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Hurricane Primer

The season is here. This article is too short to adequately discuss safely mooring your boat in the water during a Hurricane but we’ll hit the high points. There is a very exhaustive discussion of Hurricane preparation for boaters on our power squadron website at www.usps.org/localusps/marathon. After you enter the site, choose the Boating Articles, then the Hurricane Article. There are several key points to remember when securing your boat to the dock for a hurricane. Up front we should acknowledge that most of the damage to boats does occur at docks and marinas. This is because of the proximity of pilings, seawalls and other boats. Isolated protected anchorages or up mangrove lined creeks is better, but some of the issues apply to any site. The first of which is PLENTY of length on each line. This is important both because of the tidal surge and rise in sea level, and the elasticity and stretch in nylon lines. We sometimes have several (up to 18-20) 100-200 foot lines on our 50 foot boat. You should have as many lines on your boat as your cleats and other attachments will possibly accommodate. There is no such thing as too many lines. Redundancy is important too because lines can chafe through. If you don’t have enough strong cleats or pilings available (including your neighbors across the canal), then check around for mangroves close by. Always tie as low to the object as possible to decrease leverage pressure on it. Position the boat so that it is well off your dock or seawall, preferably in the middle of a canal. You can run an anchor several hundred feet in front of the boat (if you have the space) to help keep it in place. Get all lines as tight as possible. Strip everything off your boat that could become a missile or unfurled (like sails or Biminis). Chafe gear is important because lines do wear through. Some people use plastic hose but this has been shown to heat up and melt nylon lines when the line is repeatedly stretching and relaxing under heavy loads. Leather, or cotton fabric fire hose works best. Try to seal up the boat as much as possible to keep driving rain and seaspray out. Duct tape is even a good idea. May the force be with us and let us hope and pray that we luck out again this Hurricane Season.

P/C Gregory Absten

RELATED ITEM: - See the Full Hurricane Preparation Article

Boot Key Harbor website created and maintained by Capt. Gregory T. Absten, Marathon.  - A Boater's Guide to the Florida Keys & Cuba
Copyright 2000-2008 Gregory T. Absten