A good story and a happy ending. Your conclusion (wait out a hurricane OFF the boat) is well founded. I am the only survivor when my 37' boat was lost at anchor during category 4 cyclone Meli in Fiji. My father and wife both drowned. I washed ashore on an uninhabited island and spent three days there before paddling a raft with palm fronds 12 miles to another island where I was eventually rescued. My mistake was not sending everyone ashore BEFORE the cyclone arrived. No one need have died had I done that - and once the wind gets over 70 or 80 knots there is nothing one can do to save an anchored boat anyway and no way to safely make it to shore.
@@Davidcallard Thanks. There is really no way to get over it either. On the other hand, my youngest daughter and her fiance' are just starting out on their Hollmann 52, and I am going along to visit old ports and act as senior advisor. I hope to do better this time.
@Morrisfactor that's great news about your daughter. 52 ' is a very good size for a live-aboard boat, esp if there could be a prospect of an increase in the population in the coming years! I think a boat is so much better value than an overpriced and underbuilt house! My late father used to call a house 🏠 a failed attempt at building a yacht that is permanently moored to the footpath! Cheers, David.
Thanks for including what you learned, and for asking others to do the same. All too often I follow a boating channel and eventually get to their big near-disaster moment. After they survive I look for helpful lessons, and I get crickets. In some cases they just move on to other footage they think will attract views. In other cases they avoid or ignore my questions about what they would do differently. That's when I discover which creators want to actually help other sailors and which ones just want to point the camera at themselves and generate clicks. Thanks for being in the first category!
I love hearing about how you succeeded in riding it out and also what you would not do in hindsight. It's very helpful to have the opportunity to learn from others' mistakes, as well as their successes.
My first sailboat experience in a hurricane was 1979. Hurricane David slammed Port Canaveral and I rode it out in Ocala, FL...80 miles inland with my mom. I had left my Catalina 22 tied to two palm trees in the barge canal on Merritt Island. I was lucky. A 73 foot long shrimp boat ended up on the land right on one of my "anchor rode lines." A tractor I borrowed from my Dad got them back in the water, and I didn't have to pay for shrimp all through college!
I can only imagine how busy you are these days, but I’m sure I’m not the only one with these sentiments.. we love it when you upload a new video, just wish there were more. Cheers 🍻
Good story though a minor correction. Michael landed in Florida, about an hour from where I live, in Port St Joe. Going through it on land was not much fun either, especially when the tree fell on our house. I know a lot of people joke about Floridians and hurricanes, but having lived on the Gulf Coast for 50+ years, I can assure you they are no joke. I definitely wouldn't want to ride one out on a boat.
A great story, Tim. One of your best. And it brings to mind something I’m now discovering having spent most of the last four summers living on and sailing my 34footer. When you begin sailing, you’re so worried about getting things right that you constantly double and even triple check. As time goes on, though, complacency starts to set in, and that’s where the real danger lies. It’s really hard not to take things for granted. I have to keep telling myself I’ll always be a novice, and try to apply the same standard of caution that served me so well when I first started sailing my boat.
I purchased my 25kg (55lbs) Rocna straight from Peter Smith in NZ back in 2005. I re-hot galvanised it this year after many thousands of drops. It has been a very reliable companion with only the occasional dragging. About 7 years ago, I improved my ground tackle by adding 3m of 13mm chain (12kg or 26lbs) to the shaft for even better holding power. I am very happy with current setup and it has seldom failed even in 50-60kn+ conditions. So it’s 25kg Rocna, swivel, 12kg of chain over 3m, A Kong connector and then 60m (200ft) of 8mm chain. The 3m chain was chosen because it’s the distance between my bow roller and the windlass which is calibrated for the 8mm chain. I of course never keep the load on the windlass but tie of the chain with an anchor hook and nylon bridle to heavy duty cleats and leave a decent catenary to keep the chain as horizontal as possible and to absorb shocks. For the rest, Tim’s advice of leaving the boat (if realistic & possible) is very sound and what I read elsewhere.
Thanks for the story Tim. I’m a wordsmith but have no story yet. Emphasis on yet. I want to thank you for the reminder to double check the rigging. There was a shackle on our back stay which has nothing to stop it from shaking loose. Need to fix.
I remember that storm. Off of Back Creek, there is a skipjack, the Dee of St. Mary's, and the WB Tennison, a buy boat. Had to help tie them down. The adage was lines, lines, and more lines. Tied to anything stationary.
After 50 knots it gets real and you need to be in survival mode. I have experienced 3 cyclones. All In fiji.2 onboard. 100 knots feels and sounds like a jet engine is above youre head. The difference between 70 knot squalls and 70 knot cyclones is sea state. The cyclone sea state is enormous.
Wind pressure increases as the square of the wind speed. So 70 knots isn't twice the force of 35 knots, but equivalent to the pressure of 35 knots x 35 knots. The formula is for mph, so for nmph, multiply the windspeed by 1.15 = 80.5 nmph for the higher figure, and 40.25 nmph So the pressure goes from about 4 pounds per square foot to over 16 pounds per square feet! [80.5 x 80.5] x .00256 =16.5 psf
The best place to ride out a gale is on a bar stool. And the boat should be high and dry in a field. A car tyre and a massive cast iron keel is also a help. After that a sympathetic bank manager for when the bar tab arrives. Great episode captain.
I don’t blame you for not wanting to stay aboard, when Matthew hit, I was living in an apt just above the dock and was able to keep an eye on mine and check on it throughout the storm, but I wouldn’t have wanted to be on her on the hook, that’s for sure. One thing worth considering for your future plans though, you may want to secure a hotel before dealing with the boat. History has shown that virtually every hotel within hours gets booked pretty quickly by people fleeing their coastal homes during hurricanes. By the way, I have family living on the Neuse River, they lost 50+ trees in their yard and had roof damage during Florence, she was no joke!
