[Amora]

We are looking for a safe place (hurricane season) to leave our 38ft sailboat for months of July/Aug/Sept. Thinking somewhere in Bahamas. In or out of water.
Looking for suggestions. Thank you.

 

[Vasco]

Hole #3 in Georgetown,in the water. Slips or a mooring.

 

[boatpoker]

Ocean Reef Yacht Club deep in the canal system 1.5miles west of Lucaya on Grand Bahama. The marina is full of very friendly Canadians who I'm sure would keep an eye on her for you.

 

[outbound]

where do you live? Can fly in/out of george town fairly easily. Multiple hurricane moorings just up from volleyball beach with yacht managemnt to keep insurance company happy.

 

[argalax]

I wonder how common for cruisers to stay during hurricane season in Bahamas. Percentage guesstimate?

Also, can someone share their first (or second) -hand experience?

 

[rpsailing07]

were to cross for the bahamas in south fl.

 

[rpsailing07]

were to cross for the bahamas in s. fl.

 

[capta]

If you leave your boat unattended (and it will be unattended in a hurricane, even if you hire someone to care for it), and there is a cat 3 or higher, you will most likely lose your boat. In the water, if it's not hit by another vessel, and/or if the anchor or mooring line doesn't chafe through, then debris from ashore will most likely do it in. Same on shore there, as well as surge water as the land is nearly at sea level.
All that being said, this may be a good year to do it as it seems to be an unusually quiet year.
I would not consider the Bahamas a good place to leave my boat, or even spend time, in a normal hurricane season. I've seen what those islands look like after a good blow.

 

[TQA]

We are looking for a safe place (hurricane season) to leave our 38ft sailboat for months of July/Aug/Sept. Thinking somewhere in Bahamas. In or out of water.
Looking for suggestions. Thank you.

There is nowhere that is truly safe.

Check out the pics post Andrew.

 

[RTB]

Hole #3 in Georgetown,in the water. Slips or a mooring.

We were still in Georgetown June 15, 2013. I really didn't want to leave, but I'm not usually lucky in Vegas. I almost checked to see if I could get a mooring there, but we chickened out and headed back to Florida. Turns out We would have been fine, but it's a roll of the dice.

Ralph
Goodbye Georgetown | sailing away with R & B

 

[smurphny]

It seems like a good idea to leave the boat in the Bahamas but a glance at the land elevations make it obvious that the 15-20' storm surge of a major hurricane would inundate almost everything in its path. The same can be said about much of Southern Florida as well.

 

[Group9]

It seems like a good idea to leave the boat in the Bahamas but a glance at the land elevations make it obvious that the 15-20' storm surge of a major hurricane would inundate almost everything in its path. The same can be said about much of Southern Florida as well.

When is the last time the Bahamas got a 15 to 20 storm surge? I went through Katrina, and I laughed when they told me in the Bahamas they had some bad hurricanes, standing next to buildings that were obviously 40 to 50 years old and only five feet or so above seal level.

I've seen what a 15 to 20 storm surge does, and it doesn't leave anything like that still standing in its path.

I think the geography of the Bahamas prevents them from getting bad surges. But, I imagine a rage sea at the cuts during a hurricane would have to be seen to be believed though.

 

[smurphny]

When is the last time the Bahamas got a 15 to 20 storm surge? I went through Katrina, and I laughed when they told me in the Bahamas they had some bad hurricanes, standing next to buildings that were obviously 40 to 50 years old and only five feet or so above seal level.

I've seen what a 15 to 20 storm surge does, and it doesn't leave anything like that still standing in its path.

I think the geography of the Bahamas prevents them from getting bad surges. But, I imagine a rage sea at the cuts during a hurricane would have to be seen to be believed though.

A 15' storm surge would be predictable even for a class 3 storm in the Bahamas. Here's a NOAA model: http://www.wunderground.com/hurricane/surge/bahamas_mom3h.png

For a class 5 storm, I was surprised at how high the surge could be. Scary. I would not want to be anywhere in the Bahamas for a big one.

This Wikipedia piece notes a 25' surge during hurricane Andrew:

 

[Frogwatch]

I am somewhat surprised at that report of a 25' surge in the bahamas because most of the bahamas dont have the sort of geography that would cause such a surge. In most cases, the water surge simply goes around the island. In the Abacos, there are buildings a century old at waters edge.
My own boat has been in the Marsh harbor boat yard during two hurricanes with the eye passing directly overhead and I had only a bent stanchion. Boats that came into the yard too late to get put on good stands were damaged by a small surge. I watched the webcam at Mangos Marina (where I keep my boat in Winter) during one hurricane and saw that almost all boats had been moved "somewhere" and the docks were submerged.
My insurer requires me to have my boat out of the water during hurricane season. There are only two yards in the Abacos, one on Green Turtle and the one in Marsh Harbor. The one in Marsh harbor is too small to handle everything before a storm and I dont know how big the one on Green Turtle is.
I've been told that some people have moved boats up to Green Turtle to Black Sound and up into the mangroves to survive a storm. The Harbor at Hope Town seems well protected and I might consider a mooring far up in one of the creeks there.
On Grand Bahama, I might think of moving a boat up the Lucayan Waterway where there are numerous finger canals devoid of anything, anchor at the end with lines to the sides. There are two yards on Grand Bahama, one 10 miles west of Lucaya is not well protected. The further west one is better protected.

