Securing a boat on a trailer during a hurricane

mnypitboat · Aug 22, 2011

OK well with an impending hurricane Irene heading our way, I am wondering if there is a best way to store a boat on a trailer. It is looking like we will just get some heavy winds and rain. According to the current tracks it looks like it will skim up our coast about 75 miles offshore.

So, in the past we just left our boat at the marina and hoped for the best. The problem with that is that the last hurricane that got close flooded the marina and we couldnt get in to get to our boat out for a few weeks. Plus it got some crap in the bilge and plugged up my drain plug so it ran my battery dead after a couple hours of pumping out the rain water. I dont expect that this time, but you never know with a hurricane. My big concern is other peoples junk in the marina blowing around and hitting my boat. Anybody have any better ideas?? It wont fit in our garage, at least not completely. The tongue and winch hangs out and I have to leave the door open about 3 feet. This makes me nervous because I dont want those winds blowing up into there and blowing my roof off. We dont have any trees around our driveway, so maybe just parking it in the driveway is the best? Then its just debris flying around?

CheapboatKev · Aug 22, 2011

Re: Securing a boat on a trailer during a hurricane

Since I am keeping a eye on Irene as well..
I found this online

http://powerboat.about.com/od/maintenanceandrepair/tp/Hurricane-Prep---Trailer-Boats.htm

I think I will add as much weight as possible, tarp and lash to the trailer.
In a perfect world I would sink eye hooks into my driveway in a triangle, 2 rear one at the tounge and chain her down
I do not think Irene will produce >60 mph winds inland, but you never knows till she blows

Good luck, I'll be watching Deland on Friday too!

mnypitboat · Aug 22, 2011

Re: Securing a boat on a trailer during a hurricane

Hoping you are right, but you know how hurricanes can be. It could stall right off New Smryna Beach and make a hard left and blast us. Hopefully not. We are always prepared though.

Home Cookin' · Aug 22, 2011

Re: Securing a boat on a trailer during a hurricane

driveway isn't a bad idea. Middle of a field, too. If you are on the trailer around other boats, they will be like bumper cars in a bad blow.

mnypitboat · Aug 22, 2011

Re: Securing a boat on a trailer during a hurricane

Home Cookin' said:
driveway isn't a bad idea. Middle of a field, too. If you are on the trailer around other boats, they will be like bumper cars in a bad blow.

That was kinda my thoughts.

sublauxation · Aug 22, 2011

Re: Securing a boat on a trailer during a hurricane

I don't know how strong they are but they have those anchors for airplanes, campers, and even dog leashes that screw into the ground. That's gotta be a lot of holding power depending on your soil. A couple of those holding the trailer to the ground should help.

guy74 · Aug 22, 2011

Re: Securing a boat on a trailer during a hurricane

800-1000lbs of bagged sand layed on the floor of your boat would make it alot more stable in high winds, best to be able to tie it down with screw anchors if that is an option. Good luck with whatever you do, make sure your insurance is paid up cause sometimes it isn't that the wind is blowing, it's what the wind is blowing!

Texasmark · Aug 23, 2011

Re: Securing a boat on a trailer during a hurricane

You could send us that hurricane here in Texas and wouldn't have to worry about your boat. Grin.

On securing it, what is there to secure, i.e. you have the bow attached to the winch, the transom is secured with tie downs, the boat is made to be aerodynamic, point it into the wind and don't worry about it. I lived on the Gulf coast for years and as long as you weren't tied to a dock, or were out of the storm surge, we never had a problem and didn't worry about which way the wind was blowing....course when you catch the eye, you get it from both directions.....after that painfully quiet eye passes.

Mark

kahuna123 · Aug 23, 2011

Re: Securing a boat on a trailer during a hurricane

Fill it up with water. Not enough to damage things but enough. 6-8 pounds a gallon won't take too much. Don't even think about leaving your garage door open. Once the wind gets under it its over. I read the discussion this morning and they all seem to be in agreement that it is going to be a large hurricane but it looks like Fl at this point is going to miss this one. My last house was on the water and I hated this time of year.

sasto · Aug 23, 2011

Re: Securing a boat on a trailer during a hurricane

I've never seen a boat come off it's trailer during a hurricane.....yet. I'd bring her home and hope for the best. Good luck,mnypitboat, we are prepairing also.

Krichbourg · Aug 23, 2011

Re: Securing a boat on a trailer during a hurricane

Thanks for that link Kev. Some good advise there. I'm a little farther up the coast, just south of Charleston, so I'm watching this one close. If it gets down to it, I'm going inland. I'll hook up the Starcraft behind my truck, put two kayaks on top, two kayaks on my wife's CRV and the trailer with two canoes. That takes care of most of the fleet. Guitars and computer in the cab, probably the electric piano in the bed, and the chainsaws in case we have to cut our way back in. Then it's 4 weenie dogs, a beagle and a one eyed cat. What a motley crew. I sure hope this on misses us.

kahuna123 · Aug 23, 2011

Re: Securing a boat on a trailer during a hurricane

The morning discussion says this is gonna reach cat 4 and be a large storm. Nothing to play around with. This is a good read.

http://www.yachtsurvey.com/storm_legal_obligation.htm

http://www.yachtsurvey.com/huricane.htm

rbh · Aug 23, 2011

Re: Securing a boat on a trailer during a hurricane

So now that your going to tie the boat down to the trailer, what are you going to tie the trailer down to???

