My boat survived Irma in St Maarten

[Otia]

Originally Posted by pressuredrop

Did shrimpies get leveled? Do you have a pulse on the cruising commumiry there? Any word from mason on out of Africa and Paul on free spirit?

Sorry i don't know. The cruising community in general was hit hard. My boat, and my neighbors in Porto Cupecoy, are an exception. Most boats were crashed. My insurer called me to ask me to file my claim, he didn't ask if I had a claim to file :/

[PhiSig1071]

The media is so focused on the death and destruction, it's nice to see a boat not on the bottom and buildings not torn to pieces. Thanks for sharing, and congratulations.

[singlespeed]

We lost our boat in Port de Plaisance marina, located in the completely enclosed Lagoon. Only two boats survived unscathed in the marina, both Gold Coast day charter Catamarans. One Matrix 76 ended up sitting on it's coach roof on top of the fixed concrete docks. Everyone of the mega yachts sank. Our old Lagoon 42 had it's mast broken in three places with a large piece of metal roofing wrapped around the bottom piece. We used new (just for this event) 1" dockline to spider web the boat in the slip, using 3/8" chain around all the dock cleats. Five times per side, four in the stern and four in the bow. We were tied about 20' from all sides, with our bow anchor out. About 1/2 of the docklines broke. Both bows were missing from three feet below the deck and about four feet aft. A large hole was punched in the starboard engine room.

I watched everyone's hurricane preparations, luck played into success more than anything.

Mike (Shrimpy's Laundry) is fine and was still running the net when we were evacuated 12 days after Irma. Mason (anchored in the Witches Tit area) has one of the only relatively unscathed boats, of all those anchored in the Lagoon.

[Otia]

Originally Posted by singlespeed

We lost our boat in Port de Plaisance marina, located in the completely enclosed Lagoon ... luck played into success more than anything.

Port de Plaisance is not a good location with a major hurricane (re Luis)

Porto Cupecoy, north-west side corner is excellent. The boats next to me on this side survived.
I picked this location 3 years ago for this reason.
It's not all luck.
Yes I'm lucky that a roof didn't land on the boat.

[Nani Kai]

Originally Posted by Otia

My s/v, Otia, has survived cat 5 hurricane Irma in St Maarten. This is one tough cookie. It also had survived Gonzalo 3 years before (was a Cat 3 over St Maarten). It was moored at dock, well prepared of course. But very few boats survived. She's a 2005 40ft Bavaria. Here's a picture of her the next day after Irma, look at the sunken Hatteras in the background:

This is in Porto Cupecoy, in St Maarten. Irma's track center line is directly on it.

Three things contributed to your boat's survival: your thorough and intelligent preparations, the toughness and seaworthiness of your boat, and the vagaries of the storm. You did your job, the boat did hers, without which Otia would not have had any chance of survival. Kudos to you both.

[Scaramanga F25]

My boat has survived 2 major hurricanes now at my dock behind our condo a
few miles north of Miami.
It's on a curved canal just off the Intracoastal only 1000 meters from the beach.

There are safe havens in South Florida.

[Dave22q]

NOAA pix confirm my boat looking good in Marathon slip. Luck plus 7 lines set to tolerate 10' surge anchored to concrete dock supports or palm tree bases and stripping topsides of boom, sails, fuel cans, canvas, outboard, grill, dinghy on davits but floating, etc. I believe minimum windage is very important. Long lines require much less slack to handle surges but many of my neighbors don't seem to know the right triangle rule to calculate sufficient lengths.
I'm told the actual surge was 5-6' possibly because Boot Key is close to the 7 Mile Bridge.

[Prairie Chicken]

Otia, I'm really happy for you! Yes, you do make a lot of your own luck, but not all of it. You did well.

[alansmith]

Otis, well done mate! Location is key. U did everything to give your little girl a chance.

[MamaKube]

Originally Posted by Iaangus

Luck happens when preparation meets opportunity.

Well said.

[CSY Man]

Originally Posted by MamaKube

Well said.

Agree, luck comes if you prepare...

[travellerw]

Originally Posted by pressuredrop

Did shrimpies get leveled? Do you have a pulse on the cruising commumiry there? Any word from mason on out of Africa and Paul on free spirit?

I heard "Shrimpie" and his wife survived, but their shop was devastated. Not just rumour, but from a friend on the island.

As to Out of Africa.. I actually have a picture showing his boat as the only one that survived in that location of the lagoon.. Its still floating in the exact same spot while all the other boats are piled up on shore behind it (about 14 in just that picture were %100 loses).. Unfortunately I haven't heard anything about Mason other than a small rumour that "He is fine and helping out"

[KP44]

The largest part of good seamanship is being prepared. Sounds like you do an excellent job of preparing. Glad you came through in one piece. No hurricane is a casual thing and a Cat 5 is more than I ever want to see. Thanks for sharing an example of what good seamanship can do.

[Tortuga's Lie]

Congrats on the survival of your boat, it also helped out quite a bit that your slip is so wide that you could incorporate enough slack in your lines to allow for the tidal surge etc. Many slips that are too narrow wouldn't be so forgiving.
The Hatteras behind you that sank had way too much windage, probably heeled over to the point where it took on water and the pumps couldn't keep up. The other power boats in the pictures survived due to their low profile most likely.

[cajucito]

Originally Posted by s/v Moondancer

Completely stripping the boat was a major contributing factor in survival...

Well done.

I would agree this was a major factor combined with a lot if luck.