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Hurricane Warning

A Guide to Preparing Marinas and Boats for Hurricanes

Click here to view and print the Hurricane Brochure in Adobe PDF format.

Click here to view and print the Hurricane Tracking Chart in Adobe PDF format.

Boat owners from Maine to Texas have reason to become edgy in the late summer and fall: Each year, on average, two hurricanes will come ashore somewhere along the Gulf or Atlantic coasts, destroying homes, sinking boats, and turning people’s lives topsy turvy for weeks, or even months. This year, who knows? Florida is struck most often, but every coastal state is a potential target.

Experts predict that in the next 20 years there will be much more hurricane activity than has been seen in the past 20 years. Experts also fear that after a number of storm-free years, people in some of the vulnerable areas will be less wary of a storm’s potential fury. But to residents of Charleston, South Carolina, crippled by Hugo in 1989, and people in Dade County, Florida, ravaged by Andrew in 1993, the hurricane threat won’t soon be forgotten.

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Developing a Plan

Where to Keep Your Boat in a Hurricane

Securing a Boat Ashore

High-rise storage racks can be toppled by a storm's high winds. If possible, put your boat on a trailer and take it further inland.

A study by MIT after hurricane Gloria found that boats stored ashore were far more likely to be saved than boats stored in the water. For many boat owners and marinas, hauling boats is the foundation of their hurricane plan. Some farsighted marinas and yacht clubs have evacuation plans to pull as many boats out of the water as possible whenever a storm is approaching and secure the rest. There are some types of boats that must be pulled if they are to have any chance of surviving. Smaller, open boats and high performance powerboats with low freeboard, to use two examples, will almost always be overcome by waves, spray, and rain. Fortunately, most of these boats can be placed on trailers and transported inland.

A boat on davits is vulnerable to storm surge. If possible, store the boat ashore.

Boats ashore should be stored well above the anticipated storm surge, but even when boats are tipped off jackstands and cradles by rising water, the damage they sustain in a storm tends to be less severe than the damage to boats left in the water. Windage is also a consideration. If nothing else, reduce windage (see “Critical Points”) as much as possible and make sure your boat has extra jackstands, at least three or four on each side for boats under 30’ and five or six for larger boats. The jackstands must be supported by plywood and chained together. To reduce windage, some ambitious boat owners on the Gulf Coast dug holes for their sailboat keels so that they presented less windage. Smaller sailboats were laid on their sides. Recent storms have proven that high-rise storage racks are vulnerable in a storm’s high winds. Several have been completely destroyed in recent hurricanes. If possible, boats on storage racks should be placed on trailers and taken home.

Securing a Boat in the Water

A storm surge during Hurricane Alicia combined with normal high tides to overcome this low-lying breakwater. The protected harbor then became an open bay and all of the boats in the harbor either sank or were carried ashore.

Mooring test have shown the helix anchor has tremendous holding power compared to traditional mushroom and deadweight anchors.

Any boat in the water should be secured in a snug harbor (don’t even think about riding out the storm at sea unless you’re the skipper of an aircraft carrier). The trick is deciding which harbors will be still be snug if a hurricane comes ashore and which will be vulnerable. Storm surge—high water—is a major consideration. A storm surge of 10’ or more is common in a hurricane, so a seawall or sandy spit that normally protects a harbor may not offer any protection in a hurricane. Crowded, rock strewn harbors are picturesque, but they may not be the best place to keep your boat in a storm. Rocks are hard on boats, should yours break loose, and in a crowded harbor the chance of another boat breaking loose and banging into your boat is that much greater. Finally, what is the bottom of the harbor like? If you plan to anchor, check your charts to see how much water your boat will be anchored in. The best anchoring is usually in sand, followed by clay, hard mud, shells, broken shells, and soft mud. Also, water can sometimes be blown out of the harbor, leaving boats stranded briefly. If this happens, your boat would rather settle onto anything but rocks.

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At a Dock

Hurricane Holes

At a Mooring, at Anchor, or Both

Trailer Boats

Boats on Davits and Lifts

Critical Points

Chafe Gear!

Cleats and Chocks

Reduce Windage

Preventing Theft

Preventing Water Damage

When to Take Action

"The time for taking all measures for a ship’s safety is while still able to do so. Nothing is more dangerous than for a seaman to be grudging in taking precautions lest they turn out to have been unnecessary. Safety at sea for a thousand years has depended on exactly the opposite philosophy.

