Getting Away From the Crowd Is Key

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Boatowners who have the option of moving their boats to protected water before a hurricane strikes should consider rivers, canals, or backwater creeks instead of marinas. If the site is a narrow canal or river, you may be able to run multiple lines ashore to trees or mangroves on both sides. If the waterway is wide, you can also anchor.

Marine industry professionals advise using helix moorings, but there are some other anchoring techniques that have worked as well. The key is to use more and larger anchors, and those that are appropriate for the type of bottom. Boats have survived hurricanes when anchored with two anchors with unequal length lines set 60-90 degrees apart. Another arrangement consists of using three very large anchors set 120 degrees apart with the rodes leading to a central pendant. Note that each anchor must be capable of taking the full load. A tandem anchoring system, where a second anchor is attached to the first one via a length of chain, adds additional holding power. With any of these systems some kind of snubber-like a length of nylon line-must be incorporated into chain rode(s). Deep water anchorages will see less wave action than shallow ones, allowing the chain catenary to absorb some of the load.

Whether your vessel is moored or anchored, chafe will be a certainty if the storm hits, so proper chafe protection is imperative. Also, if your boat will be riding the storm out on a mooring, make sure the chain, swivels, and pendant on that mooring have been checked recently for wear.

For more advice and information on anchoring, purchase the ebook Specialty Anchors/Real World Anchoring from Practical Sailor.

Darrell Nicholson
Practical Sailor has been independently testing and reporting on sailboats and sailing gear for more than 50 years. Its independent tests are carried out by experienced sailors and marine industry professionals dedicated to providing objective evaluation and reporting about boats, gear, and the skills required to cross oceans. Practical Sailor is edited by Darrell Nicholson, a long-time liveaboard sailor and trans-Pacific cruiser who has been director of Belvoir Media Group's marine division since 2005. He holds a U.S. Coast Guard 100-ton Master license, has logged tens of thousands of miles in three oceans, and has skippered everything from pilot boats to day charter cats. His weekly blog Inside Practical Sailor offers an inside look at current research and gear tests at Practical Sailor, while his award-winning column,"Rhumb Lines," tracks boating trends and reflects upon the sailing life. He sails a Sparkman & Stephens-designed Yankee 30 out of St. Petersburg, Florida. You can reach him at darrellnicholson.com.