Hurricane prep

MDboater

First and foremost, I hope that all of the forum member are doing well in the wake of hurricane Matthew.  Some recent photos from the Carolinas showed the common post hurricane pile of boats.   I am interested to hear what others consider to be the best boat preparations when threatened with a hurricane.  Specifically would you leave your boat in the water or haul it out?  If in the water, would you rather be tied to a floating dock, a fixed dock, a mooring buoy, or other?  

Handymans342

In your area either haul it or go up Into a creek and ride it out

rasbury

out of the water for sure....had the same concerns but it passed us.....I have it dry stored and it sits up next to a building, not much more you can do than get it out of the water. Would never suggest you "ride it out" on the water at any time!

Handymans342

Ras, we have done it many times as we have had more hurricanes in Maryland in the last 10 years than Florida although not a Cat4

rasbury

If I'm looking at 11' tide surge and 20' waves, I'm not sitting on my boat anywhere, period!

raybo3

We have had a couple here over the years. Its not real easy to just haul a 342 on a whim here. I have added extra lines and made sure everything was the way I wanted and hoped for the best. Now we have not had cat4s but we have had some bad blows for sure. Never had a problem but I will tell you that the people that did nothing to secure their boats had all kinds of problems.

Dream_Inn

Well, I've had a boat in the water the last 17 years in MD, and I've never rode one out.  There are plenty of places around here that can also pull your boat out.  Surge has mostly been the issue for hurricanes here in MD.  So, if you are in a marina that has floating docks with really high pilings (at least 10-12 feet over high tide), then that may be ok, depending on what else is around you.  I've had my first boat on a trailer thru big hurricanes such as Isabel.  I remember walking around the day after at many marinas.  Surge was the worst and ruined a lot of marinas.  Most boats on lifts did fine.  My second and third boats have all been on lifts thru the MD storms/hurricanes.  Wind gusts weren't the biggest concern, again it was surge.  So, for me, I'd leave my boat on the lift cause I can raise my boat 10 feet up over high tide (& my dock/slip all made it thru Isabel with a different boat on it).

Now, with that said, if you can have your boat hauled and stored at least 8-10 feet above high tide, then do that and strap it down (although I'm not sure if anywhere around has the ability to strap it down).

LaRea

@Dream_Inn is right: haul out if you can.  If you haul the boat in advance of a named storm, your insurance will probably cover most if not all of the cost.  So haul it out, and don't wait until the last minute (when yards might be too busy).

In some marinas, even if the pilings are really tall, the breakwaters aren't.  Once the surge submerges the breakwaters, the waves can come rolling right into the marina like Lawrence Taylor in search of Joe Theismann.  That's when the real damage happens.  

randy56

Living in the middle of the United States, we have no fear of such damaging winds, surge's, Hurricanes, So my Question is what about insurance coverage for boaters who live in such locations. Do you have to pay for extra coverage? or have a endorsement. 
Nobody wants to lose there boat, but if is tied up at the marina, and gets destroyed. Doesn't the insurance wright you a check ? 
If so,  insurance company's have big tab to pay. 

Handymans342

My insurance doubled and they say do not leave in lift although everyone does. 

craigswardmtb

I was very nervous when hurricane sandy hit. I happened to still be in the water and my winter Marina could not pull me in time despite telling me they could. I was far up the CT river and the marina happened to have some of the tallest pilings around with floating docks, and then I doubled up lines. I checked the boat many times and it was eary as it floated in what seemed like the middle of the river on docks with no access to them as the water flooded the banks of the river. Irene I was able to pull. Pulling is the smart thing if u can in my mind. Otherwise I would look for tall pilings and floaters that are as protected as possible. 

rasbury

one of the reasons, besides lack of money, I did not go bigger than the 270. I do get a discount for having it on a trailer and out of the water and I can move it....move it to boat the 800 plus miles of coastline and various rivers as well as move it from a storm.