Speaking of being at dock in a hurricane, storm surge can lift a floating dock right over the top of a pilings. Also, floating docks can be pulled apart by waves and dock lines pulling on them.
@@timdunn2257 definitely! As my first Hurricane experience I was beginning to get concerned about that as the water rose, fortunately my marina has very tall pylons and it never got anywhere near that. The water did come up over the marina wall though and over the walkway between the apartments and marina. I had to wade through 6” of water and walk UP the ramp to the floating dock when I checked on the boat at one point. 😬
I set two anchors off the bow at about 20° apart Plus use plugged drogues as flopper stoppers Off the bow and Stern + Anchor alarm But yes If it's bad really bad and you can go some place to hunker down that is the wisest
I’ve lived in the Chesapeake Bay all my like Norfolk Va. kinda get used to the threat of storms. I’m a full time liveaboard so I ride out storms in the marina.
Crewing on a 70 meter tallship, we were in Porto, waiting out a major storm in the Biscayne. The organisation was very anxious to get the boat moving again, they had us leave port as soon as the winds cleared, but the swell remained high when we head out of the port. The ship slammed so bad, there were so many broken things, including a dishwasher that unfastened from a wall and crashed across the rear quarters into the engineers's quarters. He was not in his bunk luckily. Engine batteries toppled over after their retaining straps broke! Don't just worry about the wind, swell can be just as dangerous if not more so! It was a bit of a miracle that the only serious injury was a cuncossion. This is a vessel that was built for the North Sea, a 1 ton vessel with quite a lot of lead in the keel, so if we suffered major damage, I can't imagine what a typical production sailboat would have endured out there!
Very interesting story and a lot To think about, I think we always think about staying with our boat in case we could do something. But you're right, there's very little you can do besides prepare well. If the anchorage does decide to drag, all you can do is hope it catches again. You're not really going to have an opportunity to make any adjustments anywhere
That was quite the hair raising tale ! and yours still look to be straight upwards from the experience 😹😸😹 But all fun aside , I do appreciate the story and the added wisdom about storm safety 🙏 / best regards from Montreal 😸😺
Keep the heavy side down... In motorcycling, we have a similar comment... Keep the shiny side up. I currently sail with friends who have boats. Well, I have a Catalina Capri 25 as a lake boat. But I don't have an ocean boat. I'll work on a story about crossing Tehuantepec Bay at the wrong time. Obviously, we survived. The boat was reuseable but not without a little work. The moral is to never let a schedule be more important than a weather window. We never saw 60 knots. But we did see 56 while motorsailing in shallow water. We lost some solar, used the shop vac to pump out the bilge, and had a far less than pleasant sail. I believe the boat is back in Ensenada now.
We moved to Panama City 2 weeks before Hurricane Michael hit us and we rode it out in town. It was the most intense storm I’ve ever experienced. Take all hurricanes seriously, that’s what we learned.
One silly question for you experts... In such a situation, while you're going through whilst staying on the boat... could a solution be, to ease on an anchor, to get enough fuel so you could have the engine on for this day (or two), and have it on 10-20% of the throttle? This way you could help a chain/anchor a bit, at least for those most difficult moments? Although it would probably be hard to control it all the time... And what about the second anchor on the same (or separate) chain/rope, splitting the force? Sorry if the questions are stupid... 😕
That was a lot of running around. Check out 4-5' helic/auger anchoring. I used 2 to hold my boat fast on the ICW in FL, through many named storms. I drove them in using threaded plumbing pipes with a T on the top.
I've been through 2 hurricanes "on my boat." Don't stay on the boat!!! Both times I did everything possible and stayed in a hotel. The boat survived both, although it was holed in one (did not sink, but could have.)
LOL This is the difference between North and South coasts. Hurricanes are another day at the office. Granddaddy and my uncle owned marinas in Charleston so during storms I worked the docks, not hunker down but on the docks securing boats and bailing them out. And rode a few out in a couple different boats. Now if they call for snow, ohh hell no, All the stores are sold out, old furniture is broke to firewood so we don't go outside a 1/2" will shut the city down longer than most storms. Any snow patches it's too dangerous to go out of the house
I survived a super Typhoon pn a Rocna ,then on a Mantus and them on a Fortress Anchor. The eye center was 30 miles fro. My location. As the wind rotated my boat was hanguing on a different anchor. Maximum wind speed recorded was 130 knots. This was after the center pass over us and the Fortress toko all the wind powe Then the Met tower flew away... Puerto Galeras ,Philippine . SV Zazen. Vancouver 27 🇧🇷
Me, too. In 1979, I think, on the 34' junk schooner Batwing of Seattle. Not long after Mt. St. Helens blew up. In the little hole surrounded by mangroves, with lines and anchors willynilly in all directions. The hole is too small to swing to an anchor. What a terrific typhoon hole it was! I have no idea what the wind speed was, as I had very little instruments of any kind. I do know I had to crouch and pull myself along on deck hand to hand to check the anti-chafing gear. Leaving your boat to ride it out alone leaves no one managing chafe.
