Boat survivability during hurricane
 

We recently dodged a bullet here in St. Petersburg with hurricane Charley,
so a question comes to mind. Is a sailboat more likely to survive a
hurricane with minimum damage by a) tying it in a marina slip, or b) putting
it at anchor well offshore of a sandy beach or mangrove area. I've seen
pictures of boats beat to pieces in marinas and other boats washed up on a
beach but looking relatively undamaged. And I've heard of people putting
there boats in the mangroves during a storm. Another question is that here
on the gulf it's relatively shallow a long way off the coast, but is it
legal to leave an unattended boat anchored off shore.

Chuck

chuck h wrote:
We recently dodged a bullet here in St. Petersburg with hurricane Charley,
so a question comes to mind. Is a sailboat more likely to survive a
hurricane with minimum damage by a) tying it in a marina slip, or b) putting
it at anchor well offshore of a sandy beach or mangrove area. I've seen
pictures of boats beat to pieces in marinas and other boats washed up on a
beach but looking relatively undamaged. And I've heard of people putting
there boats in the mangroves during a storm. Another question is that here
on the gulf it's relatively shallow a long way off the coast, but is it
legal to leave an unattended boat anchored off shore.

The legal issue would only arise if your boat damages somebody elses
property.

As for the others... how secure is the marina? How well sheltered? How
tall & how secure are the pilings? How good are your docklines? How bad
is the hurricane going to be?

Anchoring offshore stikes me as a bad idea unless you really can't get
to any sheltered anchorage with good holding. Hurricane winds, surge,
and waves are likely to rip any ground tackle loose. A possible dodge I
have tried is putting a bundle of cinderblock on the anchor chain as a
kellet. Increases holding power dramatically but I wouldn't want to
anchor my own boat in open water even on 1" chain, 100# anchor, and a
whole brickyard.

Open exposure to winds is also likely to produce max damage to the boat.
You may get dismasted and/or get the ports blown in.

The ideal would be
1- above a set of lock gates, secured with ample fenders & chafe gear to
a secure bulkhead
2- anchored on oversized ground tackle well up a creek with high banks
and firm mud bottom with no other boats around
3- out of the water, well above any possible storm surge, with tie downs.

Fresh Breezes- Doug King

On Sat, 21 Aug 2004 20:28:42 GMT, "chuck h"
wrote:
is it
legal to leave an unattended boat anchored off shore.

==============================================

It's legal if you display proper lights and signals but it's also
unwise. The forces are enormous in unprotected water and there's a
high probability of losing the boat. Your best option is a small
protected area well inland. We took our Grand Banks 49 up the
Okeechobee Waterway to a sheltered spot 60 miles upriver. We had no
problems at all nor did any of the other boats near us. Don't wait
until the last minute however because the locks and bridges were
closed the morning of the storm.

"Wayne.B" wrote in message
...
snip It's legal if you display proper lights and signals but it's also
unwise. The forces are enormous in unprotected water and there's a
high probability of losing the boat. Your best option is a small
protected area well inland. We took our Grand Banks 49 up the
Okeechobee Waterway to a sheltered spot 60 miles upriver. We had no
problems at all nor did any of the other boats near us. Don't wait
until the last minute however because the locks and bridges were
closed the morning of the storm.

Agree. My neighbor in Matlacha with a 36' trawler did wait but still came
out OK. Charley came across Pine Island between Pineland and Bokeelia,
which put it 10 miles max as the crow flies from our houses. He put some
extra lines across the canal to hold it off the dock and suffered no damage,
other than a couple of the 4 foot waves coming down the canal coming up over
the stern.

Mayday

On Sun, 22 Aug 2004 22:19:55 -0400, "Mayday"
wrote:

He put some
extra lines across the canal to hold it off the dock and suffered no damage,
other than a couple of the 4 foot waves coming down the canal coming up over
the stern.

=========================

Was that in Cape Coral?

A trimaran broke loose during the height of Charlies
intensity(~50knts),

Its my understanding this was in Newfound Harbor (Big Pine Key) and
the trimarans mast hit the power lines and knocked power out
throughout the Lower Keys. One of the weekly newspapers reported the
owner was liable for the $3,800 tow and another $3000 to be recovered
by the electric company to cover damage to their equipment and their
response...


DSK wrote:

The legal issue would only arise if your boat damages somebody elses
property.