Hurricane Preparations
I thought I would post a few words about getting our sailing vessel “Odyssey” ready for the tropical storm season. In the Bahamas tropical storms mostly occur in August, September, and October. My wife and I flew down to the Bahamas in late July to spend a few more days in the lovely warm water of the Abacos and to complete our hurricane preparation efforts on Odyssey.
We had never been to the Bahamas in the summer so we decided to go down for a few days to check it out and take care of final hurricane preparations on Odyssey. My wife went down to the Abacos before me to visit with some friends on Guana Cay. I arrived at Hopetown on Elbow Cay about a week later where my wife met me. We had dinner with a couple different friends on their boats. We had been gone from Hopetown for about 2 months. The most noticeable difference at the Hopetown Marina in July was there were very few sailboats and more big powerboats. Apparently, in the summer months, a lot of big power boats come over from Florida for a week or so to do some serious deep sea fishing.
We went on a scuba diving trip to Fowl Cay National Sea Park near Man-o-War Cay. The water was so warm (about 82-83 degrees Fahrenheit); it was like a bath tub. This made staying underwater for 45 minutes much more enjoyable. I did not even use a wetsuit. Although the water seemed very warm to us, many locals told us the water this summer was much cooler than normal. This is good news for us boaters as it makes a hurricane less likely.
The rest of the week we spent cleaning, organizing, and preparing the boat for the hurricane season. As I mentioned in a previous post, the list of things to do to get Odyssey ready for the hurricane season is extensive. Some of the items are:
- Storing the dinghy – This involves cleaning the dinghy bottom, haul it onto the front deck, deflate it, roll it up, and place it in its storage bag. Lastly, it must be tied down on the deck.
- Assemble all the lines for the marina personnel to use for storms. We have 12 lines out holding Odyssey in our slip. We have an additional 7 lines ranging in size from 25 feet to 50 feet that we will leave in the sail locker for the marina personnel to use during a storm.
- Stow the backup anchor and rode in the anchor locker.
- Take down the head sail, but we will keep the main sail on the boat tightly tied off as this sail is rolled up inside the mast.
- We removed all the canvas except the dodger which we will have the marina personnel remove if there is a storm.
- We took down the two solar panels as well as the tubing supports that they are attached to.
- We removed and stored below deck all miscellaneous items on the outside of the boat; such as boat hooks, drink holders, cushions, WiFi antenna, flags, etc.
- Put all portable electronic items in Ziploc bags.
- Wipe down all the interior wood with a mixture of vinegar and water which helps prevent mildew from growing.
- Odyssey is, fortunately, equipped with a central air conditioning system which has a “De-humidifier” setting. This setting keeps the humidity down in the boat without having to keep the A/C running all summer.
When we made this last trip down to the boat, we brought with us extra bags carrying as many things as possible we will need for the next cruising season. This is done because everything in the Bahamas is much more expensive than in the US. Also, we will not be taking Odyssey back to Florida before next winter to re-supply. When going back to the US, it is best to leave as much on the boat as possible so you do not have to use any luggage space bringing the items back again in late fall. This luggage space is needed to bring even more items to the boat for next season.
Below are some photos of Odyssey before hurricane preparations and after hurricane preparations.
Odyssey ready to sail
Odyssey buttoned down for Hurricane season
Dinghy tied down on front deck & headsail taken down
Did you enjoy this post? Why not leave a comment below and continue the conversation, or subscribe to my feed and get articles like this delivered automatically to your feed reader.
Comments
No comments yet.
Sorry, the comment form is closed at this time.