Hurricanes

[Macopa]

It seems there is general support for spiderwebbing in some mangroves. Here then is another question: If there is an excellent mangrove area that, under normal weather conditions, is deep enough to get into on high tide but not on low tide. Would it be a good or bad idea (pending a hurricane is on it's way...lets say 1/2-1 day out) to sneak into this area during high tide, get all your lines in and hope that with the storm surge it will keep the bottom of the boat off the ground and still offer plenty of wind/wave protection? I would think you could rely on the surge during the storm but would then have to be quick getting the boat out of there once the storm passed. I have never paid attention to the tide conditions before/during/after an even of that magnitude...

[Tropic Cat]

The problem with that scenario is that there are too many variables. Here's a couple I thought of real quick in no particular order..

What's the bottom? any rocks?
which side of the hurricane are you on?
what guarrentee do you have that you will be able to get to the boat when the storms past?

[Macopa]

Lets say the bottom is sand.
Which side I don't know and, with the way things go, can't even guess. Could go 50/50 either way.
I would think the area would be accessible unless there was some insanely low tide... Is there some other reason it wouldn't be accessible that I'm not thinking of (decent tide and the dinghy works)? I guess there are so many variables...

[jzk]

Beware trying to outrun a hurricane via the ICW or anywhere that has bridges. At a certain point before a hurricane comes, they lock down the bridges and don't open them again for anyone. This is to ensure the hurricane evacuation routes from the outer shores. I know this because I got stuck behind the 17th St bridge in FL when a hurricane was coming.

[Tropic Cat]

They also close all bridge vehicular traffic as well. At times it's been difficult to get back to the boat when the storm passes

[Macopa]

Man what a mess that would be! I'd be sooo p!ssed if I got stuck inside when I was loaded and ready to run. BuzzKill for sure.

[imagine2frolic]

I sat through Jean, and Francis here in Green Cove Springs Fl. The facility is an old Navy mothball fleet station. We are 42 miles from the mouth of the river. We get very little surge because the mouth is so narrow. Runoff from rain was about 18 inches.

Fetch is blocked by the 1500ft. piers, and the river is about 1 mile wide here with the depth about 5-15 ft.. The cleat horns are big enough for an adult to sit on, and a third adult sitting in the middle. Same size bollards, so you need to worry about your own cleats coming loose. Not the facilities hardware.

We sit below ground level, and the pier, so wind is diminished. During one of the hurricanes we had 90+ mph winds at the mast. There was a lot of line adjustments, and chafe checking. Besides that we fared well during both storms.

[Macopa]

90+ winds? Impressive and good for you! I'm glad you've had such luck. It sounds like you've got quite a great place there. I'm assuming you're the red cat in the picture? Which way were the winds blowing compared to how you are in the picture?

[Jonesee]

For those that think they can ride out a major hurricane in a marina, look at the images on this page. This is the Palafox Marina in Pensacola after Ivan. it is on the northern edge of the bay 3-4 miles from the gulf and across a barrier island. Additionally, this marina is behind a sea wall. The storm surge was so great it floated the piers over the top of the pilings (approx 8-12 feet) and then everything went loose. All the boats in the image at the end of the marina, started moored at the opposite end. A small boat in this marina is a 30 footer. Complete destruction. It took divers to find the boats that sank you can't see.

And for those that want to move up into a creek: The I-10 highway bridge had sections floated off their pilings (15 feet over the water normally) several miles up from the bay, and even farther from the gulf.

Put your boat on the hard, tie it down to concrete, and worry about your family and home.

I friend of mine who sat through Hurricane Andrew in Homestead told me sitting through a major hurricane will let you know how much of a man you are and where your manhood runs out. Now I have been there, done that and I know now what he meant.

mservers dot net slash ivan/palafox dot htm
Hurricane Ivan hits Palafox Marina* in Pensacola

[Tropic Cat]

Originally Posted by imagine2frolic

I sat through Jean, and Francis here in Green Cove Springs Fl. The facility is an old Navy mothball fleet station. We are 42 miles from the mouth of the river. We get very little surge because the mouth is so narrow. Runoff from rain was about 18 inches.

I'm Jealous. You have the best hurricane hole ever devised and built with good old US Navy money. People would have to see it to believe it. I spent some time looking at Cats up there a few years ago.

The problem is I'm 200 miles south of Jacksonville. And there's no shortcut

[imagine2frolic]

My first year in Florida was 03. I stayed on the Halifax in Daytona at Caribbean Jack's. I think it was Ivan that came through. Even though the storm was 200 miles away the river came up to the bottom of the docks.

I told my wife we would have to go anchor in the river if the storm comes closer. Early summer next year I met a man who told me about GCS's. We checked it out, and then came here. A year later bought a house, and another year opened a shop. Now I am trying to set myself up to sail to the Philippines in several more years + or -.

[camaraderie]

I second the notion of
1. Getting out of any marina
2. getting webbed into mangroves if possible
3. making a run to a more protected area if you have plenty of time.
4. Getting hauled and on the hard...strapped down. Don't get into a row of dominoes on jackstands...strapped down only!!

We were in Ivan in Grenada...Cat5...the only boats that seemed to fare pretty well relative to others were the ones spiderwebbed into the mangroves. This is what happens with no tie downs:

[Tropic Cat]

oops.... mighty expensive scrap yard

[Macopa]

Wow that is quite the cluster. I would hate to return to my boat and see that...

[TexSail]

Many times the locals know of (uncharted) mangrove areas that are deep enough to provide good hurricane protection without scraping bottom. My friend who runs catamaran tours in Negril, Jamaica ties off his boats (including a monohull) in the mouth of the Orange River. One thing he pointed out was that once you got into the river mouth and tied off on the mangroves, the rains accompanying the hurricane would swell the river enough so that you would not hit bottom and would be able to float to sea after the blow.