{"id":4292,"date":"2011-05-18T11:34:38","date_gmt":"2011-05-18T14:34:38","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/vikrant-testing-site2.info\/wp304\/?p=3"},"modified":"2011-05-18T11:34:38","modified_gmt":"2011-05-18T14:34:38","slug":"test-post","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.bwsailing.com\/bw\/test-post\/","title":{"rendered":"Tips for Preparing Your Yacht for A Hurricane"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignleft size-full wp-image-37\" title=\"hurricane_from_space\" src=\"http:\/\/bwsailing.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/05\/hurricane_from_space.gif\" alt=\"\" width=\"200\" height=\"150\" \/>The weather prognosticators are predicting an active Atlantic  Hurricane Season and with a low pressure system having already formed  off of the African Continent and is 500 miles east of the Lesser  Antilles as of last night. So once again the US Coast Guard has strongly  urged the maritime community and boating public to monitor the progress  of each and every tropical storm and hurricane and take early action to  protect themselves and their vessels.\u00a0 <!--more--><\/p>\n<p>Here are a few tips to help mariners  protect themselves and their vessels while in marinas:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li> Maintain a &#8220;Weather Eye.&#8221; This means paying attention forecasts  It means for tropical storms\/hurricanes, updating yourself (and your  dock mates) regularly on potential trouble in the tropics. You should be  loosely tracking each low pressure area in the Caribbean\/Gulf of  Mexico. You should be tracking each tropical wave coming off the coast  of Africa. You should be paying attention to the &#8220;sea surface  temperatures&#8221; in the Atlantic\/the Caribbean\/the Gulf.<\/li>\n<li>Recognize that your marina manager has his\/her own &#8220;Action Plan.&#8221;  While they&#8217;re there for advice on the fly, lending a helping hand may  stretch their resources and restrict their ability to secure their  facility. Each boat owner should be &#8220;independent&#8221; with pre-arranged  resources (crew, friends, materials, etc.) to be self-sufficient.<\/li>\n<li>If not already in a marine, contact local marinas to ask for  advice about securing your vessel.<\/li>\n<li>Be Action-Oriented. Don&#8217;t wait until a full hurricane warning is  in effect before arriving at your boat. Take action NOW, while the wind  is still manageable and the waves are low.<\/li>\n<li>Plan Ahead. Planning means having a written hurricane plan  completed to remind you what steps you need to take. (Give it to your  crew, family, friends and your marina&#8217;s dockmaster.) It also means  having the basics of hurricane prep done at the start of the season;  storm lines in place in order to double-up your dock lines, chafe gear  in place on your dock lines, fenders and fender boards in place to  protect your topsides. Even these basic precautions will allow me, as  your dockmaster, to sleep better at night.<\/li>\n<li>Have backup supplies on hand, like spare dock lines, spare fenders  and fender boards can be expected to be used in almost every storm.  Various tapes (e.g., duct tape, masking tape and electrical tape) are  likely to come in handy in the aftermath of a storm. It&#8217;s good to have  several nylon straps w\/ratchet adjusters available for securing dock  boxes to the deck, for securing boats on lifts (heavy duty straps,  please) and for securing dinghies.<\/li>\n<li>If you&#8217;re new to boat-ownership, hold a hurricane drill,  preferably at the start of the storm season. It&#8217;s important to have a  plan of action for preparation, with specific assignments. If you walk  through the process when conditions are calm, it gives you a chance to  ask questions, make adjustments, note additional tools and\/or supplies  and, in the end, feel more confident about your ability to deliver your  boat safe on the other side of a storm.<\/li>\n<li>\n<div>Use fenders and fender boards. They do a good job  of protecting your boat, when positioned properly. (If tying from the  lifelines\/railings, twisting the hanger lines will help keep them in  position.)<\/div>\n<\/li>\n<li>\n<div>Try putting a length of chain (say, about 4-6  feet) around your dock pilings. (See Fig. 1). These act as chafe gear  for your storm lines. That way the chain-not your dock lines-rub against  the pilings. Needless to say, the pilings should be stronger than the  dock cleats. (Cleats can pull out of the dock and fasteners may shear,  setting boats adrift.)<\/div>\n<\/li>\n<li>\n<div>Stagger the position of your sailboat in the slip so that your  mast or spreaders are less likely to get caught on your neighbors&#8217; masts  or outriggers.<\/div>\n<\/li>\n<li>\n<div>Check with local authorities before entering any storm-damaged  area. Do not rush to your boat. Boaters should not place themselves in  danger to get to a boat.<\/div>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Remember &#8211; Storms move quickly and are unpredictable. You can always  replace a boat; you cannot replace a life.<\/p>\n<p>The Coast Guard requests that the public not call Coast Guard  facilities for weather information, but to listen to weather broadcasts.  Important storm information can also be viewed at <a href=\"http:\/\/www.nhc.noaa.gov\/\">http:\/\/www.nhc.noaa.gov\/<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Hopefully, these tips and techniques will help you to come through the  next storm(s) with minimal or no damage to your boat or your marina.  Hurricane preparation is a state-of-mind that includes planning,  purchases and practice well before the first storm looms on the horizon.