Hurricane Irene related question - to put on the mooring cover or not. - Maxum Boat Owners Club

jamanati · 08-27-2011, 02:30 AM

Okay all, first time going through a hurricane with a boat. The marina I keep it docked has a floating dock on the aft side, and the bow is between two pylons 13.5 ft apart. Given the 11ft beam of my 3200scr and that on high tide the tops of the pylons are almost bow level, I figured with a storm surge, the boat would be too high and too tight if still tied up, or too loose and it will wind up on top of the pylon. So I sported the extra loot to get it on land today at the marina parking lot where I keep it during the winter. The drives are up, and its nice and low on only a couple of blocks with cinder block and wood, so hopefully it will survive any high winds from blowing it over. I took the bimini completely down and its in the cabin. Everything else is stowed underneath as well. I have a helm cover, which I kept on, and duct taped the hell out of it as well. I duct taped the hatches as well, leaving only the low side untaped for any water that collects to run out. I left the bilge plug in fearing that if the surge was high enough to come over the marina, up the parking lot, and high enough to lift my boat off the blocks, that its better for the plug to be in (yeah, I know, that would be the least of my worries if that happened). Now, I come down to why I'm writing here, to put on the mooring cover or not. Its in pretty good shape, the snaps hold pretty well, but I know they may not be a match for 90+ mph winds if it gets up under it. Some other boat owners left their cockpit open, given the 5+ inches of rain expected, I'm reluctant to do that. Its canvas, so it wont keep all the water out, but better some than none I'm thinking. Maybe I should go back and put the batteries on this way at least the bilge pumps will work (or do they work with batteries off?). The fridge I turned off, I dont think anything else runs off the batteries.I thought about running some rope around the top of the cover, under the hull, and tie it up like a hog waiting to be roasted, but Home Depot is pretty much out of everything, including rope/line. So, who has any experience with hurricanes and whether or not putting the mooring cover on is good, bad, or it doesn't matter as its about luck anyway?

seapuppy · 08-27-2011, 03:16 AM

ok..first off ...DAAAAAAM!!!!...I'd rather have my foot operated on than go thru this ...but since it's you and not me...I'd not worry bout the bilge pumps..they are hot wired to the batt with a float switch...what I would do is duct tape the engine hatch to help prevent water intrusion....I'd also use plastic and duct tape over the intakes....
as for the canvas..stow that thing below....leaving the cockpit open is ok..it's designed to have water hit it and it will eventually bail out the aft of the boat..just make sure the boat is a little bow high....that way the water will drain aft.....it will be easier to clean the cockpit that way.....also cover and tape up all the port lights..don't want debri from damage them...also the top hatch......

I wouldn't put a tarp or anything over the cockpit....it will flap and do damage to the fiberglass...

Best of luck with it........keep us informed.....

SP

jamanati · 08-27-2011, 04:47 PM

It was already raining here this morning by the time I got to the marina, it was too late to tape anything. So I decided to run some nylon rope around the edge of the cockpit cover on the outside of the cover, all around, almost as if I was prepping it to shrink wrap it. The trick was to how to secure the wrap around line and make it tight so that it holds the edges of the canvas cover down. I ran it around the perimeter of the cover, when I got to the windshield, I looped the line around the bottom of the wiper arms and kept the line low on the cover. Worked it all the way around the boat and made it tight, but not too tight. Then I ran some more nylon rope tied to this wrap around rope to several places - down to the cleats on the swim platform, down to the port and starboard mid-ship cleats. I also ran lines up to the hand grips on the radar arch. So some are pulling it up, others are pulling it down. Its about as good as I can wrap it up, just will see how my luck holds out. The marina was chaos, people down there last minute trying to get things tied down, emptied, or getting on the list to get it out of the water. I got done about 10am and headed home. I'll see what Irene brings.

rodrigo · 08-29-2011, 11:53 AM

I left my mooring cover on! it was able to stay on the boat..... I was worried about it to,o but its better that than the regular enclosure for storms and hurricanes... I hope yours stayed on as well!

shrew · 08-30-2011, 09:58 PM

Sorry I missed this one. I was headed down to the boat to prepare for the hurricane. The short answer should be, take all the canvas and isinglass off. High wind will tear it to shreds. I saw many during this past storm that made it through just fine. Some with minor damage. Some that were completely destroyed. I would have advised to take it off. I hope you did alright.

ss3964spd · 08-31-2011, 05:03 PM

I think it rather depends on how tight the canvas fits. Morring covers tend to fit pretty tightly - especially with a center support pole, whereas biminis, side curtains, and campers tend to be lose.

I have a full cover (think car cover) for my boat which covers it from bow to swim platform and extends down about 6 to 8 inches past the rub rail, and it has a draw string to make it tight. The cover has additional straps with D rings along it's lower edge about every 2 feet or so. I also have a support pole in the center with a vent on top, and the hole is reinforced. The entire mess is nearly drum tight. I went down to the marina on Saturday just as it started to lightly rain and further secured the cover with lines from the D rings to the trailer.

The guy with a 27' go fast on a trailer next to mine covered his with a big rectangular tarp. Had one rope tied around the mid section of the boat (under the hull, up and over, and around the other side). He secured the rear corners of the tarp with bungees to the stern eyes, and the front corners were bungeed together and to the trailer. That arrangement was very lose and already flapping around in the 15-20 MPH winds that preceded the REAL winds.

Went back down on Sunday afternoon to check on my boat and found it exactly as I had left it. The tarp on the go fast was not just off, but was mostly shredded. There was water and all sorts of debris in the boat. He'll be spending a few hours cleaning that mess up.

Dan

jamanati · 09-01-2011, 02:51 AM

Well, the hurricane is over, and my mooring cover, with some help of tie downs, stayed on. I didn't get a chance to get down their quicker and the duct tape I put around the hatches left some glue on, got to clean that off. Our marina faired well in the storm, and my boat is off drydock and back in the slip. Thanks everyone for their feedback.