Went through hurricane camille off of gulfport mississippi in 69 with my Dad in a 36 ft yawl , i'll try to write something but was 12 years old an mostly remember trying to hold on and pump and it was really loud we sat on the side it was laid right over and the water came in like a squirt gun or something and the boat was thrown all over , at the time thought it was part of learning to sail wasn't till we got back in an Dad said look at that and there were boats stuck in the sides of buildings that i wondered about it , Dad was in the navy in ww2 so i figured it was normal , we sat an ate cookies and cadbury chocolate i was happy at the time never thought about danger was with Dad , now i figure trying to avoid hurricanes is a good idea 🙂
@@virginiai.3632 Well the boat was a 36 ft yawl named Seagull an i guess was built well an we were just out for a couple weeks sail in the gulf never knew a hurricane was coming and that's about it , the noise from the wind was something else pretty sure i lost some hearing from it , by the time Dad realized we were in for it was to late to try for harbour we were a couple days away an during it you get thrown around alot not sure if we got rolled sorta hard to tell or remember but the boat was rigged to sail around the world so never lost a mast or anything ,guess it was good practice for the horn but Dad died before we made the trip because that was the plan to take a year an sail around both horns , he loved the sea even after being sunk in ww2 in the north atlantic and that's where i scattered his ashs , guess pretty much it
I think there's so much more in this story I would love to know still; about the hurricane, your father, and the effect on your life. I was born in N MS a year after Camille and grew up always hearing reference to that hurricane. You rode it out, unawares and unprepared - a Cat 5. That's astounding to me. Thank you so much for your reply. I crave to shake your hand.
@@virginiai.3632 yep it was something , when we got back to gulfport there were boats stuck in the side of buildings and our house that was across the road from the beach was picked up an moved to the back of the yard and my mom had left the dog in it an sheltered in a school dunno where and a librarian that lived close to us tied himself in a tree and sheltered there if you can call it that , o the dog was fine and lived a long life think almost twenty years and my mom had filled the bathtub with water it was still there after the storm um Dad recaulked the boat and we got a radio and direction finder that i still have um still have the selfsteering to but the boat is long gone , an to be honest i sailed the rest of my life and have always loved storms , not that one though
yours is a great story.. I stayed on a 25ft chris craft during Hurricane ian in 2022 gunk holed in the mangroves... and went for the ride of my life ?( all on video) ended up 20ft in the air in the mangroves for 10 hours till the coasties found me at 2am... needless to say I mite not have had a problem if I'd had a rocna.. I used 4 fluke anchors and a bridle.. if videos of me not being worried seems impossible I'll let u watch. the coasties were just as impressed.. braggery aside I luv yur informative videos even if I find sailboats useless in my environment...
My Nonsuch 30 survived Hurricane Gloria on a mooring in Sag Harbor. We had topsides gelcoat damage from other vessels whose moorings had dragged, but we were lucky. Broken masts protruded from the water, and some boats were lost.
Love your videos! Info, no nonsense, humor to boot. What’s the best and quickest way for a newbie to gain sailing and cruising knowledge? My husband and I want to take out 5 year old and cruise asap! I have health probs and they will get worse, so time is of the essence. I’ve convinced him we can do it lol, sorta the opposite if most couples. BUT he feels too inexperienced. We live in the mountains so yacht clubs are hard to come by. Should he (we) just head to the coast and take the ASA courses? What about a diesel engine course at a community college? Would someone looking for crew even want a total newb for crew? Could you make a video talking about some of those things? 🎉😊❤
6:18 were people in the houses fine with you tied the boat so closely to their houses? Were I in this situation, I will have that concern in mind. Wonderful story. Thanks a lot for sharing.
Once endured 75mph winds on the edge of a tornado on a lake in iowa 7ft waves and suffered maybe 10 knockdowns but she popped back up every time Chrysler 26
idk i believe you are correct the boat is a fiberglass death trap in front of a large hurricane but some "safe havens" on land can be just as much of a trap if you are new to an area as well.
Anchors, I bought a Danforth as a lunch hook and emergency tool. Advertised as strong but very light I brought it. One day I tried a test, pretended my boat was in a storm and all controllers compromised. I threw the anchor overboard and waited for it to take hold. After a few minutes and watching shore approach I turned to look around my rode and laughed as I saw my new anchor surfing on top of the water. Not an emergency anchor at all
This might explain better- the original video when it happened- it shows why the 2 anchors in the second half - ruclips.net/video/lIUxcKoF2GM/видео.htmlsi=3ONUqPKdXplQjrhQ
That explains it! Hey another question. Do you have or is there info out there about how long can a boat survive relatively unscathed from a beaching. Also is there info on salvaging boats that are beached and abandoned in US waters?
Although I agree about leaving the boat as there is probably nothing you can do, the insurer wouldn't cover you, if you leave your boat unattended for 24 hours at anchor (at least my policy).
In high waves or storm winds, have you ever tried putting a section of large rubber shock absorber between the anchor and boat? I've seen people (even in calm winds) do that, with a longer piece of rope or chain attached above and below the section of shock absorber. It almost eliminated the shock on the anchor and boat as it would slowly stretch and retract. If it did break, the longer piece of rope or chain would kick in. I know anything rubber or plastic would slowly get dry and snap.
I was in corfu in the limni bay on 50 meter of anchor.. because the marina was too expensive… d marine… then the medicane came, that would later devastate Libya… and boats started surfing… lightning at 300m of the boat… poor visibility… horizontal rain… 30-50kt winds… then another sail boat is dragging on anchor towards us…. He is on collision coars… Only thing I could do is drop more chain and reverse to “steer” away… then all my chain was down… 90m of 10mm chain… the other skipper finally is up on deck.. and fires up his engine… and steers on anchor whilst surfing… the masts almost hit.. because all the boats are angled… he moved his boat to another place and tried to re anchor. Nice first year of sailing on my 50ft jeanneau
My first real storm, on my first boat, with limited experience, this was month 2, we just came back from Albania.. wife crying down stairs, me more relaxed but also nervous.
