ONE YEAR AGO

One year ago I was in Washington D.C. two hundred and fifty miles from my boat as Hurricane Irene traveled up the coast and put BIANKA and the harbor where she was moored on the bad side of the storm. I had spent the previous two days taking off the sails and adding lines and chain to the mooring in the hopes that the boat would survive. I did all I could do and then boarded a train in New York and headed down to DC for a previously planned work gig. It was hard being so far away from the boat and not knowing how it fared. But, everything turned out OK in the end for BIANKA and most of the boats in the  harbor. But, it can not be stressed too often that you need to prepare your boat for such storms as best you can and pay particular attention to try and make sure that lines don't chafe. The video below shows how fast your boat can be gone if you fail to tackle that all important chaffing issue.

OH NOAA!

"This year’s Atlantic hurricane season got off to a busy start, with 6 named storms to date, and may have a busy second half, according to the updated hurricane season outlook issued today by NOAA’s Climate Prediction Center, a division of the National Weather Service. The updated outlook still indicates a 50 percent chance of a near-normal season, but increases the chance of an above-normal season to 35 percent and decreases the chance of a below-normal season to only 15 percent from the initial outlook issued in May." -NOAA

I'm hoping that 2012 will not make it a hurricane "hat trick" for BIANKA. I was on board for Hurricane Earl in Three Mile Harbor East Hampton in 2010. Last year it was and even more ferocious Hurricane Irene that made a direct hit on BIANKA's home waters while I could only watch and worry from two hundred and fifty miles away.  In both cases I prepped the boat as much as I could and hoped for the best. Happily, in both situations there was a good out come. But, I had time to do those preparations because I had been keeping a weather eye on hurricane activity thousands of miles away. It's what any prudent mariner would do as we approach peak hurricane season.  

HURRICANE SEASON 2012

We interrupt the Bahamas Exumas blog posts to remind you that the 2012 Atlantic Hurricane season has begun. The people in the Bahamas are reminded of this with every letter they send as the Bahamas stamp above shows. BIANKA has survived through two recent brushes with Hurricanes.  Earl in 2010 and last year with Irene. Experiences I hope not to repeat. Irene was particularly disturbing because  unfortunately I had to be 250 miles away on a work assignment and was not able to check on the boat during or after the storm. The best that I could do was prepare the boat and then hope for the best.  Hurricane preparation for your boat especially when it comes to chafe protection of the lines that hold it should be a top priority as this video shows what kinds of conditions boats on moorings and anchor might go through:


Best to have a plan  in place before a Hurricane threatens.

MOORING IN AMERICA

There was good news and bad news this week about BIANKA's upcoming sailing season. In the mail from the town came the approved 2012 mooring permit. So BIANKA has a home port to come back to when not out cruising.  It's a sure sign that start of the season is in sight. There was more good signs as I pulled into the boatyard yesterday:

The good sign was that the moorings were starting to be lined up and the boatyard was getting ready to be put them out in the harbor. Some had new chain. Some had new pennant lines.  Some just needed a new coat out anti fouling paint.

Then came the bad news. My town requires that the moorings be inspected every season before they are dropped out of sight onto the harbor bottom. I think it is good idea and also makes sure that only secure and reliable moorings are dotting the harbor. Which may have been why there was so few boats lost or damaged in the harbor when Hurricane Irene came to visit showing us her bad side.  As I was getting out the car one of the guys working the boatyard came up to me and said I need to show something on your mooring. This is what he showed me:

Yeah, it's looking a little worn at the bottom shackle attachment point on one side where the chain connects to the mooring. BIANKA having survived Hurricane Irene might not be so lucky next time with the mooring  looking like this. Some of this damage might have been a result of riding the Hurricane too. So it looks like a new 300 plus pound mooring is in BIANKA's future along with some unexpected expense for Capt. Mike. Though it's still cheap insurance if another storm like Irene should head this way.

BYE BYE TO THE 2011 HURRICANE SEASON

You are like a hurricane

There's calm in your eye.

And I'm gettin' blown away

To somewhere safer

where the feeling stays.

I want to love you but

I'm getting blown away.

                                                                                                        Neil Young

Well the official 2011 hurricane season ends today and not a moment too soon as far as I'm concerned. Here is what it looked like:

Of course BIANKA met Hurricane Irene up close and personal and unfortunately happened to be on her bad side:

Yes,  from a distance hurricanes are kind of pretty as they seem to dance around the water. But, if you have a boat that's in one it ain't that pretty at all as these scenes from Hurricane Irene show.  Though I was glad that BIANKA was able "weather" the category one storm even though due to work commitments I had to be several hundred miles away when the storm hit. The effects from Irene were felt throughout the northeast for awhile afterward. Indeed BIANKA and I were still seeing and dealing with the after effects several weeks later on a cruise to New York.  But, now that the storms are behind us it's time to start looking forward to the next sailing season.

