Blog September 2022

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AS THE STORM APPROACHES, ARE YOU READY?

Posted On: September 19, 2022


PREPARE FOR THE STORM BEFORE IT HITS

As the Dominican Republic gets slammed with Hurricane Fiona, you should be checking your plans. That means having a well-thought-out plan long before a hurricane warning is posted. To be successful, your hurricane plan needs to address the where, when, who, and what of hurricane preparation.

Where Will You Store The Boat?

As with real estate, three things matter most: location, location, location. Your boat's chances of surviving a hurricane undamaged are highest if it's where the worst of the storm isn't. When it's practical and safe, moving your boat out of the way is the best strategy. If your boat is trailer-able take it inland and to high ground; if not, you or a captain can relocate it by water. When hurricanes threaten the Northeast, hundreds of coastal and offshore boats migrate north to Maine or up the Connecticut and Hudson rivers.

But if your boat is farther south, the lack of precision in forecasting makes relocating the boat by water a risky proposition. You may end up moving it into the storm's path or, worse, finding yourself offshore in the middle of a hurricane. If getting the boat out of the way of the storm isn't safe or practical, our files show that boats on the hard land, suffer relatively less damage than those in the water. When the boat is left at a mooring, at anchor, or tied to a dock and something goes wrong, it's more likely to end up sinking or aground than if it had been ashore. That can be extremely costly. In addition to losing your boat, there could be expenses for cleaning up any spilled fuel and removing the wreckage that results. Unless your marina docks have been engineered and built to withstand hurricane-force winds and the accompanying surge, WE recommend hauling the boat and securing it on the hard.

Whether you haul the boat or leave it in the water, your most obvious option is to leave it wherever it is. But the place where you normally keep your boat may be a disastrous one in a hurricane. Here are the key factors to consider when assessing how well a particular location might protect your boat in a tropical storm.

Surge

Most people think wind poses the greatest threat to life and property from a hurricane. In fact, storm surge poses at least as much danger. Superstorm Sandy's wind speeds were below hurricane force when it made landfall in New Jersey, but its surge damaged or destroyed an estimated 65,000 recreational boats. In Hurricane Katrina in 2005, some 1,500 people lost their lives, and many of those deaths occurred directly or indirectly as a result of storm surge. The National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) has created an experimental website where you can zoom in on your locale to see what the maximum surge height above ground level would be in a direct hit by a Category 1 through Category 5 hurricane. You can use that data to assess whether the piling heights on floating docks are high enough to keep the finger piers from being lifted off the pilings and to gauge how high storm surge could be in the hard-stand area. While you're at it, if you live in a coastal area, you might want to see how your house would fare. Google "ArcGIS Storm Surge" to find the website.

Fetch

When wind blows across open water, it generates waves. Breaking waves have a tremendous amount of power; they regularly destroy massive concrete structures at the water's edge. The height of the waves depends upon wind strength, duration, water depth, and the exposed distance (called the fetch). Hurricane-force winds blowing across half a mile (the fetch) of open water 25 feet deep can generate waves of 2.5 feet and more in height. Increase that distance to 10 miles, and waves will grow to a minimum of 6 feet high. Wind direction is determined by which part of the hurricane passes over your location, so when putting together your hurricane plan, assume that you could get wind from any direction. If your marina is exposed to open water, or protected from open water only by a breakwall, it's vulnerable to wave damage, especially if there's also a surge risk. In Sandy, the combination of surge and waves lifted boats stored on the hard off their jackstands and carried them inland, sometimes for miles.

Flooding

Hurricanes can bring rains of 6 to 12 inches in 24 hours, which can overwhelm the cockpit drainage of boats in the water, causing them to sink; the rainfall can also find its way through any fitting or hatch that isn't completely watertight, flooding the boat. If your marina is located in a low-lying area or near a river, floodwaters can combine with surge to further increase the maximum water height above ground level. Take that into account when considering piling heights or the height of the hard stand above sea level.

Wind

Hills or manmade structures that are able to withstand hurricane-force winds will break the power of the wind and reduce the risk of wind damage. Conversely, if the place where you keep your boat is surrounded by buildings not built to hurricane standards — boatyard sheds, for example — there likely will be a lot of shrapnel in the air as those buildings are shredded by the wind.

If you determine that your boat's normal location is unlikely to provide adequate protection in a hurricane, pursue other options. You may be able to contract with a nearby marina to haul your boat when a hurricane warning is issued, or you could take it to a nearby canal or hurricane hole and secure it. If your boat is normally on a lift and is trailerable, you should plan on getting the boat to a ramp, putting it on the trailer, and securing it inland. If the boat's not trailerable, your best option may be to take it off the lift and secure it several feet from the dock with a combination of lines to the dock, lines to shore, and anchors.

Don't wait for a hurricane warning, which is issued when tropical storm-force winds (39 mph) or higher are expected within 36 hours (with hurricane-force winds expected to follow some time after). By the time you get word, finish work, and get to your boat, you'll be lucky to have 24 hours before the winds start blowing. If the warning comes on a week night, you may have less than 12 hours. If your plan calls for moving the boat, that won't be nearly enough time. Even if that's not your plan, marina personnel will be preoccupied with hauling and preparing boats, hardware stores and chandleries will be overrun, and roads will be clogged with people leaving the area.

