed rain as he passed by. I'm not partial to the Bahamas but as I stated earlier in this thread, we sat out Hurricane Ike in Sellers Pond, Providenciales TCI and he was a direct hit. Covered from all sides and a good hole to hide in. Those that chose to haul had big issues, but I'm not the hauling type. Something about a boat out of water and all.. I wish those that waited too long to run or chose to ride it out in the Bahamas well..

[Don C L]

This might help a little too:
http://www.cruisersforum.com/forums/...ing-18951.html

[BrettB]

Originally Posted by lancelot9898

I'll never stay on board again even though after the worse was over we started to drag and was able to reset that little cqr. I can't imagine a cat 2 or higher.

Probably a newbie question...
Lets say you've secured the boat as best as you can in some mangroves. Do people typically stay onboard and just convince themselves to not go outside, no matter what, until the wind dies down? Or do people typically go to somewhere even more secure onshore?

[zeehag]

Originally Posted by BrettB

Probably a newbie question...
Lets say you've secured the boat as best as you can in some mangroves. Do people typically stay onboard and just convince themselves to not go outside, no matter what, until the wind dies down? Or do people typically go to somewhere even more secure onshore?

depends on individual, storm, location.
\i was onboard first 1/3 of patricia-- was a kinda bitch but i da rather stayed in boat and taken car e of isues than been onshore in a hotel, helpless to the weather.\
had i presented bow to wind, i would have remained inboard, presentation is everything--bow into wind. most important

[neilpride]

The eternal question is are you really sure the boat is secured, and quite frankly up to Cat 3 is weather law who decide if your boat end in the top of a tree or in the bottom of the so called hurricane hole, as other poster mention there is 2 ways to relief the %... one,, be out of the hurricane box until things are calm, usually end of nov, the other dig a hole and plant the boat there, without mast much better,,, if you choose to risk a season or two, and then you have the luck part, some folks are truly lucky and others just vanish in this game.... so I never understand the point to be onboard during a bad Cane, mangroves or not, I mean probably in a babe cane could be a good idea , more and hell no!! why? why I'm going to risk my life for a boat, or my house... and believe me in 60 knts plus you are useless in a boat... Cheers.

[barnakiel]

If you are safer on the boat, you may opt for being on the boat. But this is unlikely in a bad one. Except perhaps if you are in a Pacific atoll or the like. Nearly always you are safer ashore.

Once you prepare the boat as much as one can, it is time to head to the bar and watch things develop.

Probably some out and out cruisers with all their possessions on the boat and no other home may stay onboard for their own reasons.

b.

[JstaRebel]

Originally Posted by BrettB

Probably a newbie question...
Lets say you've secured the boat as best as you can in some mangroves. Do people typically stay onboard and just convince themselves to not go outside, no matter what, until the wind dies down? Or do people typically go to somewhere even more secure onshore?

A very reasonable question that gets asked a lot and gets several different answers depending on the person and their points of view. I personally prefer to stay aboard for a cane simply because the boat can't care for herself. The issue IMO is storm surge more than anything and being able to lay out rode for storm surge is imperative. Yes you can slack things up, but how do you know how much? I also know that people die in storms that are ashore more times than those on their boats so to me, it doesn't NORMALLY make a big difference ashore or aboard with regards to survival rates. Now I will also admit that I would NOT be aboard in a cat 4 or 5 storm. I did that once in St. Thomas with Hurricane Marilyn and I was lucky to have survived as my boat due to storm surge ended up on top of the mangroves and it was one heck of an adventure. However, had I not been aboard, my boat would have certainly been lost.

Now to clarify, I run my lines to where I can get to them and lay out line from in the cockpit and do not go out on deck. I also will not allow my wife to stay aboard with me in anything that could possibly grow larger than a cat 1 because I don't want anything other than myself and my boat to worry about. I also always have an escape plan in place if needed, and I'm also very anal about setting out my gear. I read people talking about the "Stupid Big Anchors".. Well I have two of them (105 lb CQR) among the five anchors aboard that make up my storm gear. I place the CQR's on either side of the boat where the wind is going to be most intense when the storm is first coming in, and second after the eye has passed and is going out as the max winds will change directions during a cane. I also leave slack on them allowing the Fortress anchors to do their job, and they come into play as the surge rises and the storm intensify's or if I start to drag in either direction. Now keep in mind that I'm talking about setting up in a mangrove lagoon, so I would also be tied up to the mangrove roots. I'd never try and ride out a storm on a mooring. I've seen too many failures with boats ashore with line, chain, and screws still attached to the boat. Anyway, this is a question each individual sailor needs to answer for themselves and there is no right or wrong answers.. Just personal opinions of what an individual thinks will work for them. Sometimes we win.. Sometimes we don't.

