O R L D • W H G A N N I D S S I -

U O

R N

C

S

•

A

4 I

L 7

9 O

1

R

D •

E

E

H

S

S T I A L

B AUGUST/SEPTEMBER 2018 HANDS-ON SAILOR PRACTICAL SOLUTIONS and TECHNIQUES

1 2 3 4 Hurricanes 101 Safe Shoreside Storage Cyclone Safe Havens Smooth Shifting PAGE 69 PAGE 74 PAGE 78 PAGE 82

1 HURRICANE WHOLE A year after historic hurricanes wreaked havoc throughout the Eastern Caribbean, a legendary voyager imparts advice on how to prepare for the ultimate worst-case scenario. BY DON STREET cruisingworld.com SEVERE WEATHER 69

urricane losses to the yachting industry and itsH insurers in the Eastern Caribbean have increased as- tronomically over the past 60 years. In the 1950s, the num- ber of yachts in the Caribbean was quite small, but beginning in the 1970s, the number be- gan to grow rapidly, as did the onshore industry supporting the yachts. Since the mid-

1990s, yachting activity has august/september 2018 skyrocketed, and so have in- surance losses resulting from hurricanes, graphically illus- trated by photographs of the trail of destruction left by hur- ricanes Irma and Maria in 2017. I have been selling insur- ance to yachtsmen in the Eastern Caribbean for more than 50 years, so I am not While most sailors will recall the scenes of carnage from the 2017 hurricanes, many boats just a spectator to this car- also emerged unscathed, such as these at the Catamaran Marina on Antigua. nage. After Hurricane Hugo in 1989, I wrote “Reflections on Hugo,” which was first print- was inserted in all four of If sailors, marina and yard articles, they could have ed in 1990 in Street’s Guide to my guides to the Eastern managers, marine insurance avoided tens of millions of Puerto Rico, the Spanish, U.S. Caribbean. I followed it up companies, and Lloyd’s un- dollars in marine insurance and British Virgin Islands. It with about a dozen articles derwriters had followed the claims and hundreds of boats was two pages. Subsequently written in an attempt to mini- advice given in “Reflections would not have been lost.

CATAMARAN MARINA CATAMARAN expanded to six pages, it mize losses due to hurricanes. on Hugo” and the subsequent Grenada is a good example

HURRICANE WHOLE

of how the expansion of yacht- taking is to pull a through-hull ANCHORING IS FOLLY pounds, but the safe maxi- hurricane hole to cause havoc ing has led to heightened expo- so water has a way to drain The same wind-pressure mum working load is 2,650 among the others. sure to losses for underwriters out. To stop rats from getting calculation applies to boats pounds. For three-strand Ensenada Honda, Culebra, over the years. A hurricane hit into the boat (it happens!), the anchored or left on moorings. nylon rope, the BS is 17,150 was considered a hurricane the island in 1892, when there outside of the drain should be The frontal area of just the pounds dry. Nylon loses about hole until Hurricane Hugo in was no yachting. The next hur- secured with wire mesh. hull of a modern 45-foot 20 percent of its strength 1989 put 60 or more boats on ricane, Janet, hit 63 years lat- A decision yards must face cruising sailboat with 6-foot when wet, and can lose an- the beach. Some people must er, in 1955. The Grenada Yacht is whether to store boats freeboard and 14-foot beam other 15 to 20 percent of its have forgotten that, because Club, a wooden building on the with their masts in or out. is 84 square feet. Then there’s strength in a splice or a knot. Irma and Maria put another steamer pier, was swept away, Removing masts requires yards the mast, boom, rigging and If the anchor holds, either 40 on the beach in 2017. It was a couple of small local sloops to provide protected storage superstructure. When the the chain or the line will part the same story in Coral Bay, converted to yachts were for them, which Bobby’s boat sheers to one side, the once wind gusts approach 120 St. John. sunk, and a dozen locally built Marina does. Other yards that exposed area is even greater. mph, perhaps sooner. The The one true hurricane Mosquito dinghies were de- offer this same safe practice Catamarans have vastly attachment point on deck hole in the Caribbean is inner molished — a small loss to ma- are the Catamaran Marina in more windage. might not even last that long. Egmont Harbour, Grenada. rine underwriters, if any at all. Antigua and Grenada Marine The majority of boats in Some multihulls will become The entrance is only 100 yards A half century later, on the island of Grenada. the Eastern Caribbean will airborne. wide, so no sea or surge can get Hurricane Ivan cost marine un- A 60-foot mast and its be anchoring on 3⁄8-inch chain From the above figures, it’s in; it’s surrounded by 300-foot derwriters a bundle. Yachting rigging have significant wind- or ¾-inch nylon attached to a my guess that the vast ma- hills; and its shore is lined with had expanded to the point that age, and wind pressure increas- 3⁄8-inch chain leader shackled jority of anchored boats will mangroves, not rocks. In Ivan, about 175 boats were stored es with the square of the wind to an anchor. The breaking drag or break free in hurricane fewer than a dozen boats shel- ashore for hurricane season velocity. When the wind speed strength (BS) of common conditions. And it only takes tered in Egmont. The cou- 3