My dad was a commander down at Tyndall AFB before Michael nearly wiped it off the map. (My dad's name was also Michael, coincidence?) Anyway, he had a 31 Hunter called Cool Change and sold it to a guy in Panama City right before the hurricane. I still wonder if it made it out ok. Lots of good memories with that boat and my old man.
Having recently purchased my first boat, the marina I’m keeping her at asked me, “What’s your hurricane plan?” Didn’t know I had to have one, I thought being in a marina was a hurricane plan. Now I have a month to figure it out.
High water surge can float your floating dock right over the pilings its attached to. Tie yourself and your dock to more than one floating dock and piling. :(
Good question- a number of reasons- difficulty getting on to shore to do that, the likelihood of the tree being uprooted by the hurricane, but mainly because, with the constantly shifting winds it was safer for Lady K to have a bit of slack and pivot and rotate between the 2 anchors - here is the video which might explain better ruclips.net/video/lIUxcKoF2GM/видео.htmlsi=U6mrfZUtDPgLV6jY
Anyone know what kind of boat is at 2:25? Looks like a late 80's, maybe early 90's boat but I'm not sure. Could it be European custom, built? @LadyKSailing, where did you get the photo if you don't mind me asking?
You need to give advice on 3rdparty story involvement. Mine involved lasting injury that I take my own responsibility for but which the cause was rooted in the actions and behaviours of a 3rd person. Definitely a moral/lesson to the storey. But I won't be airing it on your initiative this year due to potential hurt feelings or litigation. Maybe next year if your content idea grows legs.
actually here's the video if you want to watch, the second half of this ruclips.net/video/lIUxcKoF2GM/видео.htmlsi=w-SD_9meWRWgr1bo 2 anchors, 100 feet of chain on the smaller one, lots more chain and rode on the Rocna, did we need more? I don't know, we made out ok :) thanks for watching
You never never ever stay on the boat.Lost to many boats and sailors getting a big anchor.Then hide in the mangroves in the upper keys.Some times the boat and owner where never found.
Hmm, keep your boat away from rocks and other solid stuff. Waves are mean, when they get near a coast, that is what tuns ships upside down. Even tanker size ships are at risk. Screaming Sixties and further south is no good idea, either, I was told. Basic things like keep your boat floating might prove to be important one day. Small yachts can be designed giving up storage room, having enough foam installed and the yacht will float no matter what. Sinking? There goes your drinking water! See? You NEED that boat for survival. And in Hurricane Waters, there was that old man on the radio, helping yachts to get to safe marina's or ancherages in time, or direct them away from the violence.
I appreciate the story you told , people can learn from your mistakes, that takes courage, especially on the internet. However, I think you should have expressed plainly how dumb it was to stay on the boat. Everything you said at the end was correct but that really should have been obvious to you from the get go considering your past experience. That really was a bad call, sit out a hurricane on a boat yikes!
In the tropics, find a tight little mangrove hole. At any rate find a tiny nook too small for you to swing to one anchor. Have many anchors, many lines, and stay with the boat and tend your anti-chafing gear. I've done it various times.
A good story and a happy ending. Your conclusion (wait out a hurricane OFF the boat) is well founded. I am the only survivor when my 37' boat was lost at anchor during category 4 cyclone Meli in Fiji. My father and wife both drowned. I washed ashore on an uninhabited island and spent three days there before paddling a raft with palm fronds 12 miles to another island where I was eventually rescued. My mistake was not sending everyone ashore BEFORE the cyclone arrived. No one need have died had I done that - and once the wind gets over 70 or 80 knots there is nothing one can do to save an anchored boat anyway and no way to safely make it to shore.
wow! so sorry for your loss :(
What a tragic way to end a cruise! So sorry for your loss.
@@Davidcallard Thanks. There is really no way to get over it either. On the other hand, my youngest daughter and her fiance' are just starting out on their Hollmann 52, and I am going along to visit old ports and act as senior advisor. I hope to do better this time.
@Morrisfactor that's great news about your daughter. 52 ' is a very good size for a live-aboard boat, esp if there could be a prospect of an increase in the population in the coming years!
I think a boat is so much better value than an overpriced and underbuilt house! My late father used to call a house 🏠 a failed attempt at building a yacht that is permanently moored to the footpath!
Cheers, David.
--Your first mistake was being in Fiji when the cyclone arrived.
--52 feet is too big for a first boat!
Thanks for including what you learned, and for asking others to do the same.
All too often I follow a boating channel and eventually get to their big near-disaster moment. After they survive I look for helpful lessons, and I get crickets. In some cases they just move on to other footage they think will attract views. In other cases they avoid or ignore my questions about what they would do differently. That's when I discover which creators want to actually help other sailors and which ones just want to point the camera at themselves and generate clicks. Thanks for being in the first category!
A real story, just the way it happened always has an audience.Even better with a talented storyteller like Michael.
Thank you for sharing.
Thanks for watching!
A good tale to tell, notes taken, and lessons learned. The best kind. I look forward to reading the stories. Take care, Tim. Fair winds.
Thanks, you too!
Great story. Great idea. We love the new content you’re bringing to Practical Sailor. Thanks!
Thank you so much!
I love hearing about how you succeeded in riding it out and also what you would not do in hindsight. It's very helpful to have the opportunity to learn from others' mistakes, as well as their successes.
Thanks for watching!
My first sailboat experience in a hurricane was 1979. Hurricane David slammed Port Canaveral and I rode it out in Ocala, FL...80 miles inland with my mom. I had left my Catalina 22 tied to two palm trees in the barge canal on Merritt Island. I was lucky. A 73 foot long shrimp boat ended up on the land right on one of my "anchor rode lines." A tractor I borrowed from my Dad got them back in the water, and I didn't have to pay for shrimp all through college!
wow! good story!
