Anchoring in hurricanes

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gg562ggud485@reddit

How did your boat survive Hurricane Milton??

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I was out today doing my final engineering experiment to try and get it off the mud and mangroves. On its side. I’m giving in and calling the state to hand it over. Sadly the boat isn’t going to make it. The cost to save it just isn’t worth the value of the boat

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gg562ggud485@reddit

Sorry to hear, very sad outcome. Wish you the best.

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d27183n@reddit

OP. How did you fair?

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hobohustler@reddit (OP)

Lines held but I’m stuck in the mangroves. Bridge is still blocked so I haven’t been able to get to the boat. Manasota key is destroyed. I only saw one boat that was on anchor still in the bay. I found another one of the boats in a house. I abandoned the boat when the 15ft surge was predicted

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d27183n@reddit

Damn. glad you're safe. Hope your boat is ok too.

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hobohustler@reddit (OP)

Few hundred gallons of water inside. Probably done. Time for life phase 4

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Not-A-Blue-Falcon@reddit

Did the bilge pump give out?

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hobohustler@reddit (OP)

I can’t figure out what the deal is. I got power to the pump and it just can’t push water out. Clogged or the through hull is clogged with degree. I set it up to pump out of a port but battery power will be gone soon

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FarAwaySailor@reddit

CQR doesn't even have the SHHP classification used by insurers. That is a very low bar.

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IanSan5653@reddit

If have a significantly oversized anchor, very good holding, lots of scope, and all-chain rode, I'd say you've got a pretty good chance of being alright.

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johnbro27@reddit

years ago i read an interesting post-mortem on a typhoon that hit Baja when the fleet was there before they headed west. Many boats anchored were lost because the ground tackle fouled or was damaged by the bow roller assemblies. Primarily (IIRC) the issue was the combination of the hobby-horsing up and down combined with side forces (yawing) causing the tackle to either jump out of the fairlead or break the side plates, rollers, etc. I remember walking my marina photographing boats to see what kind of bow rollers they had and if I thought they could withstand this kind of violent action. Sadly, most of the newer production boats I saw i believe would fail in a bad storm.

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Kanthaka@reddit

Even if you have an all chain rode, you want a good size (length!) snubber to shock absorb for you; keep the anchor(s) in the ground. Don’t forget the chafe protection! And have some backup on hand.

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nylondragon64@reddit

If I lived down there my hurricane set up. I'd invest in a cradle or.

2 oversized cqr anchors daisy chained 20 feet. 100' if chain, weight at 25foot. At least 200' of oversized rode. Snuber tied off through leads to mast. Chaif geat .

Anchor like10 miles out. You know to strip down the boat. Boat will be chilling for the afterparty. Typical boats are safer off shore than near land. Especially sailboats.

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FarAwaySailor@reddit

Not to start another anchor thread but almost any modern anchor is better than a CQR in any conditions.

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nylondragon64@reddit

I don't know about that. Yes I know the rakor I'd amazing and there are better than cqr. But anyone I know that has one days it's a pain to break it free. My CQR 20lb has has multi boats in raft ups. In strong winds .For the money and dam good reliability. Tride and true for my. It's got almost a century of good about it. The important thing is how you set it up. Angled to dig they just set deeper.

One thing I'd add I'd anchor boys to retrieve them later.

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Redfish680@reddit

Anchor 10 miles out?!?!

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nylondragon64@reddit

5 to 10 I guess incase you drag. Less chance of hitting shore.

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AeroRep@reddit

Where can you anchor 5-10 miles out? That’s crazy.

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nylondragon64@reddit

I don't live in fla. So it depends. I am guessing op is gulf side. 5 miles out is still pretty shallow. I live on long island N.Y. guys go out fishing 5 to 10 miles all the time. 5 miles is like 27000 feet. The train station near my how is 2 and I can walk it easy. Not going to anchor that short off a lee shore in a storm.

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Anstigmat@reddit

Read this: https://www.cruisingworld.com/people/riders-on-the-storm/

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That-Makes-Sense@reddit

Good article, thanks. Newbie here. What does this part mean?

"There had been 55 boats anchored in Coral Bay. I counted only five of us still riding to our anchors. The mangroves and the beach road were lined with boats, two and three deep."

Does this mean only 5 out of the 55 boats that were in the bay, before the hurricane struck, were undamaged? In other words, 50 out of 55 boats were damaged?

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start3ch@reddit

50 at least broke free of their lines. Most likely got damaged significantly.

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That-Makes-Sense@reddit

Thanks.

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GhostBaron@reddit

Yes exactly

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hobohustler@reddit (OP)

Great read. I am feeling better about my plan. I’ll tie to the mangroves to get protection from the worst of the winds from the south. Let out the stern anchor when it shift to the west so I can point some into the wind. After the storm I’ll use that stern anchor line to pull me form the mangroves before the water surge goes away. I’ll just feel much safer tied to the mangroves than purely on anchor

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kirjapuri@reddit

https://www.amazon.com/Creative-Anchoring-Everything-Cruising-Related-ebook/dp/B00UR6RRS0 has great stories about anchoring and surviving most (and not surviving some) hurricanes as well.

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hobohustler@reddit (OP)

Reading it now. Thank you for this suggestion

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dwkfym@reddit

Go tandem - with one that is designed for it. Only way to increase overall holding power - multiple separate anchors either get fouled, or only one of them is working at a time.

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caeru1ean@reddit

According to Drew Frye's testing in "Rigging Modern Anchors" that is not true. A "V" configuration with two anchors set at 60-90 degrees is much more effective.

