Hurricane preparation

[brak]

Hypothetically, if another hurricane decided to make it's way into Chesapeake area - what would you do? Would you stay at your dock, tie off more than usual and hang in there? Would you move the boat? And if so - where? Would you have it hauled?

[camaraderie]

Haul is best. Tied off with 4pt. tie and chafe guard and double lines is next best. You must be able to leave enough slack in the lines to account for water rise without risking damage to the boat from docks/pilings.
I've been though 3 on the bay and spent the night on land watching the boat in the slip during 2 of them (from clubhouse with other owners). We were able to go out and wade in knee deep water on the docks and make some line adjustments while the storms were in progress but these were both Cat1 storms. I wouldn't want to try to attempt it in anything stronger so it is bestto get the lines worked out well ahead of the storm and leave as much slack as possible.
For those with BoatUS insurance...I believe they help pay for a haulout for a named storm.

[ehmanta]

Several years ago when hurricane Fran (down graded to a strong tropical storm) made its way into the bay, my wife and I with our golden retreiver were cruising around the bay and decided to ride out the storm in Solomons Island. We had one anchor out with chafe protection and rode it out in the south harbor in Solomons (Tiki bar), we did not have enough time to find a more protected spot that wasn't already occupied. Needless to say, I was wide awake all night as the storm passed (why do storms always seem to hit in the night???) and monitored the situation. The winds clocked to more than 60 knots a few times and sustained around 50. Our boat and the Swan on the mooring near us did great but I watched boats at a marina get slammed into pilings and were bucking like a bronco as they pulled on their lines pulling pilings out completely. They must not have shut off the electric, because when the water level rose to the outlets, you could see the sparks flying as the outlets shorted Once the storm abated enough to get my dog on shore (eighteen hours later) the storm damage to the marinas in the harbor was pretty significant but further up the creek towards Zanisers things were much better.
I feel that if the same situation were to occur, I would try harder to find a more secluded/protected hole to anchor if I could not pull the boat. Staying at a marina depends on the marina and its exposure. During Ernesto two years ago, the Coan River Marina was torn to pieces and any boat that was there was damaged. Port Kinsale Marina sustained a lot of damage from Isabel and some marinas have a policy that your boat must be on shore or leave the marina entirely.
I think if your ground tackle is substantial and the anchorage is well protected from different points of wind, you should be O.K. but major category storms don't usually hit the bay region.

[brak]

Well, fwiw, I'd probably look for an anchorage. As protected as my marina is - my slip is narrow and there is little separating me from pilings and neighboring boats (both of which wouldn't be too different for a boat rash or a hole in the side, but mine sure would).

I know storms don't come here often - but they do occasionally, so that's always something to think about.

Haul-out may be a good idea too if marina can do it - but they probably have long lists of people signed up ahead of me.

[Sailormon6]

Get the jib off your roller furler, especially if the boat is on the hard! I've seen 4-5 sails unfurl during storms in the past 4 years and whip themselves to shreds. One boat was on the hard, and the force of the sail almost wrenched the boat off its jackstands. The marina operator saved the boat by straddling it with the travelift during the storm and raising the lifting straps for extra support.

My slip is as well sheltered as any hurricane hole, and the boat stays in the water, but the lines are doubled up, and someone must stay nearby and adjust the lines during the storm. Other slips in my marina are more exposed, and those boats are usually hauled-out during severe storms. The marina manager turns off all the electric to the slips at the start of a serious storm, before the storm surge rises enough to short out the outlets. It's frightening to hear that all marinas don't do that.

[NauticalFishwife]

Remember Isabel? We ended up getting more surge than wind in Back Creek Annapolis. Over on the Eastern shore there were quite a few small boats that were hauled, but not hauled far enough and ended up floating off of stands. We kept our boat in the water-doubled up on lines and adjusted as needed. We stripped her of sails and the dodger and bimini canvas came off and the frame secured. The batteries were fully charged and bilge pump tested... just in case. The water was over our dock box at 7 AM and by suppertime we could walk on the dock without getting our feet wet. The winds clocked around and you could watch the water drop as it left the creek. We actually took a dingy ride between the pilings of our dock. You had to watch for debris hitting your hull. There were pieces of dock, broken limbs, lawn chairs etc. for days drifting about. We did think to drill holes in our dock box so it could drain! The marina can only haul so many boats in a day-so even if you wanted your boat hauled there was a chance they couldn't get to it.