I remember David
I can only imagine how busy you are these days, but I’m sure I’m not the only one with these sentiments.. we love it when you upload a new video, just wish there were more. Cheers 🍻
Thank you so much!
Great tale and idea for sharing sea stories. Looking forward to reading/seeing them 😎
7:30 because it was connected to directly anchor.
Good story though a minor correction. Michael landed in Florida, about an hour from where I live, in Port St Joe. Going through it on land was not much fun either, especially when the tree fell on our house. I know a lot of people joke about Floridians and hurricanes, but having lived on the Gulf Coast for 50+ years, I can assure you they are no joke. I definitely wouldn't want to ride one out on a boat.
My bad - thanks for watching!
I lost my sailboat in Hurricane Michael near Tindel Air Force Base, between Mexico Beach and Panama City, Florida
@@stanRmeyer But you can still type comments. Glad YOU survived. Well done.
We have a story but definitely no pictures! Just gratitude for having survived🙏🏼
THIS was EXCELLENT! Thanks
Glad you enjoyed it!
A great story, Tim. One of your best. And it brings to mind something I’m now discovering having spent most of the last four summers living on and sailing my 34footer. When you begin sailing, you’re so worried about getting things right that you constantly double and even triple check. As time goes on, though, complacency starts to set in, and that’s where the real danger lies. It’s really hard not to take things for granted. I have to keep telling myself I’ll always be a novice, and try to apply the same standard of caution that served me so well when I first started sailing my boat.
Super typhoon package in guam on-board sv Moondance. Crazy night...
I purchased my 25kg (55lbs) Rocna straight from Peter Smith in NZ back in 2005. I re-hot galvanised it this year after many thousands of drops. It has been a very reliable companion with only the occasional dragging. About 7 years ago, I improved my ground tackle by adding 3m of 13mm chain (12kg or 26lbs) to the shaft for even better holding power. I am very happy with current setup and it has seldom failed even in 50-60kn+ conditions. So it’s 25kg Rocna, swivel, 12kg of chain over 3m, A Kong connector and then 60m (200ft) of 8mm chain. The 3m chain was chosen because it’s the distance between my bow roller and the windlass which is calibrated for the 8mm chain. I of course never keep the load on the windlass but tie of the chain with an anchor hook and nylon bridle to heavy duty cleats and leave a decent catenary to keep the chain as horizontal as possible and to absorb shocks. For the rest, Tim’s advice of leaving the boat (if realistic & possible) is very sound and what I read elsewhere.
Thanks for the story Tim. I’m a wordsmith but have no story yet. Emphasis on yet. I want to thank you for the reminder to double check the rigging. There was a shackle on our back stay which has nothing to stop it from shaking loose. Need to fix.
Great teaching story. Also like your idea to add others stories and photos for publishing. Thanks to your channel. Well done.
Thank you for watching!
Excellent video Tim. - thank you!
Thanks for watching!
I remember that storm. Off of Back Creek, there is a skipjack, the Dee of St. Mary's, and the WB Tennison, a buy boat. Had to help tie them down. The adage was lines, lines, and more lines. Tied to anything stationary.
BTW, the Patuxent sounds like Pa like what you call your father, tux as in the short name for tuxedo, ent sounded out.
After 50 knots it gets real and you need to be in survival mode. I have experienced 3 cyclones. All In fiji.2 onboard. 100 knots feels and sounds like a jet engine is above youre head.
The difference between 70 knot squalls and 70 knot cyclones is sea state. The cyclone sea state is enormous.
Wind pressure increases as the square of the wind speed. So 70 knots isn't twice the force of 35 knots, but equivalent to the pressure of 35 knots x 35 knots.
The formula is for mph, so for nmph, multiply the windspeed by 1.15 = 80.5 nmph for the higher figure, and 40.25 nmph
So the pressure goes from about 4 pounds per square foot to over 16 pounds per square feet! [80.5 x 80.5] x .00256 =16.5 psf
The best place to ride out a gale is on a bar stool. And the boat should be high and dry in a field. A car tyre and a massive cast iron keel is also a help. After that a sympathetic bank manager for when the bar tab arrives. Great episode captain.
jeepers so captivating wonderful story, for Lady K she had your back :)
I don’t blame you for not wanting to stay aboard, when Matthew hit, I was living in an apt just above the dock and was able to keep an eye on mine and check on it throughout the storm, but I wouldn’t have wanted to be on her on the hook, that’s for sure. One thing worth considering for your future plans though, you may want to secure a hotel before dealing with the boat. History has shown that virtually every hotel within hours gets booked pretty quickly by people fleeing their coastal homes during hurricanes. By the way, I have family living on the Neuse River, they lost 50+ trees in their yard and had roof damage during Florence, she was no joke!
Speaking of being at dock in a hurricane, storm surge can lift a floating dock right over the top of a pilings. Also, floating docks can be pulled apart by waves and dock lines pulling on them.
@@timdunn2257 definitely! As my first Hurricane experience I was beginning to get concerned about that as the water rose, fortunately my marina has very tall pylons and it never got anywhere near that. The water did come up over the marina wall though and over the walkway between the apartments and marina. I had to wade through 6” of water and walk UP the ramp to the floating dock when I checked on the boat at one point. 😬
I set two anchors off the bow at about 20° apart
Plus use plugged drogues as flopper stoppers
Off the bow and Stern
+ Anchor alarm
But yes
If it's bad really bad and you can go some place to hunker down that is the wisest
Looking forward to more stories & vids
Nice story and important learning, thank you. 👍
I’ve lived in the Chesapeake Bay all my like Norfolk Va. kinda get used to the threat of storms. I’m a full time liveaboard so I ride out storms in the marina.
