Seaworthy - July 2010

to remain the same, which
means the fit for many boats
is often uncomfortably tight.
In a storm, everyday docking
arrangements won’t work; the
lines are not long enough to
accommodate the surge. Lines
are usually strained and broken
or, in a few cases, the lines hold
and the piling is pulled out of
the bottom. Adding extra slack
to lines would allow the boat to
be bashed against pilings at the
start of the storm. If a boat can’t
be moved, more and longer
lines should be led to more distant pilings.
An alternative is to use something like the
Tide Minders or Tide Slides that will allow
the lines to rise on the piling with the surge.
Note that moving a boat to a larger (wider)
slip, if possible, is also a good strategy.
prevent the boat from swinging or drifting
away. Plug the engine’s exhaust outlet (try
duct tape) and strip the boat.
There is very little that can be done to protect a boat on a lift from
the surge.

pilings and sank. The latter are far more likely to be damaged beyond repair. There are several solutions: strapping boats down (works if the surge isn’t too great); moving boats to hurricane holes; or storing them ashore on higher ground (again, strapping the boat to earth anchors works best).

• Boats on lifts. Whenever possible, boats on lifts or davits should be taken down and stored ashore or moved to a conventional dock. If a boat must be left on its lift, remove the drain plug so the weight of accumulated rainwater will not collapse the lift. (If the tidal surge reaches the boat, which is likely, it will be flooded, but to leave the plug in place is likely to result in more serious structural damage.) Tie the boat securely to its lifting machinery to

• Boats stored ashore on land that are within reach of the anticipated surge. A good example of what can happen to boats stored ashore in low-lying areas occurred a few years ago in Virginia when the owner of one marina hauled all of the boats and stored them ashore in the parking lot. The surge from Isabel came over the seawall, carried boats off their stands and deposited them in a pile against a hill. Note that while many of the boats suffered significant damage, most were repaired and put back into service. This contrasts sharply with boats in their slips that are bashed against

• Boats on moorings in shallow water. A boat on a mooring can swing to face the wind, which is beneficial; windage will be reduced considerably and it won’t be slammed into a dock unless the anchor or mooring drags. Regarding the latter, the keys to a mooring holding in a hurricane are the type of mooring anchor used (helix anchors work best), the use of chafe protection on pennants, and the amount of scope. The latter is especially vulnerable in shallow harbors, where a scope of 3: 1 can be all but eliminated by storm surge. For example, a boat in eight feet of water with 16 feet of chain and an eight-foot pennant will have a scope of about 3: 1. If there is a 12-foot surge, the scope will be reduced by half. Adding considerably more scope (longer pennants) is the solution but this must be done uniformly with all of the boats in the harbor.