and probably another 100 were doubles, the pressure quadru- ⁄8-inch BBB chain is 11,000 one loose boat in a so-called ple that dragged were easily in commission in the water. ples. For example, at pulled from the man- In one yard, 100 boats blew 60 mph, the wind pres- groves and suffered over; a video of the destruc- sure is about 9 pounds little damage beyond tion was viewed worldwide. Of per square foot; at 120 gelcoat scratches. But the boats in the water, about There is an art and science to strapping down boats on jack stands and cradles, as marine mph, it is 37 pounds per the next time a hur- 20 followed my recommen- surveyor Todd Duff explains in “What Went Wrong” beginning on page 74. square foot; and at 180 ricane bears down on dations and sailed south to mph, it is 83 pounds per Grenada, there prob-

cruisingworld.com Trinidad or Margarita: no dam - square foot. ably will be 600 boats cruisingworld.com age, no claims. The others were in well-designed marinas and Maria both struck Puerto del their insurance agents) should For an average in the water, and far 70 secured in various so-called when laid up ashore and prop- Rey. Of the 552 boats afloat in insist that their boats, and the 60-foot mast, the total too many of them will 71

“ hurricane holes,” with disas- erly secured. This was proved the marina, 4 percent were to- boats to either side of them, wind load on the mast at head for Egmont, with trous consequences. A very at Puerto del Rey, Puerto Rico. tal losses and 2 percent suffered are properly stored for hurri- 120 mph is 2,245 pounds predictable results. high percentage suffered major In the late 1980s, Dan major damage. Of the 237 boats cane season, and obtain from — about the same as 24 damage or were total losses. Shelley had Puerto del Rey and stored ashore, 3 percent suf- the yard manager a signed as- mph of wind on 1,100 HURRICANE I estimate that in 2018, more its shoreside facilities designed fered major damage and none surance that this is the case. square feet of sail. At AWARENESS than 700 boats will be laid up so that boats in the marina and were total losses. Everywhere Absentee owners should hire a 180 mph, the wind load In 1984, Iolaire was ashore in Grenada and about stored ashore would stand a else from St. Barts to and in- surveyor to supervise the pro- is 5,450 pounds. If the caught on the north 600 or more afloat in com- good chance of surviving a hur- cluding Puerto Rico, a region cess and submit a report certi- wind is blowing on the side of St. Maarten mission. The three yards in ricane with minimal damage. known as “Hurricane Alley” fying that it was done properly. side of the boat and that by Hurricane Klaus. Grenada took the lesson from The north-south breakwater because of the frequency with When laying up a boat for force is centered 30 feet Though I don’t Ivan to heart and claim that all is 1,575 feet long and topped by which it is affected by named hurricane season, everything above the deck, what recommend it today, the boats they store ashore are a wall 12 feet above high wa- storms, it was a different story. should be done to minimize are the chances the boat we survived by using six