 

[smurphny]

I am somewhat surprised at that report of a 25' surge in the bahamas because most of the bahamas dont have the sort of geography that would cause such a surge. In most cases, the water surge simply goes around the island. In the Abacos, there are buildings a century old at waters edge.
My own boat has been in the Marsh harbor boat yard during two hurricanes with the eye passing directly overhead and I had only a bent stanchion. Boats that came into the yard too late to get put on good stands were damaged by a small surge. I watched the webcam at Mangos Marina (where I keep my boat in Winter) during one hurricane and saw that almost all boats had been moved "somewhere" and the docks were submerged.
My insurer requires me to have my boat out of the water during hurricane season. There are only two yards in the Abacos, one on Green Turtle and the one in Marsh Harbor. The one in Marsh harbor is too small to handle everything before a storm and I dont know how big the one on Green Turtle is.
I've been told that some people have moved boats up to Green Turtle to Black Sound and up into the mangroves to survive a storm. The Harbor at Hope Town seems well protected and I might consider a mooring far up in one of the creeks there.
On Grand Bahama, I might think of moving a boat up the Lucayan Waterway where there are numerous finger canals devoid of anything, anchor at the end with lines to the sides. There are two yards on Grand Bahama, one 10 miles west of Lucaya is not well protected. The further west one is better protected.

I've looked at the land elevations in the Bahamas trying to find places that look like they might be more safe during a storm but it all depends on the wind direction which may be impossible to predict. The mangrove idea is good unless the area becomes exposed from a surge, allowing the ocean waves to get in. I think the best decision is to head back to the mainland DAYS ahead of a potential hurricane.

Those SLOSH graphics surprised me too.

 

[capta]

I've looked at the land elevations in the Bahamas trying to find places that look like they might be more safe during a storm but it all depends on the wind direction which may be impossible to predict. The mangrove idea is good unless the area becomes exposed from a surge, allowing the ocean waves to get in. I think the best decision is to head back to the mainland DAYS ahead of a potential hurricane.

Those SLOSH graphics surprised me too.

What you all seem to be forgetting here is that if there is a good, safe hurricane hole, the locals are going to come in and dump out a few anchors and leave their boats to destroy yours. Many cruisers suffer severe damage from other cruisers who do not secure their vessels well enough for the upcoming conditions, as well.
THE ARE NO SAFE HURRICANE HOLES ANYWHERE, ANYMORE. I've been chased out of very safe hurricane holes by everything; interisland cargo boats, tugs with barges, tour boats, ferries, charter boats and even other cruisers. I got there first, got well secured and then in come the locals, just hours before the storm is due. And I'm left in an unsafe position or needing to move. Storm surge is not the big concern in the islands; it's debris and other vessels.

 

[Group9]

I've looked at the land elevations in the Bahamas trying to find places that look like they might be more safe during a storm but it all depends on the wind direction which may be impossible to predict. The mangrove idea is good unless the area becomes exposed from a surge, allowing the ocean waves to get in. I think the best decision is to head back to the mainland DAYS ahead of a potential hurricane.

Those SLOSH graphics surprised me too.

We have to keep in mind that SLOSH is brand new and there are going to be a lot of tweaks to the formulas. I live in Hurricane Alley (northern gulf coast), and it is amazing how different the surges can be when hurricanes of the same intensity hit different areas of the coast with different underwater geography.

Pass Christian and Bay St. Louis, MS always get the worst storm surges, because of the compression effect when water is pushed into the corner of the gulf that they occupy (when it can't go left or right, it goes up). In Katrina, it got storm surges of 35 to 45 feet (my wifes house in Bay St. Louis, was surveyed to be 45 feet above sea level, and during Katrina she got three feet of water in her house, my house, just six miles farther east, only got 23 feet), while just a few miles down the coast in Gulfport and Biloxi, the surges were only in the 20's and high teens.

SLOSH type predictions have been needed for a long time, but it's going to take a while before they have any kind of accuracy I would imagine.

The Bahamas never get really bad storm surges for the same reason Miami never does. When Andrew hit us, a few days after it hit Miami, and with much slower wind speeds, we still got twice as much storm surge as Miami had received.

But, still, if I was going to leave a boat in the Bahamas for hurricane season, I would want it in a yard and strapped down, not in the water anywhere.