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dwkfym@reddit

There are other books that argue the other way - one of those endlessly debated topics. The V config, as I understood, is more for controlling swing.

But the tandem is the only one that has been scientifically tested.

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caeru1ean@reddit

What booos

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d27183n@reddit

I don't like the tandem set up for shifting winds. Hurricane winds clock. You need a single pivot point. Tandem anchor set up will cause chains to cross as boat rotates and anchors will fail/release. Will they reset?? Questionable. Use one big oversized anchor and stay awake the whole time ready to throw out back up if primary fails.

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Turbulent_Act77@reddit

He specifically referred to avoiding separate anchors and them crossing, which tells me he's saying put them in line together on one chain.

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d27183n@reddit

But even that won't work well when boat rotates around the anchors. Draw a simple force/load diagram. Now visualize heavy sea state. The boat will be pitching and rolling and rotating on anchors. All the load will go to anchor on shortest rode and it will fail first. It will not be able to reset. And will interfere with remaining anchor.

There is no good scenario with tandem anchors when winds are clocking.

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Turbulent_Act77@reddit

He's suggesting only one rode, two anchors in series on the same (that means only one single) chain. Resetting would be a gamble after a big direction change, but assuming it resets fine as it shifts it would likely not drag easy

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d27183n@reddit

Yes. I understand one rode. But two anchors on one rode cannot pivot about a single point. The anchor on the shortest rode will dislodge first as the boat rotates. And then interfere with other anchor.

It is far safer to use one oversized anchor. And even best to move the boat. Trying to ride out a massive storm is super sketchy. I know a few people who have tried and all regretted their decisions.

If however the plan is to restrict the boat from rotating about the anchors by securing the stern to land or mangroves, then utilizing multiple anchors on bow can work. But use two rodes and two anchors. One on port and one on starboard. Think med moor style.

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dwkfym@reddit

Your primary will need to be one that resets well, and it'll only be an issue if that one starts dragging. The secondary won't do anything until the primary drags a bit, where the secondary starts digging into the trough left by the primary. At its worst its as good as a single anchor. Winds don't shift quickly enough for a tandem set up to foul each other.

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whyrumalwaysgone@reddit

You are on the right track. For an anchor, I rode out a Cat 1 with a "gale hook", basically 2 anchors in series on a chain about 25ft apart in line with the projected winds.

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hobohustler@reddit (OP)

Just finished reading about how to do a tandem hook

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gg562ggud485@reddit

Sounds like you have a good plan for anchor setup. How deep is your spot? Will you be staying on board? Does your insurance have latitude requirements?

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FarAwaySailor@reddit

I have a lot of confidence in my anchor. I've been fine in 55kt catabatic winds with the boat skating about all over the place. Let out loads of chain, use some good snubbers and think hard about failure modes, contingency and chafe protection. Have a whole spare setup (anchor, chain, snubbers, strong points, chafe protection) all ready to deploy.

My preference if you're going to be on board would be for not tieing to things on shore as then you can't swing with the wind and will likely face it beam-on at some point.

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FalseRegister@reddit

Which type and size of anchor do you have?

Also, can you describe more the spare setup? Do you have an extra 80-90 of chain? By spare strong points you mean spare cleats in case one breaks?

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FarAwaySailor@reddit

I use a #5 Sarca Excel with 80m of 10mm chain and some thick (30mm) 3 strand nylon snubber.

My spare is a fortress FX-16 with 15m of 10mm chain and 80m of thick (40mm?) 3 strand nylon.

Yes, I mean you should have some spare cleats planned. On my bow I have a windlass-mounted cleat, a port cleat, and stbd cleat and a Samson post.

NB I also keep a dyneema strop with a chain hook, several soft-shackles and some large squares of old carpet to use as anti-chafe in the anchor locker.

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FarAwaySailor@reddit

When I want to be ready, I keep the spare in the anchor locker, with the rode coming out, over the rail and then back into the anchor locker via the bow roller; that way if I need it in a hurry, I literally just need to open the locker and throw the anchor over the side.

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hobohustler@reddit (OP)

Yeah. Not being able to swing last hurricane sucked. I have 300ft of chain and a backup anchor. I’ve held in 40 knots no problem. I do like the idea of swinging. Right now I’m not seeing greater than 57knots for Englewood. I’ll know more on Monday but if it holds then maybe I shouldn’t go overboard with the mangroves. I’m vacillating

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vanalden@reddit

Just ring MTG. She knows who can turn the hurricane off for you.

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cuisinart-hatrack@reddit

Good luck! I’m hauled out a few miles north of Jacksonville. I rode the last one out in the yard as well. This season has been crazy. I was on another boat in Grenada for Beryl. I spent most of my life on the west coast and Alaska, I kinda miss the earthquakes.

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Redfish680@reddit

Can you haul out? Not exactly hurricane proof as we all know, but an option.

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hobohustler@reddit (OP)

Nah. Wasn’t even an option before the first storm. Every place is packed with boats waiting for people to come down for the sailing season. I called every spot for 30 miles

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caeru1ean@reddit

Where exactly? If you don't have time to move then all you can do is the best you can do. Put out anchors in the direction of the predicted wind direction, tie to the mangroves, spiderweb tons of lines. Try and face the boat into the wind as best as possible.

I was broadside to the wind for a while during Hurricane Beryl in Grenada and it was awful, broke 3 lines and a cleat

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hobohustler@reddit (OP)

Ouch.. ok.

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