At the latest, you should start your preparations when a hurricane watch is issued, which happens 48 hours in advance of the predicted start of tropical storm-force winds, even though tropical storm-force winds in your area are only probable. Depending on what your plan is, take steps that will reduce preparation time if and when a warning is issued. That might mean making sure the trailer is ready to roll and getting the boat on it if it's stored on a lift or at a marina, doubling all the lines if you're leaving the boat in the water, or stripping all the canvas off the boat.

If you need to move the boat, or if your preparations could take several days, you may have to start even earlier. Keeping track of any storm that's active in the Atlantic Basin can give you several more days of warning and will mean that a watch issued in your area will never come as a surprise.

Who Will Prepare Your Boat?

Are you going to do all the work yourself? Or is the marina responsible for hauling the boat, after which you'll strip the canvas and make sure everything's watertight? Or do you have a professional who does all of the preparation for you? Whatever you decide, make sure that your written hurricane plan spells out who's responsible for what and that nothing is left undone.

If you plan to leave your boat in a marina, ask for a copy of the marina's hurricane plan. Will the marina call you when a hurricane is approaching and when there's a watch, or will it wait until a warning is issued? What are the marina's responsibilities, and what does the staff consider to be your responsibilities? If your plan calls for the boat to be stored on the hard, is there any guarantee that your boat will be hauled? What happens if it isn't? When will you be notified? Understanding the marina's hurricane plan is critical to putting together your own.

What Will Smart Preparations Include?

No matter where you're going to store your boat during a hurricane, you'll need to strip all the canvas from it and make sure that it's watertight. Beyond that, your exact preparations will depend upon whether the boat is being stored on its trailer, on the hard, in a slip, at anchor, or on a mooring, or somewhere else.

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ACT RIGHT NOW AND SAVE LIVES

Posted On: September 13, 2022

REGARDLESS OF WHAT THE LAW REQUIRES, IF YOU WANT TO KNOW WHAT TO DO IN AN EMERGENCY, TRAINING IS NEEDED

According to statistics, the U.S. Coast Guard reports that collision with another vessel, flooding, collision with a fixed objects, grounding, and skier mishap are the top five types of boating accidents.

The  Top 10 contributing factors to accidents are operator inattention, improper lookout, inexperience of the operator, speeding, machinery failure, alcohol use, violation of navigation rules, force of waves, hazardous waters, and weather.

How many of these accidents are because pleasure boaters don’t possess the necessary knowledge and training?

Though not mandatory, a course or courses , which includes personal survival techniques, personal safety and social responsibility, first aid and CPR, and basic firefighting would be a huge tool in lowering that statistic and making the waters safer.

A personal survival technique course involving both classroom and practice in the water  would be hugely effective. Some basic knowledge on how to abandon a ship, what to do if involved in a rescue, and swimming techniques with life jackets and immersion suits on could save lives. Also, knowing how to turn over a life raft and how to get in and out of one, should be mandatory.

A personal safety and responsibility course focused on emergency procedures, who is responsible for what on board, marine pollution, and courtesy aboard all should be basic mandates before you ever leave port. A first aid and CPR course would teach how to resuscitate someone, what to do in an event of allergic reactions, heart attacks, strokes, broken bones, and other casualty events.

Some Basic firefighting knowledge including what types of fires there are and what to use and do to put out those fires is highly beneficial. Practice wearing real gear to maneuver a hose or fire extinguisher, and putting out fires in a timely basis. Lastly, learn techniques on how to save a person in a smoky part of the boat.

I recommend that all boaters take courses that involve both operation and education about all the responsibilities ownership involves. It is crucial to know what to do to avoid accidents; equally important is knowing what to do in the event of an emergency away from the shore.

 Put safety first, even if the law doesn’t require you to.

 

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BOATING TECHNOLOGY & PLACARDS

Posted On: September 06, 2022


Placards

There are differences between federal regulations and the standards of ABYC.

So let's walk through this a bit:

Engine weight in boa tbuilding is used purely for capacity calculations and testing.

In the ABYC Standards, we require a capacity plate on boats less than 26 feet, while the federal regulations stop at less than 20 feet. ABYC reviews our engine weight table annually and compares it to the market, so, yes, we do change with technology, modifying the weights engine builders use to calculate and test capacities. Hence, the change.

Your boat doesn't fall under the federal guidelines, which haven't changed weight-wise since the 1980s.

So Grady-White responded to the weight change and was able to recalculate and test this model due to the change. That said, they also had to test the ability of the boat to handle not only the weight but the power of the outboard.

Could it pass the ABYC performance test?

Apparently it could, so they could re-placard it with the increased capacity and horsepower.

You could ask Grady-White for an updated placard for your boat, but generally, most manufacturers would be reluctant to issue a new placard given that there are so many variables in such a situation. They also may have made engineering changes you don't see resulting in the higher horsepower. Bottom line, should something happen that results in any legal issues (such an accident), and you had a 300-hp engine with a 250-hp placard, your defensible position would be compromised.

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