PBO experts and readers share tips on keeping your boat safe in a blow

Boat protection: how to prepare your yacht for a storm in harbour

Winter storms account for the majority of boat insurance claims in January but insurance expert Paul Knox-Johnston points out that there’s no one cause of a specific weather event.

“It’s widely accepted that ever-warming oceans provide increased energy to power damaging storms,” he says. “We’re probably going to have to get used to more storms, and in turn make sure our boats are as safe and sound in their berths as possible.”

A boat on its side after a storm

This Moody 45 fell over and knocked over two boats next to it in a Florida boatyard. Credit: Roger Hughes

Freezing weather, high winds and rain make moored boats vulnerable, so if you’re afloat this winter, and there’s a storm on its way, here’s how to protect your vessel whether on the hard, in a marina or on a mooring.

Boat protection: Mooring lines

Double-up on mooring lines and secure them as far up the pontoon as you can.

Yachtmaster Instructor Colin Stracey of Premier Sailing often finds people put extra ropes onto their boats but to the same few cleats.

Most cleats only have an M10 bolt and it’s not unheard of for cleats in marina berths to move. Think of the extra stress caused by the forces of the storm. If possible, spread the load by attaching ropes to other cleats.

Protect lines where they rub – for example, when passing through fairleads or running over a toerail. You can use old rags, split pipe, sail repair tape or bits of old sail bag to tightly wrap your lines.

Mooring line dampers will absorb the worst of the snatching.

Mooring lines for boat protection

Boat protection: Roger Hughes doubled his lines in preparation for the arrival of hurricane Matthew. Credit: Roger Hughes

PBO contributor Roger Hughes was living in Florida when Hurricane Matthew hit in 2016. “It was with considerable trepidation that my wife and I left our 45ft brigantine schooner Britannia all alone to face a Category 4 hurricane,” he wrote in PBO afterwards.

“Our regular lines are 1in (25mm) diameter and under normal conditions would support the whole 22-ton boat, but what was lurching towards us was very different from normal conditions. I therefore doubled the bow and stern lines along with the fore-and-aft springs on both sides. I also set midship lines to the pilings either side. In total, there were 14 lines.”

Boat protection: Reduce windage

Windage is a major cause of damage, and any structures proud of your boat are likely to be hit first.

Ensure your sprayhood is lashed down or, better still, remove it entirely (it’ll probably need a clean and reproof over winter anyway), along with your bimini or boom tent.

Roger prepared for Hurricane Matthew by removing all the sails, except for the mainsail, which was in-mast roller furled. He then lashed the booms on deck, along with the 22ft (6.7m) forecourse yard with its roller-furled squaresail inside.

Next to come down were the wind generator blades, awning, bimini, cockpit cushions and hatch covers.

A boomed lowed on a yacht to offer boat protection in the event of a storm

Boat protection: Roger Hughes lowered his booms to reduce windage. Credit: Roger Hughes

“Inside, we secured everything that could possibly move, because we knew the boat would heel at an unnatural angle in the fierce winds,” he said.

“Heeling would actually be an advantage, because the boat would lean with the wind, instead of being rigidly fastened as it would be on land.”

When Roger returned to the yard after the hurricane he found it eerily quiet and ‘a complete shambles’.

A Moody 45 had been blown off its stand and taken two other boats with it, snapping masts and booms. Sails, awnings and covers were shredded.

Britannia, however, seemed to be sitting exactly as Roger had left her… but he soon spotted the irregularities.

“The first thing I noticed was the pulpit grating, smashed on the port side and the dolphin striker was also missing. As I edged down the side to the cockpit, I noticed a long length of port toerail had broken away, and the starboard toerail was also broken. This damage was difficult to fathom because the boat was sitting exactly as we had left her.

“That was until I learned that as the wind had backed, it had pushed water out of the marina entrance and lowered the level by an astonishing 3ft. This had caused the mooring lines to slacken, allowing Britannia to veer violently from side to side and forward and back, smashing into the two side pilings and on the dock at the bow. Marks on the marina decking planks confirmed this. I shudder to think what my boat went through for about six hours, as Matthew’s winds battered her.”

Protecting sails

Sails should be removed whenever possible. We made the mistake of leaving the genoa furled on the PBO Project Boat during a storm in Poole Harbour. The next day, the leech was shredded and there were holes in the cloth itself.

Fortunately, it was old and due to be replaced, but sadly not covered by our insurance (always check the small print!).

If removing the mainsail, be sure to lash the boom to the toerail. If you can’t remove the mainsail, get a long piece of line, secure one end at the gooseneck and wind it around the length of the sail and boom to bind it as tightly as possible.

The boom should be lashed to the deck. Alternatively, if you have a stackpack, run the lazyjacks to the mast and gasket with the sail in the stackpack.