--Admiral Chester W. Nimitz

A hurricane "warning" advisory is posted when sustained winds of 74 mph or higher are expected within 24 hours or less--too late, in most situations, to head for the boat. Securing the house, gathering emergency provisions, and evacuating the family will need attention at this point.

A hurricane "watch" is posted when hurricane conditions pose a threat to a specified coastal area, usually within 36 hours. Some hurricane observers believe waiting for a watch to be posted also may be too late to head for the marina or to move the boat to a safer location.

Even watching the barometer, which is helpful for some weather patterns, can’t tell you when to prepare for a hurricane. The extreme low pressure associated with a hurricane occurs close to the eye of the storm; too late to predict landfall.

The best advice is to prepare or move your boat when a hurricane is a substantial possibility, even before a watch is issued. If you wait longer, and your plan includes relocating the boat, bridges may be locked down and the hurricane hole you chose may be inaccessible. Or, if you planned to have your boat weather the storm ashore, you may find the marina is too busy to haul your boat.

Learning From Experience: A Guide For Preparing Marinas and Clubs for Hurricanes

Philip Hale says he sometimes stands in his boatyard and imagines it under four or five feet of water. Philip looks at all of the yard’s valuable equipment that would be transformed into deadly battering rams by a storm’s fierce winds. And he looks at the boats. What could be done to secure all of those boats?

It’s a scene that isn’t difficult for Hale to imagine. His marina, Marthas Vineyard Shipyard, has been pounded recently on at least two occasions, by Hurricane Bob in 1991 and then by the big “No-Name” storm that swept up the coast in early 1992. Other marina owners in areas like Charleston, South Carolina and South Florida who were hit hard by Hugo and Andrew are plagued by the same sorts of questions. Hurricanes do that to people. What if it happens again?

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Experience: The Teacher That Gives You the Test First and the Lesson Afterward

Hauling Boats

A Model Plan: The Houston Yacht Club

Axiom: Never Stay Aboard in a Hurricane!

A boat is no place to be during a hurricane. The unpredictability of secondary weather events such as tornadoes coupled with violent wind and wave action in proximity to other boats and docks is potentially deadly.

One of the most dangerous mistakes a skipper can make is to stay aboard his or her boat during a hurricane. Several accounts given in claim files indicate that there is little, if anything, a skipper can do to save a boat when winds are blowing 100 mph, tides are surging, and visibility is only a few feet.

What can happen? Consider the case of a 68-year old skipper in Charleston, who together with his grown nephew, took their trawler up the Wando River to ride out Hurricane Hugo in what they thought would be a sheltered hurricane hole. He reported that the boat seemed to be doing fairly well, but later that night the wind picked up to over 100 mph and 15’ seas sent the boat crashing completely over.

The two men were trapped briefly in a pocket of air underwater when another wave rolled the boat back upright.The two men scrambled onto the deck and were eventually rescued, but not before almost drowning and being overcome by exposure.

Another skipper who stayed aboard his motorsailor at a marina during Gloria had to jump overboard and swim through breaking waves, drifting boats and debris after another boat broke free and rammed its mast (the boat was on its beam ends) through his boat’s pilot house window. Again, he was lucky to reach shore alive. Two Miami men who stayed aboard a Sportfisherman (not insured by BoatUS) during Andrew were not so lucky. Both drowned while trying to escape their sinking boat.

When a hurricane is approaching, you should certainly do everything you can to protect your boat: secure extra lines, set out anchors, add chafe protection, strip the boat above and below decks, etc. Do whatever you think it takes, then head inland. Your boat can be replaced; you can’t.

After the Storm

Marinas that were visited by the likes of Hugo, Andrew, Bob, and Gloria had to contend with downed power lines, blocked roads, and stacks of wrecked boats. Henry Finch at Wild Dunes Marina said that after Hugo his marina’s clean-up operations were given a considerable boost by portable generators that provided power for the clean-up crews and operations center.

Widespread looting is a problem after a storm, and personnel should also be available to protect the marina and boats. Boat owners who did not take home expensive equipment before the storm should be encouraged to do so afterwards.

Broken ports and hatches on boats should be sealed to prevent further damage below. Engines should be pickled as soon as possible. And if a boat is underwater, it should not be raised until someone is available to pickle the engine.

The BoatUS CAT Team

The various insurance companies that insure boats at the marina coordinate most of the hurricane salvage efforts. The BoatUS Catastrophe Field Team will be on scene immediately after a storm and can help the effort to get boats cleared and the marina back in operation.

All in a Day's Work

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