<\/p>\n<p>Here are tips for prepping your boat on a mooring from  BoatSafe.com:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Tie down or remove loose objects.<\/li>\n<li>Wrap lines around sail covers to prevent ballooning.<\/li>\n<li>Stay, if possible, on a secure mooring so that the boat can turn  into the wind. Mooring all round puts a great deal of strain on the  boat, however, if there is no swinging room it can&#8217;t be helped, much of  what follows still applies.<\/li>\n<li>ALL connections to the mooring should go through a swivel. Lines  without a swivel that have become twisted can break very easily under  strain. I have seen it happen.<\/li>\n<li>When securing the boat, secure each line to a separate  cleat\/sampson post. DO NOT secure all lines to the same point on the  boat. If the mast is stepped below on the keel, use the mast as well if  necessary. DON&#8217;T if stepped on deck.<\/li>\n<li>Add chain to the mooring\/boat connection, with a loop in the chain  with a nylon spring attached to the boat to take the shock of snatching  together with a swivel.<\/li>\n<li>Add 2 nylon rope lines from the mooring to the boat, making a  total of 3 lines to the mooring.<\/li>\n<li>Make sure that the lines from the boat to the mooring are longer  by at least 50% than is normal, more if considered appropriate, to allow  for any tidal surge.<\/li>\n<li>Check all hatches and port holes and dorade boxes for potential  leaks.<\/li>\n<li>Check the engine for easy starting in an emergency.<\/li>\n<li>Stock up with plenty of fresh food and water and fuel.<\/li>\n<li>Secure or remove all loose items in the tender.<\/li>\n<li>Secure the tender BEHIND the main boat by at least 2 separate  lines to\u00a0the main boat.<\/li>\n<li>Check bilge pumps, hand and electric, making sure all are working.<br \/>\nPut out the fenders all round the sides of the boat, you never know  when the other person&#8217;s UNATTENDED boat is going to cause havoc.<\/li>\n<li>Check all unusual sounds immediately when you hear them.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.boatsafe.com\/nauticalknowhow\/hurricane082000.htm\">http:\/\/www.boatsafe.com\/nauticalknowhow\/hurricane082000.htm<\/a><\/p>\n<p><strong>At anchor:<\/strong><br \/>\n<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignleft\" src=\"http:\/\/www.bwsailing.com\/images\/hurricane_anchoring.gif\" border=\"2\" alt=\"\" hspace=\"2\" vspace=\"2\" width=\"226\" height=\"139\" align=\"left\" \/>ANCHOR  your boat in a protected harbor where the bottom can allow a good  anchor hold. An advantage to anchoring is that the boat can more easily  respond to wind and water changes without striking docks or other boats  than when moored. Heavy and extra anchors are needed for this option and  enough line should be on hand to allow a scope of at least 10:1 for  each anchor.<\/p>\n<p>HURRICANE HOLES are ideal locations to moor your  boat during a hurricane. These are deep, narrow coves or inlets that are surrounded  by a number of sturdy trees which block the wind and provide a tie-off  for anchor lines. The best location for a hurricane hole is one far  enough inland to avoid the most severe winds and tides, yet close enough  to reach under short notice. You may want to scout out a satisfactory  hurricane hole ahead of time!<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignleft\" src=\"http:\/\/www.bwsailing.com\/images\/hurricane_lines_ashore.gif\" border=\"2\" alt=\"\" hspace=\"2\" vspace=\"2\" width=\"200\" height=\"134\" align=\"right\" \/>Never stay with your boat.  Your boat should be stripped of anything that can become loose during  the storm. This would include unstepping the mast in sailboats. Boat  documents, radios and other valuables should be removed from the vessel  prior to the storm, since you never know how long it will take for you  to get back to your boat once the storm passes.<br \/>\nHurricanes are among the most destructive phenomena of nature, their  appearance is not to be taken lightly. Advance planning cannot guarantee  that your boat will survive a hurricane safely or even survive at all.<br \/>\nPlanning can, however, improve survivability and is therefore  certainly worth the time and money to do so.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The weather prognosticators are predicting an active Atlantic Hurricane Season and with a low pressure system having already formed off of the African Continent and is [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8,15],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4292","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-cruising-news","category-news-and-notes"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bwsailing.com\/bw\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4292","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bwsailing.com\/bw\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bwsailing.com\/bw\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bwsailing.com\/bw\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bwsailing.com\/bw\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4292"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.bwsailing.com\/bw\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4292\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bwsailing.com\/bw\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4292"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bwsailing.com\/bw\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4292"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bwsailing.com\/bw\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4292"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}