Sailing During Hurricane Season in Caribbean - Need Advice

[Palarran]

Not that it would save me more then 20 minutes

[Palarran]

Um, never mind, the marina is in North Sound. They just must be associated with Oil Nut Bay Resort.

[sailingaway221]

Originally Posted by Palarran

btrayfores and sailingaway,
Since you both have so much experience with this area would you mind one more question? If you where leaving from North Sound back to Oyster Pond, and the winds are predominately from the East, would you tack to NE towards Sombrero and come through the Scrub Island cut, or would you go SE, come between Anguilla and St. Martin, and around. I was planning on the NE route.

I have done that passage now 3 times and two of them have not been very pleasant trips. it is pretty much straight upwind at this time of year and looking at the weather we have had the last couple of weeks it probably wouldn't matter which way you went it would be a nasty return trip. I would say almost no matter what it will be upwind coming back.... the angle between Scrub and Oyster pond would normally be fine so I guess i Would aim there...however every time we have done this trip we have been pointing more towards Statia than Anguilla.... and then arriving in Simpson Bay.... spending the night there then sailing back around to where we wanted to be.

I don't think it really matters which way you go... but I would definitely choose the day with either the least amount of swell and wind or wait for a little north in the wind.......... then head off on port and see where you get to.... I have a friend who went there a week ago and is leaving his boat and flying back to St. Martin because of the winds and he has done a lot of sailing. Just for reference it took us 19 hours one time to get from CAne Garden Bay to Simpson Bay... the second time it took 16 and the third time it took 26 hours of hard upwind sailing....... Off the top of my head its only 88 miles or so......so we averaged 3.5 knots.... I get twitchy if Im doing less than 7.

[Palarran]

We probably will follow the advice to return when the window is best as we like Anguilla so spending a few days there isn't objectionable. I'll also motor sail if need be as Palarran isn't the best at pointing. I think we will plan on leaving around 3:00pm in order to leave the most options open for arrival time.

Thank you for the advice.

[sammiej]

Who's your insurer if you don't mind me asking Palarran?

Mine won't even cover me north of 11 degrees during the season!

Thanks
Sam

[Palarran]

Well, we did the two weeks without incident. Our sail from St. Martin to the BVI's was slow. There was only 10 to 12 kts true and we where running at around 130 to 140 degrees off it. It took 15 hours.

The BVI's where AWESOME. There where quite a few sailors out for this time of year. A lot of Puerto Rican's. The weather was fair with quite a few rain showers during the day and night.

We left the Baths on Virgin Gorda back to St. Martin with 12 kts true straight out of the east. After 6 hours of sailing and barely making headway, we motored back. Just west of Anguilla the sea's started to build and we crashed into them for 3 hours until we made the lee of St. Martin. At that point, we decided to continue to St. Bart's and made it by 10:30 am. So the return trip was 17 1/2 hours.

I was able to check NOAA and Windfinder at least every other day for forecasts. In hindsight, the best speed I could have made back to St. Martin was probably around 7 kts against wind and current. Given the crappy weather and the concern for a tropical storm, I probably wouldn't do that trip again, even though the risk was low. A better option would have been to head to Antigua or Barbuda for a week as going west to excape an approaching storm would have been easier and quicker.

Thank you for all the information.

Sam,
My insurance carrier is EL Specialty Marine.

[capn_billl]

I'm glad you made it, quiet so far this year, none of the systems really did anything yet.

[s/v Jedi]

In the Caribbean, escaping to the west for a tropical system is not really an option. Keep remembering -> to the equator, which, in the Caribbean, means south, south south.

Only in very rare cases, or when you have been much too late with the escape, other directions come into play.

ciao!
Nick.

[dochueb]

Is there a "general rule" regarding what insurance companies will permit regarding sailing in a hurricane zone during hurricane season?

Is it a matter of keeping the boat out of that region for the entire season? Not sailing when hurricanes forecast? Sail all you want, but you're not covered?

If people are cruising year round in the Caribbean, what is the usual practice?

Thx,

DH

[John A]

Its my understanding that insurance companies will let you sail wherever you want. They just won't pay for damage due to named storms. Some won't pay for damages if north of 12 degrees. Some have a larger deductable.
I didn't have insurance, so I didn't have to worry about what a insurance company would or would not do..
So once again it depends.

[Palarran]

I've had two different policies, both of which covered my boat in the hurricane zone. I have to submit a preparedness plan and photo's of the boat. It costs about $2000 more per year for the insurance compared to plans that either have huge deductibles or mandate being on the hard or out of the zone. I would imagine that if I was caught in a hurricane out of my marina, I wouldn't be covered. I'm not sure about that. It's not a worry now as Palarran is all rigged up. We have 6 lines per side, 4 on the back, and run my anchor chain across the marina and chain it to a piling. The boat is centered with about 10' of clearance around it. Everything is strapped and wrapped. All compartments are tied closed. This year I also pulled two halyards up the mast and tied them off so there would be less rope aloft.

The Moorings/Sunsail keep maybe 100 boats in the marina/harbor where I'm at. I figure if they think it's safe enough, it probably is. It's still a risk, that's why I pay for insurance.

[zeehag]

the self insured can sail whenever they wish without problem. just keep a weather eye out.
biggest risk in aug-oct, when things get to cooking.

[ekampel]

Jedi, how far south would you need to go to be safe from hurricanes in August/september?

[Taichungman]

If you have good weather info then you should have at least 48 hours to get to shelter being where you are located. Check and make sure you have good weather when you leave Oyster Pond and your should be good to go. If you can make 8kts under power then you should have no problem even without wind. Of course make sure your engine is in good working order.
I passed through the Caribbean last Sept/Oct from St. Lucia to Bahamas. We were at Stocking Island in Bahamas (9/27/16) when Tropical Depression Matthew was passing South of St. Lucia. We were keeping an eye on it and decided to leave for Annapolis, Md. as we needed to be there for the Annapolis Boat Show which started in Oct. We believed we had plenty of time to out run it even if it turned into a hurricane which it did on 9/29. It did finally turn North and follow out path but we were secure at dock in Annapolis by then. Since it was a new Factory SF50 for the boat show it did not have any weather gathering devices on board but the Capt. did have a SatPhone and kept in contact with his wife to gather weather info.

[GordMay]

Greetings and welcome aboard the CF, ekampel.
You'll be fairly safe in Grenada, and safe in Trinidad.