1485 NAUTICAL MILES

I cruised 285 nautical miles this year with BIANKA. Making a total of 1485 miles since I converted the boat to electric propulsion. A little less than last year. But, I managed to get a few weeks of freelance work this summer which did not happen last year. So I spent a few less weeks over the summer on board.  Such is the life of a freelancer.  BIANKA also came through Hurricane Irene and a Nor' easter on the mooring this year without a scratch. I did have a day on one of my cruises this year where I had to motor for over 10 hours using electric propulsion. That was the most I have had to do that since I installed electric propulsion and once again the electric propulsion system came through with flying colors.

BACK ON BOARD POST IRENE

What was unnerving for me as Hurricane Irene approached was the fact because of a work commitment I would be 250 miles away when the storm hit. Not only that, I would not be getting back to the boat for a least two weeks afterward. Happily, I got word fairly soon after the storm had past that BIANKA had survived. That was a relief knowing the boat was OK and my hurricane prep had worked. I tried a few things before I left the boat. Some ideas worked and some ideas need improvement. This is a picture of how I left things at BIANKA's bow before I left the boat:

You can see the anchor has been removed. Two lines the primary and backup are attached to the mooring and are free.  Not easily  seen is the anchor chain on the right roller that drops straight down below the surface of the water and is attached to the mooring chain at a different link than the lines above.  I've already expressed my how I like to have cable ties on board for all sorts of handy reasons. Here I am using them to hold some split tubing in position as some anti chafe protection. Also note I am using the cable ties through the holes in the bow rollers. The plan being to prevent the mooring lines from jumping off the rollers during the storm. I'm using cable ties in the belief they would not chafe the lines like a metal screw would. The cable ties worked as planned or at least the mooring lines never jumped out of the bow rollers. Some of my other ideas not so good.

Returning back to BIANKA after two weeks I found this scene:

Things got pretty twisted forward of the bow rollers. What I don't know is when this all happened. Was during the hurricane or was it during the two weeks of the boat spinning around the mooring before I returned. Both the chain and my anti sail drogue line got twisted up in the mooring lines too.  I did not notice any serious chafe on the mooring lines but, next time I hope to come up with a better plan and hopefully I won't be so far away should another hurricane approach.

SCENES FROM IRENE PART 2 WITH A HAPPY ENDING

An anonymous reader of the BIANKA LOG BLOG posted a link to a rescue of a wayward sailboat in a mooring field in Winthrop Massachusetts during Hurricane Irene. Unlike the previous SCENES FROM IRENE this one has a happy ending. Thanks to  a lot of luck as the boat seems to have missed hitting many other boats as it traveled through the mooring field:
WARNING: Thar be salty language in the video:

 

SCENES FROM HURRICANE IRENE

Who needs to go to the movies?  Say Goodbye to Hollywood there is enough action right here as Hurricane Irene came up the east coast. Makes you appreciate the importance of chafe prevention and prepping the boat for even minimal Hurricanes/tropical storms. Let's start off with one of the early casualties of Irene. A couple who tried to "outrun" the Hurricane and got into a whole bunch of hurt off of Norfolk Virginia. Photos of the beached boat were posted on the Internet and their plight made it into a lot of papers from the local newspapers up to the Washington Post and CBS TV. Here is some video of what it was like before the boat hit the beach:




Meanwhile in Moorehead City. This boat had it's sails taken off but, still is was no match for Irene's fury:




  Some boats designed to sail fast will do so even with the sails furled. Until they hit the beach that is:





Hope these make you appreciate what your boat might go through in such storms I know it did for me.

AFTER THE STORM THOUGHTS OF AN ELECTRIC SAILOR

It was a relief that BIANKA made it through Hurricane Irene at the mooring. I had been on board during Hurricane Earl last year when it went to the east of the boat and felt more comfortable then because of the back up plans I had in place. When Irene hit much closer and to the west leaving  BIANKA on the side with the stronger winds I was less sure of the outcome. Plus I was in a location that was much more crowded with other boats this time. But, now at least I know my plans seemed to work out for Category 1 storms like Irene.

Some post storm thoughts:

Besides the electronics I took off the boat, I also took a many of the electronics from my project box that had yet to be installed. I almost overlooked that aspect of hurricane prep. But, when I started to add up the costs of the unopened packages of the devices the number was in the hundreds of dollars. Not an insignificant amount.

I also took off my Honda 2000i generator and the five gallons of gas I had on board. The generator of course is an expensive item to be replaced. At 47 pounds it is lightweight enough to be easily taken off the boat. You can't say that for an installed diesel genset. But, I was also thinking if one is anchored in an exotic local and one went to ashore to ride out the storm rather than stay on board. Having a lightweight electric generator and a couple of gallons of gas would make one a very welcome guest in many households on shore.

Finally, while I was on board I thought about my electric propulsion system. If I had more time and if the storm was going to be stronger than projections I could have removed most of my electric propulsion system. The major  components like the controller box and battery charger have  removable connectors and the boxes are held on with a few bolts and nuts I could have easily removed them. Like wise the motor could have been removed and carried off the boat in a boat bag.

Which is how I bought it on board in the first place. You can't do that with a diesel. While I might have lost the boat in some circumstances. I would still have the basic components of my electric propulsion system intact and ready to be installed in a replacement boat. Though I am glad things never came to that.

OH HAPPY DAY!

