Tropical Storm Hermine

S

South of Heaven

New member
My 25 is in my marina in Cape Cod. I'm preparing for the worst if Hermine or the effects get close to RI/MA and I don't want my new boat anywhere close to a dock!

I own a helix mooring in a fairly protected bay in front of my parents summer house. I'm gonna move my boat from the slip to the mooring on Saturday night after I get back from some boating. While on the mooring and hunkering down for potential big rains, swells and winds; what else should I be aware of??

I don't have many other boats close by to me but there is my neighbors dock which is about 50 feet (at it's closest) from my potential swinging radius.

I'm really hoping that this storm doesn't hit the southern coast of Mass. hard......fingers crossed.
 
If you think that there is any chance of any named storm hitting where your boat is, get it out of the water and inland on its trailer, well above storm surge. I don't care how good that you feel the mooring is.

A good friend of mine, lived in St. Croix, VI, He had told me how safe his boat was on its Helix Mooring (As I recollect, he had 3 helix screwed in, and inspected yearly.)....He had been thru many hurricanes on the mooring. The next year, his boat was lost.

The dangers are not from wind, waves, any point of mooring failure, not even from cleat or attachment failure (with a bridle) But also from other boats coming loose--either on moorings or anchor--and hitting your boat.

I posted "good luck" to Marc Grove at Wefings, and any other C Brats in the area of the projected land fall.
 
Oh, definitely Bob. As of today they are forecasting winds of 15-25 knots with a big surge. If those numbers start creeping up into the 30's and 40's then i have no problem pulling the boat out. My marina will help me.

I'm not overly concerned right now but definitely keeping an eye out. I'll make my decision by Saturday night.
 
We boat in Charlotte Harbor, FL and storm surge in our canal can be a major issue with our docks under water and water in the back yard and close to the home but no inside flooding to date.
High water can last for days to weeks. Low water before a big storm can also be an issue and cant access the lift and docks. It depends on the storm intensity and direction.

Good luck

m2cw I would pull the boat to safe ground
 
One other thing to think about. On my 2011 CD25 if I get more than small waves on a mooring water starts pumping up into the boat through the scuppers! Bow up ..stern down.....bow down ....stern up...great water pump. I discovered this last year on a dive trip. Yes....the bilge pump kept up but turned on every 5 minutes or so. I'd hate to see what would happen if the batteries went down. Lots of water! Now we put in plugs when we dive off of a mooring ball. The scuppers system is different on other 25's and may not have the problem. Of course if the plugs are installed the cockpit is not self bailing. I only use them on a mooring ball or when we have 5 or so people in the cockpit.

The advantage of having a trailer boat is you can "Get out of Dodge". I've been in the Keys when storms were on the way. Bigger boats had to ride it out. I just towed it home.

Enjoy your 25....I know you will......Tom
 
I'd be lying if I said I wasn't getting nervous. This morning it was beautiful, not a breath of wind at all, fairly cool and sunny. In the last 20 minutes the skies have turned very dark.

Our boat sits under a very large oak tree on its trailer in our driveway and Ill be moving it out later today to the parking lot of my office where there's no trees to fall on it. It looks like its projected to be a direct hit to our location. Between 5 and 10 inches of rain, 60-70 mph winds all to coincide with a very large high tide, should be interesting in Savannah and the barrier islands.
 
Avidmagnum12":3k145uiq said:
One other thing to think about. On my 2011 CD25 if I get more than small waves on a mooring water starts pumping up into the boat through the scuppers! Bow up ..stern down.....bow down ....stern up...great water pump. I discovered this last year on a dive trip. Yes....the bilge pump kept up but turned on every 5 minutes or so. I'd hate to see what would happen if the batteries went down. Lots of water! Now we put in plugs when we dive off of a mooring ball. The scuppers system is different on other 25's and may not have the problem. Of course if the plugs are installed the cockpit is not self bailing. I only use them on a mooring ball or when we have 5 or so people in the cockpit.

The advantage of having a trailer boat is you can "Get out of Dodge". I've been in the Keys when storms were on the way. Bigger boats had to ride it out. I just towed it home.

Enjoy your 25....I know you will......Tom
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Good info Tom. I'll keep that in mind. Im probably gonna be staying on the boat while on the mooring so I can keep an eye on her....plus it'll be fun! It's all a new adventure right now. Anytime on the boat is precious since my work week is so hectic.
 
Im probably gonna be staying on the boat while on the mooring so I can keep an eye on her....plus it'll be fun! It's all a new adventure right now. Anytime on the boat is precious since my work week is so hectic.
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Jason, I am sure that you would get the boat on the trailer, and out of harms way in a prudent manor. One thine to remember that hurricanes can change strength, direction and course, very rapidly. We had one which was a 1 when everyone went to bed at 10PM and it made landfall the next Morning as a 4.

Staying on board a boat, even a 25 footer, during a hurricane, is not a good idea. There is little you can do, against he forces of a storm. The forces increase exponentially with the wind velocity! Lives are lost in storms--for example in Avalon, Ca. 2 lives were lost about a year and a half ago, during a 40 knot storm.

In areas where hurricanes can be a way of life, getting the boat secured is done very early in the preparation cycle. One thing many don't think about is getting all canvas, and any item which might increase windage off the boat. I have even seen sailors put "riding" sails on their boats--thinking that it will make the boat safer by riding directly into the wind....it does to work--and any windage increases potential for damage. Roads get shut down, ramps are unsafe because of increased storm surge, putting a boat on a trailer doing even early storm conditions can be far more dangerous...
 
thataway":2rct8ufm said:
Im probably gonna be staying on the boat while on the mooring so I can keep an eye on her....plus it'll be fun! It's all a new adventure right now. Anytime on the boat is precious since my work week is so hectic.
Click to expand...

