One of the reasons I bought the specific
boat I did, was because of its location - close to big box
hardware stores, a well-known second-hand
chandlery, closeby Westmarine store, and a big
marine supply outfit. But one of the biggest reasons was because, as my dealer reassured me, St. Augustine had not experienced a
hurricane in over 60 years.
Well naturally we then had two hurricanes in a row and a third close miss. They certainly weren't as bad as what happened in
St Martin but they did cause a few incidents that could have been avoided. With my sailboat
on the hard in the middle of a major
refit (details at SailingWhimsy.com) I had to stay in the boatyard through both hurricanes and so I had a first-hand view of the damage, so here are some tips if anyone is interested. Some of these may seem obvious but you'd be surprised how they apparently weren't obvious to so many boaters in my yard.
1- Prep your damn
boat. You'd be surprised how many owners never even showed up, either before or after the hurricanes. You'd think their
boats were abandoned. No one loves your boat as much as you do, no one will take better care of it than you, and ultimately you are the only person responsible for your boat. If you read your
contract with the yard carefully, you'll see that they don't make any promises. Also, your
insurance probably has a named storm exclusion. If you don't care about your boat, fine...but if it falls over on my boat, you're going to be sued. So show up, lock down the hatches and portholes, take off your
sails including the
furling jib, remove the dodger/bimini, hide the
solar panels, take down the
wind generator, secure the
dinghy etc. I spent 2 whole days prepping the boat and moving things to a temporary
storage unit located on a hill. A neighbor set his anchors in the yard, just in case the surge was as high as predicted (we had 2-3 feet of flooding, thank goodness, not the 9 feet predicted.) One boat that was not strapped down had tipped over onto another boat that was securely strapped down, folding its
mast. I'd be very very upset at you if your boat fell onto mine and caused similar damage.
2- You'd be surprised how many ground anchors were swinging in the
wind at the end of their tie-down straps after the storm passed, because they had pulled out of the ground. Ground anchors are not going to protect you much especially if they're only dug in a few inches deep, even less so if they're dug into soft dirt or light drainage pebbles that have no holding
power. Now, I dig a three foot deep hole, put each
anchor in all the way up to the eye on top, backfill with concrete and cover with soil. Even then, in case of flooding, there's a good chance the
anchor will pull up. The closer to horizontal the pulling direction, the more secure the ground anchor, so plant them a few feet away from your boat instead of straight under the boat which creates a vertical pulling direction upwards.
3- People use 2-inch wide ratchet straps to tie their boat to the ground anchors. Don't just hook the end of your strap to the eye of the anchor. Right now, every
single boat in my yard has the strap simply hooked onto the anchor. Those hooks are maybe an inch long - which means that if the strap stretches, starts to strum in the
wind (can be avoided by putting a couple of turns on the strap) or the boat moves or the anchor moves, the hooks will simply fall off very easily. Make sure you secure BOTH ends of the strap so that it doesn't just fall of in case it goes slack or stretches. Tie them securely to
mooring cleats not for example stanchions, which can't take the stress.
4- A few
boats fell over because the jack stands holding them simply failed. Most of the stands that failed were already rusted through especially at their base, and could not take the stress so they splayed-out or crumpled. Or, they were placed on top of soft ground. The rain and flooding only helped bury their base deeper in the soil, since they had no supporting plates underneath. No longer able to support the boat, the boat then tipped over onto the pointy
parts of the jilted jackstands and ended up getting holed.
5- The tops or heads of the jackstands tend to loosen in the wind, so make sure to tighten them up well. After the storms most tops of the stands were not touching the boat hulls
6- Don't wait for a haul-out until it is too late. You'd be surprised how many people expected to be hauled-out on the day of the storm. Naturally the yard workers were busy prepping the yard itself for the storm and couldn't
haul out everyone. Nor was there a lot of room left to store boats
on the hard. Some ended up next to sheds and buildings whose roofs or other structures were blown off and right onto the boats placed next to them.
7- Don't tie your boat to things that won't be secure, like to a floating
dock, which will float away, or to a dumpster, which will float or even fly away. Or, your boat will tip over onto the dumpster, leaving a big gash in your
hull
8- Dont try to tie two boats to a
single ground anchor. If one boat falls, it will drag the other over too.
9- Staying on a boat in a
hurricane is just plain stupid. Prep the boat as best as you can, then go someplace safe. Don't risk your life.
10- Don't go out in the hurricane. Sharp, pointy things that could end up stuck in you, like tin roofing
sheets and stop signs, were flying all over the place.
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