Calm winds brought to you by the letter E!
It must be the letter E. E as in Tropical Storm Ernesto and Hurricane Earl, the two storms which we felt were enough of a threat to us that we stripped all canvas off our boat in preparation for the big winds. Big winds which never came, in either situation.
Back in the Chesapeake, after ignoring the vast majority of boats there who did nothing to get ready for the potential storm, we spent a day storm prepping ZTC. For our efforts we were rewarded with 5 knot winds. Yes, that was 5 knots, not 50!
Yesterday, as Tropical Storm Ernesto rolled through the upper windward islands, we had similarly light winds through much of the day. Yes, there was the odd squall carrying with it a bit of wind, and there was some rain, but nothing that would have warranted this much effort IF ONLY we could have predicted the future.
That’s the key right there though. We can’t predict the future, nor can even the best meteorologists. Those who did nothing to prepare may be laughing smugly at their great foresight. I, on the other hand, tend to think that they were being complacent if not reckless. That’s just my opinion of course, and what do I know?
I had a bit of an email conversation yesterday with one of our favorite bloggers, Bob on Boatbits, on the subject of storm preparation. He had this to say:
“We’ve been in the Caribbean over a decade and nearly every hurricane disaster we’ve come across is a direct result of people screwing up, and most of that is people doing nothing or if they do, waiting too long because of “group think” ie. waiting till EVERYONE comes to a consensus on what to do.”
Good thing we prefer to lead rather than follow!
Bob went on to suggest that we “treat every nasty looking tropical wave as a full blown cat 4 hurricane wannabe because they can go from one to the other in a matter of hours or less!”
Valuable advice IMO. Until the next time…
Good thing we took advantage of the sun on Thursday afternoon
because there wasn’t much of it yesterday!
Samantha’s first trip onto the trampoline. Isn’t she a brave kitty?
Note spare anchor awaiting storm deployment.
Always better safe than sorry. Four years ago we had the remnants of Hurricane Ike come up through the St Lawrence Valley. My boat dragged on it’s mooring (tank tracks, we are a military club!) and three boats broke loose, one from a mooring (weak shackle) and two from the dock (not tied up properly). Last year we were on the edge of Huricane Irene when it come up through New England. I am on a mooring but still threw out my anchor just in case. Luckily hurrican Irene was during the day and we kept watch on all the boats and the lines, no casualities this time. Hurricane party in the club house!
We had no hurricane party. 🙁
I have always liked the adage; “Those who fail to plan , plan to fail.” This goes double for storms.
No doubt!
Looks like we think alike again. We use both the 23 & 37 for our secondary anchors. One time in Pike Creek (mid-Exumas) we used all three to keep us from the rocks. The tides & currents are so powerful in this area, but we are protected from the sea state and high winds at that location. I see you still have your mudpaws on the 23.
It’s actually only a FX-16 but since our boat only weighs 4-5 tons, it is plenty big for us. We actually picked the anchor up second hand and it has been very good the few times we have used it.
Glad to see you are using an SPF of 75.
Something like that.
Ground tackle can make all the difference. During Hugo, back in the mangroves of English Harbor after everyone had filled the edges of the little bay tying off and throwing anchors on top of anchors, a friend of mine in his huge (60′ to 70′) wooden Baltic something or other waited for the last hour and came right in the middle of the little bay and deployed his set up for storm anchors. He was threatened by screaming and insulting mariners and had to defend his anchors and boat with a shotgun! Can you guess what happens next? That’s right, many other boats broke free and bounced all around the little bay AND off his boat! He sat tight and safe because he had the right ground tackle, and he knew it! As the storm abated he was the first to leave.
I’m just saying, big and bigger ground tackle and knowing how to deploy it, is first defense and as my friend said, “Second is stay away from other boats”
He’s lucky he had that shotgun. I would argue that the other boaters had every reason to be angry with someone coming in at the last minute. The results notwithstanding, it could have turned out a hundred others ways.
First defense is ACT EARLY. He failed to do so IMO.
Yes it could have. If you act early as you say but don’t have the ground tackle, someone might notice and start yelling at you. Just saying Mike. many ways to look at it but be prepared is the bottom line!
Having proper ground tackle is a given as is knowing how to deploy it properly.
In my opinion though, unless there was some very good reason for doing so, coming into an anchorage at the 11th hour, at the very least, shows disrespect to those who took the time to prepare early.
No matter what any of the more complacent yachties say, you did the right thing. No matter how many times this happens you should prepare the same way because, sure as hell, according to Murphy’s 1st Law of Meteorology, the time you decide not to prepare is the time you get nailed. Of course, Murphy’s 2nd Law states that the boater who doesn’t prepare is the one anchored upwind from you, so you can only keep your fingers crossed.
Last year when Ike threatened Maine I put my boat up a creek where I have 2, well buried, storm moorings that I tie up to, one foreward and one aft. I stripped the boat and lashed down the boom etc. I have a twin keeled boat so she sits nicely on the soft bottom at low tide. Many of my boating friends thought I was being kind of anal to go to so much trouble but I slept well with my only worry being the trees near the house blowing down. I will do the same thing again and again if I have to in that situation.
Mr. Murphy is always waiting to add his input.
So you got nothing. Meanwhile here in Minnesota, we just survived a severe storm last night with 60 knot winds at the dock. Boy were we rocking. After that experience, we have come to realize just how much we rely on those docklines. Now we are thinking it may not be a bad idea to invest in some new dock lines. Even that little bit of chafe becomes concerning. I would rather invest in new dock lines than the alternative should they fail. Glad you guys didn’t have much to worry about in the end.
We got next to nothing. Yeah, I’d say dock lines and chafe gear to protect them are pretty important for those weathering a storm on a dock!
ZTC is your home, not an insured asset you can easily walk away from. No, I don’t think extremely conservative actions are silly in that case. There is a time for thrill seeking, and a time for CYA.
Some years ago I spent 6 months in New Orleans building a wastewater plant (right on the intercoastal), only to have Katrina go from cat 1 to cat 5 in hours. Fortunately I had built it to cat 4 code and it did fine, but most of the older buildings on the site were leveled. And at the time I was building, planning for cat 4 had seemed like a silly expense that drove us a bit over budget.
I think you take a reasoned approach.
Maybe when we acquire the ability to predict the future we’ll do otherwise. Until then though…