I just returned from checking on my boat, and so far all is well! It is late on Tuesday, and Hurricane Ian is slowly approaching the Florida Peninsula. Tornadoes and thunderstorms are predicted for where I live in Fort Lauderdale. We all only have a few hours of daylight to complete preparing and securing our boats and homes. Keep a good watch on updates and stay safe.
As I said in my post yesterday, we sailors and cruisers all need to take hurricane preparation seriously, stay aware and proactive in watching these systems, and to PREPARE! Prepare for the worst, but hope for the best!!! As Ian approaches Florida, I would like to share some earned advice about saving your boat through a hurricane. Below are just a few, very important things to consider when preparing your boat for the advance of a hurricane or tropical storm.
⛵️– When hurricanes are headed your way, there will be storm surge. When securing your boat on docks and pilings, remember the boat has to be able to go up with the storm surge, and also be safely secured when the surge departs. You have to figure in the predicted surge and keep your dock lines adjusted for this rise and fall. This is not easy, but remember, the longer the dock line, the more the boat can go up and down with the surge and still remain secure when the surge goes down.
⛵️– If the eye of the hurricane is predicted to go right over the area where your boat is located, remember as the eye passes over, the wind will clock around and change direction dramatically by 180 degrees. So be aware of this and compensate for the change of wind direction when you are securing your boat.
⛵️– Be sure to take down and stow away ALL sails – especially any roller furling sails. Do NOT leave them up, no matter what! Believe me more masts have been toppled in hurricanes because the roller furling sails have come loose and flogged so much the sails tear, the rigging snaps, and the mast either falls off or is badly bent. My husband, Andy, was a rigger and I cannot stress enough how many boats he had to re rig after a hurricane simply because the roller furling sails had come loose.
⛵️– Take everything you can off the deck and secure down below. If it can get loose, IT WILL.
⛵️– Cover and waterproof every hole on deck and on the topsides – like air vents, dorades, anchor rode openings for chain lockers, etc. If water can get into your boat IT WILL.
⛵️– Secure all lines through smooth chocks to the strongest cleats and use fair leads. If a lead is not fair, use heavy-duty snatch blocks between your boat and the dock to make the lead fair.
⛵️– And remember Chafe gear, Chafe Gear, and more Chafe Gear…
These are just a few suggestions that people tend to not know, or forget. I hope they help you to keep your boat safe and secure and dry below during any foul weather.
If anyone would like to have my Hurricane Preparation handout that I give out at my seminars, just let me know and I will email it to you. Here, too, is one of my posts that will be a chapter in the book I am writing if you would like to read about our experience with hurricanes. Click here to read about Hurricane Floyd in the Abacos.
Stay safe,
Pam
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