Though I have not seen it for myself. I received a phone call yesterday from a reliable source that BIANKA and the other boats in it's mooring field survived Hurricane Irene. One of the nearby boats  dragged it's mooring slightly but, suffered no damage. Time to cue the Edwin Hawkins Singers:

PURPLE RAIN

Looking at the 50 knot wind speed probabilities this morning showing the Isle of Long with a 100% chance of having 50 knot winds is not pleasant to see but, of course not unexpected.

 

I have the Prince song Purple Rain playing in my head at the moment. I'm not a big Prince fan and I can't really express how I feel about Irene at this point. I've been on in BIANKA sailing in gale conditions and she did well by me. What I don't know is how she will do attached to a mooring in those same conditions. It is going to be a long day.

BLOG UPDATE 9:00 AM : Checking on some buoys in Long Island Sound looks like the winds have mostly been a steady 30 knots with gusts to 45 or so. Looks like tides are about 4.5 feet over prediction.  Not good but, not terrible either. I hope those numbers go down from here as the storm comes ashore. Things seem to be going in the right direction though. My optimism is rising.

BLOG UPDATE 12:46 PM  Checking the buoys shows the winds at Execution Rocks out of the north and only gusting to 35 knots. While further east the buoys are still gusting to 50 knots and out of the south. So it looks like Irene is moving on. My cell phone has not rang and that's good news too. Though I'll probably have to wait until tomorrow morning to find out how BIANKA fared before I start doing the happy dance.

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THE CALM BEFORE THE STORM

Spent most of yesterday on board. It was a beautiful cloudless windless day. A fine summer day in August.  It would be hard to predict what was coming from these conditions. It was a tad humid and hot and as a result I took a few swims in between prepping the boat for the arrival of Hurricane Irene. I got a email from Bob who writes the BOAT BITS blog and who recently had some sundowners on board his boat while the eye of the same Irene passed over St. Criox a few days ago. He mentioned that Jeff Masters at Weather Underground said the eye wall of Irene was weakening. Meaning that the storm was not strengthening. That good news was tempered with my talk with the guys at the boatyard who said that during Hurricane Gloria the last storm to directly hit the Isle of Long there were 100 boats on the beach. I'm trying to make sure that BIANKA is not going to be one of them after this storm.
There were a number of owners out preparing their boats but, not everyone. Some were just wrapping their sails up.  While others like myself and those on the moorings around me where taking them off completely.

Funny how an approaching storm can get one to focus on those little projects that one has not gotten to on board. Like replacing the temporary cable tie that was holding up one of the solar bimini frames.

I had the eye strap on board for over a week and did not get around to installing it. Irene got me focused on making sure it was installed. Cable ties are useful things on a boat. But, trusting them to hold up in Hurricane conditions is asking too much from them.

I also secured some of the wiring for the solar panels that was on my to do list too.
While on board I decided to do add some additional attachment to the mooring beyond the primary and secondary mooring line.  I was worried about my Bruce anchor which hangs over the bowsprit  could catch on an errant boats life lines or pushpit and could drag BIANKA along with it or cause a lot of damage. So I removed the anchor and stowed it below. I then used the anchor chain to act as a the "all hell breaks loose" third pennant to the mooring chain. I shackled it to a different link than the line pennants with a shackle and a swivel. It's always good to have a number of shackles of various sizes on board.

They may cost a few sheckles but, in situations like this they are priceless!  I'm also glad I took the time last year during Hurricane Earl to use some Tef Gel on the shackle threads. This made them able to unscrew easily when I needed them. I also wrapped and secured the chain around the mast. This made sure that the Sampson Post was not the only point on the bow recieving the stress from the storm pull. I feel with the anchor chain now secured to the mooring system BIANKA my drag onto the beach but, it will be taking it's mooring with it. I added some anti chaffing to the existing lines and adjusted the anti sail bow drogue I used last year while riding out Hurricane Earl in three Mile Harbor. I stayed on board until about 10:30 pm exhausted and tired having done everything I could think of to make sure BIANKA would still be floating come Monday. Now I only have to watch and wait for the storm to arrive.

AND SUCKIER!

Not  good to to wake up to this:

"DANGEROUS HURRICANE IRENE TO IMPACT THE REGION SATURDAY NIGHT INTO SUNDAY NIGHT..."

Looks like a direct hit right over the boat. One final visit today to take the sail down add anti-chaffing gear. Just hope it won't be the final visit. 

AND IT GET'S SUCKIER!

This latest track shows Irene moving a little toward the west putting most of the Isle of Long and my location on the nastier side of the storm. Spent this morning adding an additional line to the mooring. I'll be back on board tomorrow to finish up. I took some tools off the boat and some electronics.  I'm also facing the reality there is a chance I may lose the boat with this storm. When I rode out Hurricane Earl last year at anchor I was more confident in the situation. I had plan A, B, C & D ready. But, back on the mooring I only have one shot with plan A. Even if that works there are hundreds of other boats in the harbor whose owners may have no plan at all.  Which could make all my plans moot if they drag into the BIANKA. I am optimistic but, also resigned that nature also has it's plan A.