Crewing on a 70 meter tallship, we were in Porto, waiting out a major storm in the Biscayne. The organisation was very anxious to get the boat moving again, they had us leave port as soon as the winds cleared, but the swell remained high when we head out of the port. The ship slammed so bad, there were so many broken things, including a dishwasher that unfastened from a wall and crashed across the rear quarters into the engineers's quarters. He was not in his bunk luckily. Engine batteries toppled over after their retaining straps broke! Don't just worry about the wind, swell can be just as dangerous if not more so! It was a bit of a miracle that the only serious injury was a cuncossion. This is a vessel that was built for the North Sea, a 1 ton vessel with quite a lot of lead in the keel, so if we suffered major damage, I can't imagine what a typical production sailboat would have endured out there!
Wow! Glad you are safe
The very reason I changed my anchor from a CQR to a Rocna. No worries and I’m looking forward to using it this season
I agree about the Rocna being a better anchor. I almost always used all chain rode, and the anchor never came under very much strain.
Very interesting story and a lot To think about, I think we always think about staying with our boat in case we could do something. But you're right, there's very little you can do besides prepare well. If the anchorage does decide to drag, all you can do is hope it catches again. You're not really going to have an opportunity to make any adjustments anywhere
That was quite the hair raising tale ! and yours still look to be straight upwards from the experience 😹😸😹
But all fun aside , I do appreciate the story and the added wisdom about storm safety 🙏 / best regards from Montreal 😸😺
Well done
Keep the heavy side down... In motorcycling, we have a similar comment... Keep the shiny side up. I currently sail with friends who have boats. Well, I have a Catalina Capri 25 as a lake boat. But I don't have an ocean boat. I'll work on a story about crossing Tehuantepec Bay at the wrong time. Obviously, we survived. The boat was reuseable but not without a little work. The moral is to never let a schedule be more important than a weather window. We never saw 60 knots. But we did see 56 while motorsailing in shallow water. We lost some solar, used the shop vac to pump out the bilge, and had a far less than pleasant sail. I believe the boat is back in Ensenada now.
Thanks guys..
Thanks for watching!
@@LadyKSailing
My pleasure, thank you ☺️
We moved to Panama City 2 weeks before Hurricane Michael hit us and we rode it out in town. It was the most intense storm I’ve ever experienced. Take all hurricanes seriously, that’s what we learned.
One silly question for you experts... In such a situation, while you're going through whilst staying on the boat... could a solution be, to ease on an anchor, to get enough fuel so you could have the engine on for this day (or two), and have it on 10-20% of the throttle? This way you could help a chain/anchor a bit, at least for those most difficult moments? Although it would probably be hard to control it all the time... And what about the second anchor on the same (or separate) chain/rope, splitting the force? Sorry if the questions are stupid... 😕
That was a lot of running around. Check out 4-5' helic/auger anchoring. I used 2 to hold my boat fast on the ICW in FL, through many named storms. I drove them in using threaded plumbing pipes with a T on the top.
Thank you ! Have been in a storm on Great Lakes? I ask because this is the area I plan to sail.
Not really- some rain, yes, but so far I have been able to avoid serious weather
I've been through 2 hurricanes "on my boat." Don't stay on the boat!!! Both times I did everything possible and stayed in a hotel. The boat survived both, although it was holed in one (did not sink, but could have.)
I've sat out a few onboard, but maybe my hurricanes were not so strong as others mentioned here, or my hurricane holes were better.
Tim, glad that you survived and that you will be wiser next time
LOL This is the difference between North and South coasts. Hurricanes are another day at the office. Granddaddy and my uncle owned marinas in Charleston so during storms I worked the docks, not hunker down but on the docks securing boats and bailing them out. And rode a few out in a couple different boats. Now if they call for snow, ohh hell no, All the stores are sold out, old furniture is broke to firewood so we don't go outside a 1/2" will shut the city down longer than most storms. Any snow patches it's too dangerous to go out of the house
200 yards of chain on the anchor will work as a damper and with a table cloth anchor sail to prevent the boat from sailing on it’s own.
Sailing Uma road out a hurricane in Haiti, and documented on their channel. Steps 53-55.
You are a real sailor 🎉
I survived a super Typhoon pn a Rocna ,then on a Mantus and them on a Fortress Anchor. The eye center was 30 miles fro. My location. As the wind rotated my boat was hanguing on a different anchor. Maximum wind speed recorded was 130 knots. This was after the center pass over us and the Fortress toko all the wind powe Then the Met tower flew away... Puerto Galeras ,Philippine . SV Zazen. Vancouver 27 🇧🇷
Me, too. In 1979, I think, on the 34' junk schooner Batwing of Seattle. Not long after Mt. St. Helens blew up. In the little hole surrounded by mangroves, with lines and anchors willynilly in all directions. The hole is too small to swing to an anchor. What a terrific typhoon hole it was! I have no idea what the wind speed was, as I had very little instruments of any kind. I do know I had to crouch and pull myself along on deck hand to hand to check the anti-chafing gear. Leaving your boat to ride it out alone leaves no one managing chafe.
Went through hurricane camille off of gulfport mississippi in 69 with my Dad in a 36 ft yawl , i'll try to write something but was 12 years old an mostly remember trying to hold on and pump and it was really loud we sat on the side it was laid right over and the water came in like a squirt gun or something and the boat was thrown all over , at the time thought it was part of learning to sail wasn't till we got back in an Dad said look at that and there were boats stuck in the sides of buildings that i wondered about it , Dad was in the navy in ww2 so i figured it was normal , we sat an ate cookies and cadbury chocolate i was happy at the time never thought about danger was with Dad , now i figure trying to avoid hurricanes is a good idea 🙂
I'd love to hear more of that story!
