Hypothetical hurricane question

[Capt Hook]

If you were anchored in the Bahamas or in Bermuda and a category 3 or more hurricane was headed your way, would you ride it out at anchor in the harbor or head out to sea for deeper water?
Interested in thoughts and reasoning.
Hope I never have to make that decision.
Kinda think I'd anchor the boat and ride out the storm on shore.

[Sea Hunt Video]

If you were anchored in the Bahamas or in Bermuda and a category 3 or more hurricane was headed your way, would you ride it out at anchor in the harbor or head out to sea for deeper water?
Interested in thoughts and reasoning.
Hope I never have to make that decision.
Kinda think I'd anchor the boat and ride out the storm on shore.

Captain Hook:

A disclaimer: I have NEVER been on a sailboat during any type of storm ever. I have read a lot about it.

With your qualifier that it was a Cat 3 or higher, I would definitely anchor as best as possible (3 anchors in a 180 degree pattern) and then find a concrete building with very few windows and "ride out the storm". Make sure you have all of you insurance papers, riders, etc., with you and that your insurance is up to date.

[tjr818]

I believe heading out to sea is something even a Navy Destroyer didn't enjoy under those circumstances.
I know my father said that heading out to sea was "standard operating procedure" for his blimps during WWII, but he also mentioned that the blimps top speed was about 70kts and that they would often end up further inland than when they took off. You don't want that to happen in a Cape Dory

[jen1722terry]

Yeah, I'm with the other posters: don't stay on the boat in a really bad storm (even in the harbor). Use your anchors as recommended with lots of chafing gear on the roads. If you're lucky enough to have a stout mooring available, use that and lengthen your pennant to allow for surge and some extra stretch.

There is much debate on the various forums and in books about ways to storm anchor. Maybe seek some local knowledge and consider what happens when you have a major wind shift with 3 anchors out.

We add an extra set of pennants to our mooring in storms over here in Nova Scotia. These are longer than the main pennants so they won't get any load or chafe unless the main pennant parts.

Someone recently on this forum (Jim Walsh?) mentioned adding long snubbers to chain anchor rodes in storms, attaching the snubber lines to the stern cleats on each side of the boat and running the snubbers through the stanchion bases up to the bow chocks, then attaching them to the rode with a chain hook or rolling hitch. We like this idea for the added stretch/shock absorption available and are making up such snubbers for the next storm (hopefully, not Joaquin, which appears to be heading out to see as I write this).

Best of luck!

Terry

[Steve Laume]

No sane person would leave a secure anchorage to ride out a hurricane at sea. You must be confused with a scenario where you are caught out and have to decide between running for a harbor that you will not make before the storm reaches you vs gaining some sea room to ride it out. OUr boats are just not fast enough to gain any advantage in the open ocean.

My quandary has always been weather to stay on the mooring or come into a dock. I have done it both ways in the past. A lot depends on the expected conditions and the available facilities. I worry most about other boats breaking loose because of poor preparation. There isn't much you can do to control that, Steve.

[Steve Laume]

For one storm we had a couple of years ago, I elected to stay on the mooring. I did all my usual preparation and then took a 3/4" anchor rode over to an empty mooring next to me. There was lots of room as it was late in the year. I weighted both ends of the anchor line to hold it on the bottom and left it slack. The reasoning was that if anything failed on the primary mooring I would still be connect to the second one with a very long scope. You will not often find a situation where this is feasible but it seems very secure. It could also be a bit of a mess with the long line wrapped around your primary mooring. Our mooring are very heavy and there was no need for a secondary but it felt good to know it was there, Steve.

[jen1722terry]

Interesting idea, Steve.

We're usually the last moored boat on the inner harbor later in the season, and we could easily run a line to the closest vacant mooring. We may not even need the weights just a few bouys on the line. Interesting, and thanks.

Terry

[Steve Laume]

The reason I used a weighted line was two fold. First off I wanted to be sure no one would run over the line with another boat before I could get back down there and remove it. The second reason is that I didn't want Raven to swing around and foul herself in the secondary line. I figured if the line just wrapped around the primary mooring and that mooring parted it would still be effective although chafe might have been an issue. It wasn't a perfect system but it did add some peace of mind. In a Nor'easter the winds might be steady enough to use a well marked floating line since the wind shift would not be an issue, Steve.