Hurricane Marty direct hit on the anchorage - Story + tactic
 

http://svmirador.net/September_27_2003.htm

Here is a short but very interesting story and tactic....

"By 3 AM we were seeing a steady 45 - 50 knots of wind with extended
gusts to 65 knots. More problematically, the waves were coming
directly onshore and were building rapidly. By 4 AM breaking waves
were sweeping over all the boats and filling the cockpits with water."

Mic 67

Hurricane Marty direct hit on the anchorage - Story + tactic
 

Good find Mic. Thanks!


"Mic" wrote in message
...
http://svmirador.net/September_27_2003.htm

Here is a short but very interesting story and tactic....

"By 3 AM we were seeing a steady 45 - 50 knots of wind with extended
gusts to 65 knots. More problematically, the waves were coming
directly onshore and were building rapidly. By 4 AM breaking waves
were sweeping over all the boats and filling the cockpits with water."

Mic 67

Hurricane Marty direct hit on the anchorage - Story + tactic
 

I copied a few words from the story and added a few comments.

".......Let me make three important observations at this point:
1) All four boats suffered major structural damage to their bow sprits
and anchoring systems. SV Kula, a Tartan 41 from Seattle, had her
anchor roller torn UPWARD from her bow. The mounting bolts pulled up
thru the deck as Kula's bow was slammed downward by the waves and the
rollers encountered solid water. The anchor rollers on both Pure
Chance, and Aires, a Catalina 42 from San Diego, were bent severely. I
can not overstate the stress placed on the bow rollers, bow sprits, and
bows themselves when anchoring in eight to ten foot breaking waves.
I'll talk more about Mirador's bow roller in a minute......... "

And what lesson is learned here? Why run your ground tackle to bow
roller, capstan, or bow sprit. Or even worse connect your tackle to
that stuff? Think bridle connected to port and starboard cleats placed
on sheer. Ever look at a crewboat, tug, or other workboat? Check out
how they place cleats, bits, and posts. I wonder why?

"........2) All three boats that survived the storm without dragging or
parting anchor lines were anchored with Bruce 44 anchors in heavy sand.
All three had over 10:1 scope with a minimum of 200' of chain on the
bottom. Don't let anyone tell you that a Bruce is not a storm anchor.
None of the boats moved from their original anchoring
positions............"
..
Most likely it is the 10:1 scope and 200' chain. I would bet several
other types would hold with that ground tackle set up.

".........3) It is essential that you be able to run your engine with
enough control to keep some of the load off the anchoring
systems........"

Not necessary if have adequate ground tackle and method to attach it to
boat.


"........In our case that required constant manual driving of the boats
from 2 AM until about 7 AM. The helmsperson had to stand there, facing
60 knot gusts with heavy rain and continual spray from the waves, while
keeping the boat headed into the waves with just enough force to absorb
the blows from the waves as they broke over the boats......."

The best thing this guy did was put his boat on the beach where he
wanted and when he wanted. Great picture though. Anyone else like to
add few thoughts?
BOb