@@virginiai.3632 Well the boat was a 36 ft yawl named Seagull an i guess was built well an we were just out for a couple weeks sail in the gulf never knew a hurricane was coming and that's about it , the noise from the wind was something else pretty sure i lost some hearing from it , by the time Dad realized we were in for it was to late to try for harbour we were a couple days away an during it you get thrown around alot not sure if we got rolled sorta hard to tell or remember but the boat was rigged to sail around the world so never lost a mast or anything ,guess it was good practice for the horn but Dad died before we made the trip because that was the plan to take a year an sail around both horns , he loved the sea even after being sunk in ww2 in the north atlantic and that's where i scattered his ashs , guess pretty much it
I think there's so much more in this story I would love to know still; about the hurricane, your father, and the effect on your life. I was born in N MS a year after Camille and grew up always hearing reference to that hurricane.
You rode it out, unawares and unprepared - a Cat 5. That's astounding to me.
Thank you so much for your reply. I crave to shake your hand.
@@virginiai.3632 yep it was something , when we got back to gulfport there were boats stuck in the side of buildings and our house that was across the road from the beach was picked up an moved to the back of the yard and my mom had left the dog in it an sheltered in a school dunno where and a librarian that lived close to us tied himself in a tree and sheltered there if you can call it that , o the dog was fine and lived a long life think almost twenty years and my mom had filled the bathtub with water it was still there after the storm um Dad recaulked the boat and we got a radio and direction finder that i still have um still have the selfsteering to but the boat is long gone , an to be honest i sailed the rest of my life and have always loved storms , not that one though
Should extra ballast, like full water tanks, help or hurt?
Another great vid. Thank you
Useful stories are great
Heave 2, sea archers etc…
yours is a great story.. I stayed on a 25ft chris craft during Hurricane ian in 2022 gunk holed in the mangroves... and went for the ride of my life ?( all on video) ended up 20ft in the air in the mangroves for 10 hours till the coasties found me at 2am... needless to say I mite not have had a problem if I'd had a rocna.. I used 4 fluke anchors and a bridle.. if videos of me not being worried seems impossible I'll let u watch. the coasties were just as impressed.. braggery aside I luv yur informative videos even if I find sailboats useless in my environment...
My Nonsuch 30 survived Hurricane Gloria on a mooring in Sag Harbor. We had topsides gelcoat damage from other vessels whose moorings had dragged, but we were lucky. Broken masts protruded from the water, and some boats were lost.
Thank you Tim
Thanks for watching!
Excellent Story, As a west coastie - we never experience what the East does on the regular :)
Yes like your RUclips story
Wow! Proper story!
thanks so much for watching!
Love your videos! Info, no nonsense, humor to boot. What’s the best and quickest way for a newbie to gain sailing and cruising knowledge?
My husband and I want to take out 5 year old and cruise asap! I have health probs and they will get worse, so time is of the essence. I’ve convinced him we can do it lol, sorta the opposite if most couples. BUT he feels too inexperienced. We live in the mountains so yacht clubs are hard to come by.
Should he (we) just head to the coast and take the ASA courses? What about a diesel engine course at a community college? Would someone looking for crew even want a total newb for crew?
Could you make a video talking about some of those things? 🎉😊❤
Good story and a very good point . At which time do you say I could do nothing and would be safer on land
6:18 were people in the houses fine with you tied the boat so closely to their houses? Were I in this situation, I will have that concern in mind. Wonderful story. Thanks a lot for sharing.
Excellent takeaway. Thx
Glad you liked it!
Once endured 75mph winds on the edge of a tornado on a lake in iowa
7ft waves and suffered maybe 10 knockdowns but she popped back up every time
Chrysler 26
idk i believe you are correct the boat is a fiberglass death trap in front of a large hurricane but some "safe havens" on land can be just as much of a trap if you are new to an area as well.
Anchors, I bought a Danforth as a lunch hook and emergency tool. Advertised as strong but very light I brought it. One day I tried a test, pretended my boat was in a storm and all controllers compromised. I threw the anchor overboard and waited for it to take hold. After a few minutes and watching shore approach I turned to look around my rode and laughed as I saw my new anchor surfing on top of the water. Not an emergency anchor at all
wow!
Right on, great content as allways. Some sailiing lessons should be passed along it could save someone a lot of hard ship. A+ Video
thanks for watching!
Why did you set a stern hook? At 6:20 it shows the anchor rode being set from the bow. I am confused.
This might explain better- the original video when it happened- it shows why the 2 anchors in the second half - ruclips.net/video/lIUxcKoF2GM/видео.htmlsi=3ONUqPKdXplQjrhQ
Thanks!
That explains it! Hey another question. Do you have or is there info out there about how long can a boat survive relatively unscathed from a beaching. Also is there info on salvaging boats that are beached and abandoned in US waters?
Although I agree about leaving the boat as there is probably nothing you can do, the insurer wouldn't cover you, if you leave your boat unattended for 24 hours at anchor (at least my policy).
In high waves or storm winds, have you ever tried putting a section of large rubber shock absorber between the anchor and boat? I've seen people (even in calm winds) do that, with a longer piece of rope or chain attached above and below the section of shock absorber. It almost eliminated the shock on the anchor and boat as it would slowly stretch and retract. If it did break, the longer piece of rope or chain would kick in. I know anything rubber or plastic would slowly get dry and snap.
Hey my sim racing rig looks just like that one in the back.
Sound advise on what to think about and hide from the hurricane winds.
Add an anchor with 25 feet of chain in series with your primary if you never want to drag
If you have a much smaller anchor, what about wrapping it with chain for extra weight, just for the storm?
