| I'm sure you'll get a lot of response to this from those of us who
prepared for and survived (at least most of us) Gloria.
First of all, being tied to a dock is about the worst place to try to
ride out a hurricaine. Most of the damage done by Gloria in
Narragansset Bay happened to boats at dockside. In some cases, boats
broke loose and bashed into the boats docked next to them. In others,
the docks themselves broke loose, causing real damage to dozens of
boats in the same marina.
In general, you're better off on a mooring or at anchor since your boat
will swing into the wind and reduce her own windage. Even if you're on
a mooring, you will still want to put out an anchor or two with pleanty
of scope. The tidal surge from a hurricaine can do unbelieveable
damage if it hits at high tide.
Following are a few precautions you can take:
1. Reduce your windage as much as possible. Take off the sails,
boom, dodger, and anything else that will create resistance to the wind or
bang around.
2. Unload as much as possible. In the best case, you'll increase
bouyancy and reduce weight, reducing the amount of strain on your
lines. In the worst case, you'll have a start on equipping your
next boat.
3. Lash down the helm. The veering and pounding can easily break
your rudder loose, slamming it back and forth.
4. Use all the dock lines you have, then double them up and go buy
some more. If you do moor or anchor, tie a bridle to even out the
strain. In any case, use pleanty of chafing gear - leather is probably
best, but cut up garden hose is better than nothing.
5. Don't go down with your ship. Get off of it and go home and buy
batteries. A couple of people died on their boats during Gloria by
staying on them to "protect" them. One man in Bristol had a heart
attack and couldn't get off the boat to get medical help. The next
morning the boat was fine, he was dead.
I hope Gabriel misses everyone.
Adam
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