Hurricane prep question for 27FC

[DCatSea]

With "Florence" getting nastier as the days go by, and probably setting a course for Norfolk/Chesapeake Bay I have a single question. I've read the BoatUS Hurricane Prep notes every year since 2015, and had a good look round the internet, but can't find an answer to this:

I'm probably going to stay in the water for "Florence", being well up a fairly protected creek (with a paddle). I have 4 Big B(ass) fenders as main slip protection, doubled lines and springs out for'd and aft, bimini and side canvas stowed, dinghy in the garage, deck drains flushed, pumps on auto, shore power secured - ETC.

Question: Do members recommend leaving helm side windows (on a 27FC) open to let wind pass through, or closed. Same with center panel of windshield. Both options have advantages, but expert advice is always welcome, especially from Albineers who are more used to hurricane conditions.

[hetek]

Ah, memories...

I left Bunkie in for a couple tropical depressions (former hurricanes). I had a single drop curtain that covered the open back of the pilothouse only. All other canvas was stowed.

I do remember unlatching the center window but leaving it closed. That way, if a gust of wind were to scoop into the pilothouse from the rear, the window could swing open and allow some relief, rather than blowing out the windows. The sides I left closed.

For storms, my marina would also allow us to single-slip the boats (instead of the usual double) so we could make a spider web of lines on both sides and allow the boat to float freely in the middle. She would just happily ride the waves.

I pulled her out of the water for "Sandy". The tide rose so high that the water was halfway up the keel... on supposedly dry land!

[tego]

Your cockpit drains are small and most have a grid over them to prevent small stuff from going down them. On my sailboat (424 Pearson ketch) and my 44 MT trawler, I was in the eye of 3 hurricanes in east Florida. My only problem was with palm tree fronds and other leaves clogging my drains and filling my cockpit with water on the sailboat in the first blow. After that, I removed the drain screens and inserted a rolled tube of 1/4" hardware cloth (screening) into the drain. This allowed the drain to operate even with 3" of crud in the cockpit and on the aft deck of the trawler. This is a vulnerability on our 27's. Your drains are small compared to the drains on my '87, which are 1 1/2". You need to figure a way to protect the drains from the debris that WILL blow into the cockpit - maybe an inverted wire basket taped to the deck? Good luck. Ben

[DCatSea]

Excellent advice - thank you. Going down tomorrow to prepare for heavy weather, and check my crab pots.

I believe it was Admiral Nimitz who said something along the lines of ".. the ocean floor is bedecked with otherwise good sailors who thought that preparation was unnecessary this one time" - great quote.

Doug

[DesertAlbin736]

Latest on Florence's track (4:30 EDT 12 Sept) shows it pointing toward Wilmington, NC while still offshore but hooking slight left turn before aiming for landfall centered on or near Myrtle Beach, SC. That means Wilmington & the NC coast will be on "the dirty side", but well south of Chesapeake Bay. Doesn't mean the lower Bay is out of the woods totally for tropical storm force winds & tides, but Deale should not see much more than small craft advisories. Latest NOAA synopsis for the Deale, MD/upper Chesapeake Bay area says:

"Marine...
a stalled front will create a couple of showers and a
thunderstorm or two over the waters this afternoon and early
evening. The front will waver across the area before
dissipating Thursday. By that time, Florence will be approaching
the Carolina coast with a tightening gradient to its north.
Have raised a Small Craft Advisory for the waters surrounding
southern Maryland on Thursday where confidence is highest. The
Small Craft Advisory will likely need to be extended in time and perhaps in area
depending on the size of Florence's wind field and its eventual
track. The probability for gale/tropical storm force winds is
low at this time. "

On the other hand, Maryville, TN and nearby Knoxville where one of my cousins lives & owns a C&C 32 sailboat, is in the bulls eye on the current track estimate for where the storm finally peters out by the weekend & likely a good size rain event..

florencetrack.jpg

[DCatSea]

Yes, it looks as if Chesapeake is on the edge of the scatter zone, but not on the target. Phew!! But spare many a thought for those in SC/NC and GA.

[tego]

I'm expecting some rain and maybe some poo-poo winds but that's why I left Florida and came here! No tides, next to nothing currents, no hurricanes or nor'easters anymore and I can still get to anywhere in my boat (it just takes a little longer). We don't have any severe winter weather here either- usually in the upper 40's or 50's. I regularly go out on Christmas Day and New Years Day, but Y'all stay where you are, too many people are discovering this place! Good luck to all the guys in harms way tonite and tomorrow. God bless. Ben

[DesertAlbin736]

No tides, next to nothing currents,

Tides? You mean like this, where you can haul out for 6 hours at a time by tying up to a concrete pad "grid" at high tide & be on the hard at low tide? 12 foot tide range!

IMG_1934.JPG

DSCN4555 (1280x960).jpg

[DesertAlbin736]

Looks like upper Chesapeake Bay region may not be completely out of the woods after all regarding the effects from remnants of Florence as it turns & meanders north next week. Maybe not a big wind & storm surge event like on the N & S Carolina coasts, but all that rain inland is sure to be a factor draining down the creeks & rivers of northern Virginia & Maryland's western shore.

florencetrack9_14.jpg

Question is, will creeks like the Rockhold rise above the finger piers of various marinas? These are not floating docks like we're used to, but fixed walkways attached to pilings & boaters have to "lasso" their dock lines over the pilings, not tie off to cleats. Doug, does this location looking south from the route 256/Deale Rd bridge near the intersection with Rockhold Creek Road look familiar?

rockholdcreek.jpg

[DCatSea]

Sure does, I regularly yak up there for a bit of exercise. You are right , though, we do get some tidal effects here, and occasionally it gets a bit interesting, but we all seem to have the right idea. Piers are high enough to take the strain of high water, and keeping an eye on (each others') lines usually suffices. Low water can get interesting, with campfire tales of smaller boats going under piers being used to scare the kids.

[DCatSea]

Ready for the storm - canvas down, extra lines out and doubled up, helm windows cracked open, burgees down, shore cable secured, big-ass fenders at the ready, and loose gear below.

IMG_5079.JPG

IMG_5080.JPG

IMG_5081.JPG

[DesertAlbin736]

I regularly yak [it] up there for a bit of exercise...

Some people a say that's what I do here on AOG!

Great photos of your boat. I don't think we've seen close ups like that before (?)

At least you're side-tied to a dock you where you step directly into the cockpit. Not like many docks back there where there's a skinny little finger dock up front that you have to step onto the bow like this one at Vera's down on St. Leonard's Creek.

DSCN2936.JPG

Or this one at the Calvert Marina in Solomons.

DSCN2946.JPG

[DCatSea]

I was lucky to get that slip, but it has been really great for access. A tad tricky to tuck her in sometimes, wind- and tide-wise, but worth the effort.

Don't look too closely at the outside wood-work - its a work in progress, but I have extended the canvas down over the wood, which provides good protection from sun and rain (when I get round to actually doing the wood work).