A boat against a wall with a frayed sail

Sadly, this genoa spotted in Fishguard fared badly in high winds. Credit: Ali Wood

If you can’t remove the genoa, furl it tightly while the sheet car is as far forward as possible to tighten the top of the sail, which is the loosest part.

Keep furling until the sheets are wrapped at least twice around the sail. Thread a sail tie through the clew and tie it tightly around the sail. You can then cleat off the furling line and tie a line from the genoa tack to the pulpit, so there’s no chance of it unfurling.

Colin Stracey warns not to rely on the clutch when it comes to furling lines, nor wrapping them around a self-tailing winch; always cleat it off.

He recalls a boat losing its entire mast after its genoa unfurled in a storm and the backstay gave way.

“The other thing to remember with a genoa is that if it’s not rolled up tightly it can billow out halfway up the forestay putting huge pressure on the rigging and ripping itself to pieces.”

Boat protection: Clear the decks

Clear the decks of any MOB gear, spinnaker or whisker poles, outboard engine, tender and liferaft.

If possible, take them home, rather than stowing down below where mould and mildew can build up from condensation.

Make sure cockpit drains and the anchor locker are not blocked by leaves or other debris.

Standing water, whether rain or salt, can soon find its way into the boat.

If you still have the blanks for dorade vents, remove the cowls and fit the blanks to close them off.

It’s good practice to clear out cockpit drains regularly. Even if a storm isn’t forecast, melted snow falling from spreaders, ice and rain can quickly fill a cockpit and find its way into the boat if the drains are blocked.

Close all seacocks, particularly the heads, and don’t forget the engine. The only ones left open should be for the cockpit drains.

Fenders

Make sure fenders are well positioned and long enough to not ride up or down as the vessel heels.

Colin Stracey cites a vessel in his marina that heeled so much during Storm Arwen that the fenders went below the pontoon, leaving the hull and pontoon to grind into each other.

Fenders covering the side of a yacht for boat protection in a storm

Boat protection: Beware of rising water levels when moored alongside a wall. This boat floated onto the quayside in Brittany. Credit: Ali Wood

If fenders are too high, however, they may pop up altogether and be equally ineffective. If you have spare fenders, rig a couple horizontally on the pontoon. Big ball fenders can be used to protect the bow.

Don’t forget to put fenders on both sides to protect your boat from other vessels. A round turn and two half hitches is more secure than a clove hitch.

Change location

If a storm is forecast and your berth isn’t the best sheltered, don’t be afraid to ask for a different one with less fetch.

Many boats are lifted out over winter so you may be able to secure a more favourable position in a marina.

In a hurricane belt such as Florida, where Roger Hughes kept his boat, it’s not just a question of whether your lines will hold but the actual marina!

“Many marinas have been completely wiped-out by hurricanes with countless boats and bits of the marina tossed ashore in piles, or sunk under the intense wind, rain and monster storm surges,” he told PBO.

“Marinas with travel lifts are in great demand when a hurricane is forecast, so boats can be chocked on the hard on stands and sometimes fastened down with webbing straps to rings in concrete slabs.”

Against a wall

To hold off a wall during an onshore gale, rig a kedge as far as you can to windward, run the line through a bridle and winch yourself off while easing your dock lines.

PBO’s Gilbert Park lives on the water’s edge in Chichester Harbour, and managed to keep his boat safe during Storm Eunice, which hit the UK in February 2022, with 100-knot winds.

“My boat, which is moored on the wall, has two lines going up to pulleys then going down with weights attached to keep her against the wall,” he explains. “There are also bow and stern lines made of 20mm rope to stop her breaking away.”

A storm in a harbour

Storm Eunice batters Chichester Harbour. Credit: Gilbert Park

Fortunately, Gilbert’s boat survived the storm, and in fact, Gilbert managed to rescue three other boats – a rowing boat, which he took to his home mooring, a Hunter Liberty, which was jammed against the wall and a Landau 21 which had lost its stern line and was bashing against a steel fire boat!

Although Gilbert showed incredible seamanship, he’s quick to emphasise that safety comes first and with hindsight says he would also have considered wearing a tether when clambering around boats.

“If you are inexperienced or the weather conditions are too bad, especially the sea state, do not get on a boat. At the end of the day, your insurance company will hopefully pay up, and even if they don’t you are worth more than any boat.”

Swinging mooring

If you’re on a swinging mooring during a storm, attach extra lines to the buoy, rigged like a bridle to spread the load around the cleats.

Attach to different points on the boat. Or, if possible, take the lines to a winch rather than a cleat, as this can handle a higher shock load.

In areas where there is a lot of swell, it may be useful to wrap or protect the lines with plastic hose where they come over the gunwale and through the fairlead, to reduce the chance of chafing.