Everyone take care down there.

sasto · Aug 23, 2011

Re: Securing a boat on a trailer during a hurricane

UPDATE..... They are predicting 50mph winds out of the north here in FL.

It would be a good day to go sailing.....if I had a sailboat!

Home Cookin' · Aug 23, 2011

Re: Securing a boat on a trailer during a hurricane

Parking "into the wind" is an option for a northeaster but not a hurricane--if it makes a difference, you are going to get at least 2 opposing directions.

A boat tied to a trailer won't come off the trailer; it will move as one unit. For better or worse. After a hurricane here, a guy who pulled his 19' grady out of the slip and put it on a trailer, found it 4 miles up river, on the bank, trailer still attached, no real harm done!

If you are in a situation where 3000 pound boats, on trailers, are being blown up into the air or rolled over, you will have a lot larger problems that your boat to deal with.

Don't forget, you have one anchor. I felt real silly once putting a boat in a field and burying the anchor, but that is what it can take!

If you put water in or leave the plug in to catch the rain water, don't forget to disconnect the bilge pump. But be careful not to overfill (or let the rain overfill) and flood your oil tank, battery, etc.

Looks like this is going to follow the well-worn path that Isabel followed, hitting below Hatteras and coming up to the Chesapeake Bay.

kahuna123 · Aug 23, 2011

Re: Securing a boat on a trailer during a hurricane

I still think 175 gallons of water @ 6 pounds a gallon would sure help. Fresh water does dry out. My son's (new to us) 14ft Johnsen was found in the top of a tree the last bad one. If you read the discussion they say the average prediction error rate this early is 250 miles. So the truth is they really don't know yet. But they have to say something. They get the local next day marine forecast wrong %50 of the time.

The last one that went in Punta Gorda was supposed to hit here. We were at my parents inland as we lived on the water. Immediately when it turned in I left my family at my parents and headed home. We had been forced to leave (we would have anyway). Got the the entrance to my neighborhood not a cop anywhere and only me. I stood at the end of the street with a pump 12g and scared off thieves until the cops showed. And it was one POS pickup after another. 2 hours later they showed and blocked off the main entrance to start checking ID's to get back in.

mnypitboat · Aug 23, 2011

Re: Securing a boat on a trailer during a hurricane

Home Cookin' said:
Parking "into the wind" is an option for a northeaster but not a hurricane--if it makes a difference, you are going to get at least 2 opposing directions.

A boat tied to a trailer won't come off the trailer; it will move as one unit. For better or worse. After a hurricane here, a guy who pulled his 19' grady out of the slip and put it on a trailer, found it 4 miles up river, on the bank, trailer still attached, no real harm done!

If you are in a situation where 3000 pound boats, on trailers, are being blown up into the air or rolled over, you will have a lot larger problems that your boat to deal with.

Don't forget, you have one anchor. I felt real silly once putting a boat in a field and burying the anchor, but that is what it can take!

If you put water in or leave the plug in to catch the rain water, don't forget to disconnect the bilge pump. But be careful not to overfill (or let the rain overfill) and flood your oil tank, battery, etc.

Looks like this is going to follow the well-worn path that Isabel followed, hitting below Hatteras and coming up to the Chesapeake Bay.

I know it wasnt you that suggested it, but I am thinking that putting water in a boat that could potentially get filled with rain water, then disconnecting the bilge pump is a very bad idea. Last hurricane that swept up beside us dumped so much rain that leaves plugged up my drain and the water was just about over the heads on the engine. And that was without me helping it along by putting water in it myself. Yes its covered, but so was that one. The wind blew a part of the cover off and it filled right up. This was also after the battery went dead from the bilge pump running non stop. If that had not been working at least part of the time I would have had water in the carb etc. It was bad enough having a submerged starter. Luckily once dried out it worked fine.

So NO I wont be deliberately putting water in my bilge, then disconnecting my bilge pump.

pbgeneral · Aug 23, 2011

Re: Securing a boat on a trailer during a hurricane

Well after living through "Katrina" amd being located only 10 miles north of the Gulf, I will share what I did with my 21' cuddy. I mad sure my fuel tank was full, covered the boat with its tarp and a bizzillion bungy cords, pulled the trailer to a area that had few big house killing trees (or in this matter Boat killing trees) and used mobile home tie down anchors in 4 corners around trailer. Boat mad it fine, tarp not so lucky, but its a tarp. I don't think the boat moved a inch. But did have a huge limb fall from some tree somewhere and it just missed the tounge of the trailer by 2 feet. Good luck to you east coast guys.

cr2k · Aug 23, 2011

Re: Securing a boat on a trailer during a hurricane

Take in to consideration that the boat outweighs the trailer 3 or 4 to one. So in reality you are strapping the trailer to the boat.

mnypitboat · Aug 23, 2011

Re: Securing a boat on a trailer during a hurricane

My boat weighs 3500 dry. So I guess with a full tank of gas, it should be able to sustain some pretty strong winds. I will just keep it away from trees and hope the neigbors are as prepared as we will be, and put thier crap away that could blow around and damage my property. I know my stuff will be inside. At least whatever will fit.

Securing a boat on a trailer during a hurricane

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