I was in corfu in the limni bay on 50 meter of anchor.. because the marina was too expensive… d marine… then the medicane came, that would later devastate Libya… and boats started surfing… lightning at 300m of the boat… poor visibility… horizontal rain… 30-50kt winds… then another sail boat is dragging on anchor towards us…. He is on collision coars… Only thing I could do is drop more chain and reverse to “steer” away… then all my chain was down… 90m of 10mm chain… the other skipper finally is up on deck.. and fires up his engine… and steers on anchor whilst surfing… the masts almost hit.. because all the boats are angled… he moved his boat to another place and tried to re anchor. Nice first year of sailing on my 50ft jeanneau
Wow!
My first real storm, on my first boat, with limited experience, this was month 2, we just came back from Albania.. wife crying down stairs, me more relaxed but also nervous.
LOL. 50kt isn't so much wind.
Good story.
thanks for watching!
How many other Chesapeake sailors cringed at Patuxent (pa-tux-ent). Love ya regardless!
My dad was a commander down at Tyndall AFB before Michael nearly wiped it off the map. (My dad's name was also Michael, coincidence?) Anyway, he had a 31 Hunter called Cool Change and sold it to a guy in Panama City right before the hurricane. I still wonder if it made it out ok. Lots of good memories with that boat and my old man.
Having recently purchased my first boat, the marina I’m keeping her at asked me, “What’s your hurricane plan?” Didn’t know I had to have one, I thought being in a marina was a hurricane plan. Now I have a month to figure it out.
High water surge can float your floating dock right over the pilings its attached to. Tie yourself and your dock to more than one floating dock and piling. :(
I have a 35# Mantus (similar to a Rocna) on a 30ft boat, dreaming of a 45# Mantus.
Why could you not secure the boat to a tree on land?
Good question- a number of reasons- difficulty getting on to shore to do that, the likelihood of the tree being uprooted by the hurricane, but mainly because, with the constantly shifting winds it was safer for Lady K to have a bit of slack and pivot and rotate between the 2 anchors - here is the video which might explain better ruclips.net/video/lIUxcKoF2GM/видео.htmlsi=U6mrfZUtDPgLV6jY
Anyone know what kind of boat is at 2:25? Looks like a late 80's, maybe early 90's boat but I'm not sure. Could it be European custom, built? @LadyKSailing, where did you get the photo if you don't mind me asking?
This might be a dumb question. How do you salvage those sailboats trashed in the pictures? Crane them out and write them off or repair?
Pretty much 😊
The VINwiki of sailing. Great idea.
Can you make a video on buying hurricane damaged boats?
Love You men :)
No banana in the background, but I can’t see what’s written on the board. This screen is getting smaller or I need new glasses.
Thanks for the story.
Can you please tell me what youtube video your thumbnail came from?
I have often said I would take a buzzard in Canada over a hurricane in the US
Blizzard?
What size Rocna did you have?
55 lb
A suggested video
HURRICANE SURVIVAL TACTICS (I Stayed on the boat in HAITI) - Sailing Uma [Step 54]
You need to give advice on 3rdparty story involvement.
Mine involved lasting injury that I take my own responsibility for but which the cause was rooted in the actions and behaviours of a 3rd person. Definitely a moral/lesson to the storey.
But I won't be airing it on your initiative this year due to potential hurt feelings or litigation.
Maybe next year if your content idea grows legs.
It sounds like he had only one anchor and set of chain and nylon rode. Have more. Lots more.
actually here's the video if you want to watch, the second half of this ruclips.net/video/lIUxcKoF2GM/видео.htmlsi=w-SD_9meWRWgr1bo
2 anchors, 100 feet of chain on the smaller one, lots more chain and rode on the Rocna, did we need more? I don't know, we made out ok :) thanks for watching
@@LadyKSailing Yes, I think you need more, for exactly this situation.
thank you!
You never never ever stay on the boat.Lost to many boats and sailors getting a big anchor.Then hide in the mangroves in the upper keys.Some times the boat and owner where never found.
I Knew a Guy who Died in Vanuatu during a Cyclone , Boats Dragged and Smashed Each Other to Pieces .
Aight I'mma watch me a storm now.
Hmm, keep your boat away from rocks and other solid stuff. Waves are mean, when they get near a coast, that is what tuns ships upside down. Even tanker size ships are at risk. Screaming Sixties and further south is no good idea, either, I was told. Basic things like keep your boat floating might prove to be important one day. Small yachts can be designed giving up storage room, having enough foam installed and the yacht will float no matter what. Sinking? There goes your drinking water! See? You NEED that boat for survival. And in Hurricane Waters, there was that old man on the radio, helping yachts to get to safe marina's or ancherages in time, or direct them away from the violence.
hola que tal. saludos
Go algyrithum go
I appreciate the story you told , people can learn from your mistakes, that takes courage, especially on the internet. However, I think you should have expressed plainly how dumb it was to stay on the boat. Everything you said at the end was correct but that really should have been obvious to you from the get go considering your past experience. That really was a bad call, sit out a hurricane on a boat yikes!
In the tropics, find a tight little mangrove hole. At any rate find a tiny nook too small for you to swing to one anchor. Have many anchors, many lines, and stay with the boat and tend your anti-chafing gear. I've done it various times.
It sounds like that you are copying The Confessional from Yachting Monthly in Gt Britain!!
Why do I want more people sailing?
Thanks for the story, good info. Did you consider motoring ahead a little when the wind got up to take a little of the pressure off the anchor?
Seems to me that I did, long time ago- here’s the original video- it’s in the second half. ruclips.net/video/lIUxcKoF2GM/видео.htmlsi=HeCTHmntFHEv9-1L