Preparing your Boat for Hurricane Season

(Note: I wrote the following article for South Mississippi Outdoors and Recreation)

If you own a sailboat that is too large to easily bring home on a trailer and you must keep it in the water year-round on the Gulf Coast, you need to seriously consider what you will do when the next hurricane approaches. Boats often fare worse than buildings when these storms strike the coastline, getting seriously damaged, sunk, or destroyed. You can minimize the chances of this, however, if you take the time in advance to make a plan and to equip your boat with the storm survival gear you will need.

In most marinas, particularly those located “out front” on the Mississippi coast, it is not safe to leave your boat tied up in the slip during a hurricane. The marina will require an evacuation of all boats if the forecast suggests a strong enough storm is approaching. In such a storm the water will rise several feet above normal levels and boats in marinas are subject to damage by breaking waves that wash over seawalls because of this water rise. The other danger is from the docks and pilings themselves, which can quickly destroy boats that are slammed against them in storm conditions. Plan to evacuate your marina early at the approach of a hurricane.

The first step in your hurricane plan should be to have a list of everything that is necessary to move your boat and make sure these things are on board before hurricane season arrives. You will need full tanks of fuel for your auxiliary engine, fuel for your cooking stove, drinking and cooking water, food and snack supplies for the time underway while evacuating, and such supplies as batteries and spare parts for all important systems on board. You should equip the boat with supplies for a trip of at least a week, because after a hurricane hits the area, it is often impossible to return to the marina for several days in the aftermath.

With these basic supplies on board, you now need to think about how you will secure your boat in the storm. Even in a protected bay or bayou you may experience strong winds that will tear your boat loose from your standard cruising anchor. You should have on board no less than four anchors of the appropriate size for your boat. The anchors should be designed for the bottom conditions where you expect to take refuge. Some are best for mud and sand bottoms; others are designed to work well in grass or rock. At least one of these anchors should be a greatly oversized storm anchor.

Each anchor should be accompanied by its own dedicated anchor rode, consisting of the right-sized nylon rope or chain, or a combination of both. If your boat does not have an adequate number of sufficiently strong cleats for securing all these anchors, be sure to install them before a hurricane threatens. All cleats and deck hardware should be reinforced with backing plates under the deck. Many well-anchored boats are lost because hurricane force winds tear hardware right out of the decks.

In addition to the anchors and rodes you have on board, you should have several extra-long lengths of heavy nylon line for securing your boat to trees and other solid objects ashore. These lines cannot be too long. Even in a wooded bayou, your draft may prohibit you from getting close to such objects on shore. I suggest carrying four such lines at least 200 and preferably 300 feet long for a hurricane evacuation. You will also need anti-chafing gear, which you can make yourself from pieces of an old plastic garden hose. Without some protection against chafe, even brand new lines can quickly wear through and part at their attachment points on deck in the extreme strain they will be subjected to in hurricane conditions. Otherwise well-secured boats are often lost this way.

All these anchors, extra lines and supplies cost money, but if you keep your boat in a place likely to get hit by a hurricane, look at it as the best insurance money can buy. The important thing to remember is to act early. These items should be a part of your vessel’s essential gear. Don’t make the mistake of waiting until a hurricane is bearing down across the Gulf to go out and shop for extra anchors and line. The shelves of the marine and hardware stores will be cleaned out by all the unprepared boaters buying this stuff up in a panic and you’ll wish you had gone ahead and spent the money on it when you could have.

The recent threat of Tropical Storm Arlene was a wake-up call and a test-run for many boaters on the Mississippi coast. If you’re not prepared already, now is the time to get it done before the real thing comes.