[eryka]

We've been (lucky?) surviving Lenny in '99 in St Thomas and Isabel in '03 in Annapolis, on boats in marina. I'd decide whether to stay aboard or haul, based of course on the predicted storm intensity and wind direction, after that fetch and exposure will make the biggest difference.

A friend in the USVI told me it takes 4 days to have a hurricane: a day to get the boat ready, a day to have the storm, a day to rest & recover, then a day to get the boat back together. I didn't believe it till I lived it.

If you're weathering the storm in a slip (some of this is a repeat of stuff I posted in the hurricane thread on the main forum):

Take all canvas down, of course - anything you can do to reduce windage.

Try to sweet-talk the marina into moving you into the biggest, widest slip you can afford -- hopefully with boats tended by knowledgeable people on either side of you. One friend left the marina to anchor out in a sheltered creek because the boat next to his slip was unprepared, didn't even take their canvas down. My friend came back unscathed, but the boat that had not been prepped was the only boat on the dock with significant damage - rode up with the surge then came down on what would have been my friend's piling.

Make sure your mast is several feet offset from the sailboat next to you - slide a few feet forward in your slip if necessary. When the boats get to rockin', you don't want your masts to tangle.

Tie your lines to stringers or pilings, not dock cleats which can easily pull out. And make them long to account for surge - if possible go 2 or 3 slips over.

If you're spidering to cleats or winches on your boat, and have 2 or more lines on one cleat, make sure they will pull in different directions so you don't overload.

Keep your mask & snorkel handy, you won't be able to breathe in the wind and rain.

I've herard some dispute over how to face - one reliable old salt I know always goes bow-out so he can make a quick getaway if necessary. Another equally-wise one puts his bow to the expected direction of greatest wind. You know your boat & your location, make your own judgement.

Move your car to high ground! Where is your dinghy? If you're staying on the boat it should be with you, if you're staying on land it should be securely tied ashore. High ground, again.

Martha, where were you? We were also in Back Creek and we had 8 feet of surge and were dinghying friends out to their boats until well into the afternoon. I'll post photos later if I can find 'em. Now we've got a sweet little hurricane hole with friends way up the Magothy, hills all around and no more than a couple hundred feet of fetch in any direction. I found it almost funny that a friend in Chesapeake Harbour offered us to stay with her - she's got a ground floor condo and an unobstructed view to the Bay Bridge behind her 8' patio doors. Yikes!

[SVAuspicious]

My marina has fixed docks and lots of high-windage power boats.

My plan is to move the boat to a sheltered creek; transit time is about two hours to "my" spot so I leave a little early. Fortunately I have friends nearby so an overreaction on my part is not a big deal. If the storm really starts to come up the Bay I'll let some air out of the tubes of my RIB and swamp it behind the boat with doubled lines from the bow tow ring and the inside lift ring (haven't thought of anything better to do with the dinghy).

Main and jib come off and go in the v-berth. Bimini is folded down and zipped into its cover and the whole mess lashed down. The dodger stays up (I have a fixed windscreen with a small horizontal canvas cap). There is risk of damage of course, but the profile is low and it gives me a spot to get my bearings before and after running around the boat to check for chafe.

I hang on two oversized anchors, one on all chain with two nylon snubbers and one with a combination rode.

I liveaboard and this is my home. Insurance or not, I stay aboard to try as best I can to protect it.

[NauticalFishwife]

[color="Blue"]Martha, where were you? We were also in Back Creek and we had 8 feet of surge and were dinghying friends out to their boats until well into the afternoon. I'll post photos later if I can find 'em. [/COLOR

]
Eryka, we are in Jabins on Back Creek. I like the idea of moving to a larger slip. A couple of months ago when we were having those strong winds coming through I was concerned about the boat next to us "rocking" into the fingerpier, then it dawned on me.... "Hmmmm they could rock right into me!"

We did the same thing....taking the dingy down the middle of the docks. Fun... but I was absolutely amazed at how quickly the water went down. We walked off the boat onto the dock to go to dinner that evening. Dry feet. It was scarey how many people did not take canvas down. But it took us two days to put the boat back together-you're good!

[wheelerwbrian]

I'd haul, no question, now. During Isabel I had two boats, one that I was selling and the other I had bought and both were on the hard, for which I was deeply appreciative. We live on Cockey Creek off of the Magothy and our dock was well under six feet of water. Presuming that we had done what the books say and not not remained on the boat, we couldn't have reached the boat to extend the dock lines so it would have pulled loose or pulled under. Our neighbor who lives on his boat (his mother in law lived in the house...) stayed up all night extending lines, and all the next day to make sure his trawler didn't come down on top of a piling.