Jason, I am sure that you would get the boat on the trailer, and out of harms way in a prudent manor. One thine to remember that hurricanes can change strength, direction and course, very rapidly. We had one which was a 1 when everyone went to bed at 10PM and it made landfall the next Morning as a 4.

Staying on board a boat, even a 25 footer, during a hurricane, is not a good idea. There is little you can do, against he forces of a storm. The forces increase exponentially with the wind velocity! Lives are lost in storms--for example in Avalon, Ca. 2 lives were lost about a year and a half ago, during a 40 knot storm.

In areas where hurricanes can be a way of life, getting the boat secured is done very early in the preparation cycle. One thing many don't think about is getting all canvas, and any item which might increase windage off the boat. I have even seen sailors put "riding" sails on their boats--thinking that it will make the boat safer by riding directly into the wind....it does to work--and any windage increases potential for damage. Roads get shut down, ramps are unsafe because of increased storm surge, putting a boat on a trailer doing even early storm conditions can be far more dangerous...
Click to expand...

Well, no matter what I'll be playing it by ear. Im not gonna jump the gun yet. No one in my marina has even talked about pulling boats yet. Its too early to predict; I'll have a much better idea by Saturday.

If its bad enough then I'll get the trailer. If its just low 20's to 30's then I'll be on the mooring.
 
Might be a handful to retrieve in high winds. My 22 likes to swing the bow downwind when the power comes off even in a heavy breeze. A 30 to 40 mph crosswind when trying to dock or load a trailer would be fun even before you count the wave action.
 
I echo Dr. Bob's good wishes above for Marc Grove at Wefing's and all other C-Brats in Hermine's path. Take care of yourselves and good luck. I'll be anxious to know everyone is AOK.
 
thataway":1g3c7gah said:
If you think that there is any chance of any named storm hitting where your boat is, get it out of the water and inland on its trailer, well above storm surge. I don't care how good that you feel the mooring is.

A good friend of mine, lived in St. Croix, VI, He had told me how safe his boat was on its Helix Mooring (As I recollect, he had 3 helix screwed in, and inspected yearly.)....He had been thru many hurricanes on the mooring. The next year, his boat was lost.

The dangers are not from wind, waves, any point of mooring failure, not even from cleat or attachment failure (with a bridle) But also from other boats coming loose--either on moorings or anchor--and hitting your boat.

I posted "good luck" to Marc Grove at Wefings, and any other C Brats in the area of the projected land fall.
Click to expand...



Bob

I hope you and Marie are high and dry

I seen some areas might receive 20 inches of rain. yikes
 
I have been at least a dozen hurricanes, including one at sea. (I am sure that many have been thru more than that.) They can be exceedingly dangerous. One thing many folks don't realize but if their boat damages other boats, which are properly moored, they are responsible for damage to that boat.

Hermine, appears on TV to be mild--but there are still a lot of hidden dangers. In this storm, the storm surge appears to be the major issue. The point of landfall is about 175 miles as the crow flies from our house. We have about a foot more water in the bayou--but no significant wind.

The weather channel makes a "show" out of events like this. In comparison to big storms, like Katrina,Rita, Ivan, Dennis etc which we had 11 to 12 years ago, it does not seem like much. But in places they are seeing wind gusts of 78 knots--tornadoes, and storm surges of over 9 feet. So it is certainly causing significant problems in the right upper (North East Quadrant) sector. If it had headed for our area, we would have been evacuated a day ago--boat, RV and vehicles moved to high ground. During Ivan, we had one boat in our lift over 15 feet above mean high water, and the other boat anchored/spiderwebbed between a number of trees and pilings. The storm surge was over 11 feet--over 80% of the houses in our neighborhood were not inhabitable, due to flooding, and trees falling on the houses. Winds hit 135 knots at a military base only 3 miles away, when the eye wall passed over.

Hopefully tomorrow Marc will weigh in and assure us that all is well!
 
Thanks for all the good wishes from all y'all . We are fine !
During the weather I made a batch of beer that should be ready for the gathering .A light sour pilsner named Hurricane Hermine Sour.
Anita and I watched some Netflix and had an unintentional day off .
We had very little rain , not too much wind , but east of us and south along the least populated part of Fl is where the eye of the storm hit . Thats as good a scenario as you can get on a larger scale .
Kinda put us behind rigging our new Tomcat for the Tampa Boat Show next weekend , bu I have an awesome crew and they will get it done !
Marc
 
She's still coming.....Winds are picking up now. There will be sustained winds of 25-35 in Cape Cod with gusts to 50. The worse part is that its gonna be stalled and stick around though Tuesday.

So I've decided to stay on my helix mooring. I tied two mooring lines to the pennant and have about 15 feet from my bow to the mooring. I also took down my bimini and stored it in the cabin (its nice having a big cabin now!). I also removed some other items and braced some of the things in the cabin which could fall/fly around.

That's about all I can do. The cockpit is self bailing and the bilge pumps are working so I'm not concerned about the rain. No one (that i noticed) in our bay pulled their boat out, so that gave me some peace of mind too.

Honestly, the biggest thing that I'm worried about is the cleat breaking!! How well engineered are the cleats on the 25's? How are they secured? Bolted and through the deck? What's the breaking load in lbs PSI? Are there any documented cases of a bow cleat breaking on a C D under load?
 
With several comments to pull it out and put it on the trailer for the storm, and knowing it's probably too late now, just curious why you chose to leave it in the water?
 
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