august/september 2018 now properly chocked and tied ter. The finger piers are high windage. The dodger, Bimini will stay upright on its of our seven anchors. august/september 2018 down to a dead-man anchor, enough to cope with a 3-foot LAYING UP ASHORE and sails must be removed, and jack stands or in its cradle if it After that adventure, I ob- sand screws or 1-ton concrete tidal surge. When I visited the Hurricane Ivan in 2004 showed all halyards except the main is not tied down to anchors in PREDICTING HURRICANE TRACKS tained a copy of the National blocks, and that they will with- marina with Iolaire shortly af- how vulnerable boats stored halyard run up to the top of the the ground? Oceanic and Atmospheric To visualize the potential track of a tropical storm or stand a hurricane. I doubt that ter it was built, I pointed out ashore can be to a strong hur- mast. Deep keels should be in As far as marinas are hurricane approaching the Eastern Caribbean from the east, Administration “hurricane the 600 or more boats in com- to Shelley that, if he did not ricane. In December 2017, pits, and all boats chocked with concerned, properly secured start by plotting the latest position of the center of the storm. book,” which mapped the track mission or stored afloat will extend the main north-south I asked every yacht-storage a jack stand each side for every boats stored afloat in a marina Then, draw forward from that position a 10-degree-wide of every hurricane and named fare as well, even those in the breakwater with a 100-yard facility in Antigua, St. Lucia 8 feet of waterline length, with should survive a hurricane if cone, and you have the area in which the center of the storm storm from 1851 to 1980, and lagoon at St. George’s. The dogleg to the northwest, he and Grenada to describe its plywood pads under the feet the marina is built like Puerto is likely to go. The length of the cone is the storm’s speed obtained updates each year. docks at both Port Louis and was going to have a problem storage facilities and proce- so they do not sink into soft, del Rey, fully enclosed so that of approach (knots) times 24 (hours). Do this every day, Following the disastrous Grenada Yacht Club will be with a bobble in the marina dures for laying up boats during rain-soaked ground. The jack no sea can build up inside, and obtaining the most recent information on the storm’s position 2017 season, I obtained the and speed of approach from the National Hurricane Center. underwater in a 3-foot tidal whenever the wind went into hurricane season. With some stands must be tied together with well-constructed con- The tracks for all of 2017’s hurricanes are pictured above. new hurricane book that cov- surge, and because the shoal the northeast in the winter, and variations, they all replied port and starboard, with rebar crete finger piers high enough Anyone with an internet connection can obtain this ers all named storms from 1851 that formed a natural breakwa- a disaster when the wind went that they strap boats down to welded to the stands and the to handle a 3-foot tidal surge. information directly from the NHC, which updates its to 2008, as well as the loose ter has been dredged out, the northeast during a hurricane. suitable anchors. With the ex- handles wired so the screws Crews Inn in Trinidad and, predictions every six hours, refining them with data from pages that bring it up to date lagoon will become untenable His engineers insisted such a ception of Puerto del Rey and cannot unwind. possibly, the marina in Virgin satellites, hurricane-hunter aircraft observations and through 2017. I studied those for any boats that stay there if a dogleg was not needed, but in Bobby’s Marina in St. Maarten, I’ve heard about several own- Gorda Yacht Harbour meet numerous computer prediction models. A word of warning: hurricane tracks carefully and Do not fixate on the centerline of the conical depiction of the hurricane strikes Grenada. the mid-’90s, the breakwater no yard in Hurricane Alley had ers who returned to their boats these criteria. Marinas that use predicted track — the center of the storm could go anywhere identified a general pattern for Boats can survive a was extended with a 460-foot strapped boats down. after a hurricane to find them floating piers are best avoided within the cone, or even outside of it. those that affected the Eastern hurricane with an acceptable dogleg to the northwest. Following the carnage of with rainwater above the floor- because floating piers have a Caribbean.

percentage of loss to insurers In 2017, hurricanes Irma and 2017, all boat owners (and boards, so a precaution worth HURRICANE CENTER OF THE NATIONAL COURTESY ILLUSTRATION MARINA (ABOVE); CATAMARAN tendency to break loose. Since 1851, only four