[Don C L]

OK, I have never been in a hurricane and I defer to all on this, BUT my first inclination would be to not stay on the boat. That being said, I am always amazed how many boats I see in photos, blown ashore, high and dry, floated up by the surge, and pretty much undamaged (even if they might be a mile from shore).. and so, perhaps, even staying with the boat, you might end up in better shape than staying on not-so-dry land?? Anyone ever been aboard when they got blown ashore? Just the protection from palm fronds coming at me at 100mph might be nice?

[Custom30]

Originally Posted by Don C L

OK, I have never been in a hurricane and I defer to all on this, BUT my first inclination would be to not stay on the boat. That being said, I am always amazed how many boats I see in photos, blown ashore, high and dry, floated up by the surge, and pretty much undamaged (even if they might be a mile from shore).. and so, perhaps, even staying with the boat, you might end up in better shape than staying on not-so-dry land?? Anyone ever been aboard when they got blown ashore? Just the protection from palm fronds coming at me at 100mph might be nice?

If you stay aboard and get washed ashore it may seem like you'd be in a protected cocoon, but there are a few things to consider. All of your systems are designed for the boat to remain upright. If the boat washes ashore and lands on it's side it will likely empty diesel tanks, water tanks, etc.. Trapped in a closed up boat full of spilled diesel would be no fun at all.

While you are washing ashore, so are other objects. Katrina moved large ships far ashore, and if you are in the path of one of these, not good.

Insurance is the very best storm prep. Tie her up as best as possible, then go somewhere safe, period.

That being said, We are in a marina on the Caloosahatchee in Ft. Myers, and the marina started getting calls this morning from boats 80'+ looking to get away from the east coast. A little late to start finding a hole for an 80 footer at this point.


'

[donradcliffe]

Its a bit too late to run from the Bahamas, but lets pose another hypothetical question. What if I was in Annapolis for the boat show? What should I do now while I still have options?

[a64pilot]

Originally Posted by donradcliffe

Its a bit too late to run from the Bahamas, but lets pose another hypothetical question. What if I was in Annapolis for the boat show? What should I do now while I still have options?

Leave

Cause while I have never been to the show, I'd have to think that every good spot has been taken, so your going to have to go somewhere you can be in a good spot, by yourself or nearly so.

But, is it supposed to get bad there?

[donradcliffe]

Originally Posted by a64pilot

Leave

Cause while I have never been to the show, I'd have to think that every good spot has been taken, so your going to have to go somewhere you can be in a good spot, by yourself or nearly so.

But, is it supposed to get bad there?

The current wind speed probabilities for Annapolis are still low, but the entire east coast is in the cone and the trend has been to move the forecast track to the west. The most current forecast shows the storm center coming across Norfolk on Saturday with maximum winds of over 80 knots.

The reason I picked Annapolis is that there are a lot of transient boats in the area for the boat show. If I was one of them, I would be closely monitoring the storm and developing a hurricane plan now.

[Paul L]

Originally Posted by donradcliffe

Its a bit too late to run from the Bahamas, but lets pose another hypothetical question. What if I was in Annapolis for the boat show? What should I do now while I still have options?

There are a lot of bays/lagoons (whatever you want to call them) up and down the Chesapeake that offer 360 deg wind protection with limited/small fetch. The ones close to Annapolis may get crowded. If I were there I'd be picking which one I wanted to weather this in and head that way. Alternately, I'd get a spot reserved on the hard at a large yard like Jabins in Annapolis. We were cruising through the area when Sandy came through. We got a slip in the York River in Virginia and just tied and fenders her off really well. Stayed on the boat.