Pete Hicks, coxswain of the St Mary’s Lifeboat, suggests having a bespoke mooring strop made up to fit your boat’s cleat layout, with a rubbing patch for across the stem rollers with a thimble and a good shackle to attach to the mooring itself.

“Many of the incidents we see of yachts breaking their moorings is after a rope which has just been passed through the mooring buoy’s chain or shackle chafes out,” he says.

Finally, lash the tiller to one side using a round turn and two half hitches – don’t rely on a clove hitch as these can come undone.

Boat protection: At anchor

If you don’t have complete confidence in your ground tackle, consider finding a marina berth or having the boat hauled out.

Ken Endean, writing for sister publication Yachting Monthly, recalls Storm Evert hitting the Isles of Scilly in 2021.

Ken and his wife, Mary, had anchored their twin-keeled Sabre 27, London Apprentice in the drying channel outside Bryher’s Green Bay with 15 other yachts, a mixture of twin keels, triple keels, lifting keels and fin keels with beaching legs.

Although some skippers tried to dig anchors in during the morning low tide, this was ineffective because the seabed behaved like running gravel.

He pointed out that most of the anchors would penetrate further by themselves when under load, which was in fact what happened.

“Modern single-fluke anchors such as Deltas, Rocnas, Mansons and Spades all performed well in the strongest wind, burying until their shanks were almost hidden,” he observed. “I unintentionally carried out an experiment,” said Ken.

“The depth at high water would be 3.5m and we initially laid one Delta anchor on 20m of chain, but the wind backing to south-south-east threatened to push us over a patch of rubble, so we laid our second Delta out to port as a temporary wing anchor, on only 16m of warp with a 7.5kg chum (weight) but no chain. The wind direction changed only gradually, and we actually lay to this second anchor while the strength increased to Force 8, before the veer allowed the first anchor to take the load again. Several other skippers had used chums, which help to damp-down snatch loads and also reduce sheering.

“Much is written about the need for lots of chain on the bottom,” he adds, “but I reckon it is even more important to ensure that the anchor has connected properly to the seabed. In Scilly, that generally means using a modern anchor and anchoring on sand, so that the hook can dig in cleanly. In deeper water, it is essential to look for patches of light-coloured sand. The dark areas indicate weed, which may be loose or growing on rock or boulders. Our Delta anchors are surprisingly effective in boulders, but I would not trust them to hang on to the lumps in a Force 9.”

Boat protection: On the hard

PBO’s Stu Davies has weathered storms on his boat while in the yard in Portugal. He says the secret of staying safe on the hard is good cradles and tie-downs.

“When we first visited Bruce’s yard in Faro, we noted that sturdy tie-down straps were provided free-of-charge to all boats,” he told us.

In September 21, he and his wife, Laura, experienced 60-knot winds that lasted an hour.

A yacht on a cradle in a boat yard to offer boat protection in a storm

Boat protection: Stu and Laura Davies’s boat was very secure on its cradle during a storm. Credit: Stu Davies

“The wind rose from a howl to a screech, the boat started rocking, and the cockpit canopy looked as if it was going to take off. It was terrifying.”

While there was lots of debris blown around, including solar panels and hatches, they were completely safe.

Ideally, your boat will be laid up in a good-quality steel cradle. These should be inspected annually by the yard or marina.

Debris in a boat yard following a storm

Debris in the boatyard after the storm. Credit: Stu Davies

It’s worth chatting to the manager about what happens if a storm is forecast. Where are the safest, most protected places in the boatyard? Will ratchet straps be used to ensure your boat is not blown out of her cradle? Do you need additional props?

Make sure the boat is trimmed so that the water can leave via the scuppers and cockpit drains.

Before you go…

Take valuable kit home and lock hatches, portholes and windows.

Pay particular attention to worn seals – gaffer tape will do the trick, or for sealing hairline cracks on window seals, try a penetrating sealant such as Captain Tolley’s Creeping Crack Cure.

Check that the float switch of your automatic bilge pump is working properly and, once the batteries are topped up, unplug shore power.

Switch off everything except the bilge.

Check boats nearby, particularly to windward, to ensure they are also adequately secured, and if they’re not, inform the marina.

Take photos and be sure to have an inventory should the worst happen.

Don’t be tempted to stay aboard. No boat is worth risking your life over!

Roger Hughes recalls saying goodbye to Britannia before Hurricane Matthew hit. “I closed all seacocks, except the cockpit drains, and took photographs of all our preparation – just in case I needed them for an insurance claim. After all this Britannia looked somewhat forlorn. ‘You’re not leaving me here all alone?’ she seemed to say. Yet, I had already made that decision. I’d put my heart and money into my boat, but I was not prepared to risk my life by staying aboard to go down with the ship.”

The rest is out of your hands, so go to the pub. Try not to worry!


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