HURRICANE WHOLE

hurricanes have formed in the Bedford Forrest. When asked INSURANCE 12 degrees north puts all of Caribbean and headed east how he managed to tear holes CONSIDERATIONS Grenada inside the box, so into the Eastern Caribbean: in the Union army behind Over the five decades I have boats under those policies need Alice in 1954, Klaus in 1984, the main lines, destroying or been selling yacht insurance, to be in Trinidad to be covered. Lenny in 1999 and Lili in 2001. seizing supplies while dodging I have seen many scams that Either way, if a storm is on a There were also two odd- federal cavalry, he replied, left yachtsmen hung out to track far enough south to strike ball hurricanes. One, in 1872, “I hit ’em where they ain’t!” dry after making a claim. I rec- Grenada, the best policy is to hit Guadeloupe and headed So, to survive hurricanes, go ommend buying insurance head farther south. Insured north via Antigua, Barbuda, where they ain’t. through a broker who will place or not, a boat on the beach in St. Barts, St. Maarten and Boats in commission in it with either a U.S. insurance Grenada or anywhere else is no Anguilla before heading out to the islands should keep a company, a U.K. company or longer cruising. sea. Another hit St. Vincent, constant watch for tropical a Lloyd’s syndicate. (Lloyd’s is Sailors who decommission then turned north and storm formation and begin not a company but an associa- their boats for hurricane sea- struck every island, including plotting their escape as early tion of underwriters that oper- son should make sure they Barbuda, before heading off as possible. Usually, this means ates out of the Lloyd’s building are stored properly ashore as into the Atlantic. heading south to be well below in London.) Different insur- described above. All other hurricanes and the latitude of the southern- ance companies have different Those who continue cruising named tropical storms that most island in a storm’s path. records on prompt and equita- in the summer need to monitor affected the islands of the In the case of Irma, ble payment of claims, and so every tropical disturbance for Eastern Caribbean have Martinique would have been do Lloyd’s syndicates, so check development, and have a plan

cruisingworld.com

72

Two successful methods of securing boats ashore during hurricane season: Lloyd’s-approved cradles are considered to be

august/september 2018 one of the strongest options (left). Hurricane pits reduce windage and the forces on stands and supports (right).

formed in the Atlantic and far enough south. Modern the broker’s reputation for for sailing well away from any headed west, rarely altering cruising catamarans, if the settling claims, and also that of possible track that a tropical course more than 5 degrees advertising is to be believed, the backing insurance company storm could follow. in 24 hours. The course al- have seven-league boots and or Lloyd’s syndicate. teration is almost always to can manage 240 miles per Most insurance policies Legendary Caribbean yachtsman the north; alterations to the day. At that rate, 36 hours af- provide normal coverage for and cruising guide author Don south are usually for only 24 ter leaving the Virgin Islands, boats in commission that are Street knows hurricanes. He re- hours and never more than a catamaran could be safely inside the “hurricane box” from members the hurricane of ’38 and 72 hours. The track of one of anchored in Grenada. June 1 to November 30, but ex- made his first marine insurance these storms can, therefore, My advice, especially if the clude damage resulting from a claim in 1944, when the “Great be predicted quite well on a storm was on a track toward “named storm.” Storm” of 1944 damaged the Snipe daily basis (see “Predicting the southern islands, would be Policies that place the south- dinghy (Hull No. 3) he owned with Hurricane Tracks,” page 71). to head south to Trinidad, by- ern limit of the hurricane box his sisters in Manhasset Bay, New Of course, the only reason- passing Chaguaramas, with its at 12 degrees 30 minutes north, York. In 2017, he initiated a claim able way for boats in commis- overcrowded anchorage, poor putting the south coast of for 16 feet of garden wall that col- sion to avoid hurricane dam- holding and reversing tide, and Grenada outside the box, cov- lapsed after Hurricane Ophelia age is to follow the battle plan anchor off Pointe-à-Pierre, 120 er boats in that area for named scored a direct hit on his home in

of Confederate cavalry general miles south of Grenada. storms. A southern limit at Glandore, Ireland. MARINA (2) CATAMARAN