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10 Hurricane Tips for Boaters
By Kevin Falvey, Boating Magazine
- Storm surge causes the most damage to boats, not wind. Make sure to slack your lines.
- Because of storm surge boats fare better at marinas with floating docks and tall pilings compared to fixed docks, or floats and short pilings.
- Whether battening down ashore, or afloat, reduce windage by lowering antennas and removing canvas.
- Make sure your batteries are charged—especially if you don’t have a generator that they will run the bilge pumps. Wiring in extras in parallel isn’t a bad idea, since if power goes out, so does shorepower.
- The safest dry stack marinas, generally, are those built after 1992. In the wake of hurricane Andrew, these facilities were rebuilt and reengineered.
- Double your dock lines, leaving the second set a bit slack of the first. This way, if the first chafes through, the doublers will be fresh for the duration.
- Boats stored on land should be lashed to anchors in the ground, not just blocked up or left on a trailer.
- Check your insurance policy now: Make sure you have “named storm coverage”—and be sure ask what happens if a storm rolls through without a name.
- Act early. Hauling, tying down, moving to a hurricane hole at the last minute ensures some things wont get done.
- Be wary of flotsam and debris lurking in the water following a storm.
Takeaway: “Be prepared.”
-Boy Scouts of America Motto