Advanced Preparations and TrainingĪnyone who plans on sailing outside of a bay or inlet should prepare themselves in advance and receive emergency training. Besides causing damage to your boat, it can also knock a person unconscious thus making it easy to be swept overboard. Waves can propel an object with extraordinary strength. This includes ports, other ships, buoys, lighthouses, shore, rocks, or anything else.Įven something as small as a buoy can become a major hazard when it is hurled against or atop your boat. Take note that if you absolutely must ride out a storm, your safest bet is the farthest distance from any objects. It should go without saying that you need to avoid objects during a storm. Typically it will be counterclockwise from the storm’s leading edge. Sometimes it can be difficult to tell, however, once you are in thick of the storm.
You should be able to tell on sight which side is the clean side. This is the side of the storm with the lowest waves and weakest winds.
If you must ride out a storm – such as when one appears without advanced warning or is moving too fast to outrun – you need to steer for the “clean” side of the storm. Outrunning the storm should obviously be the first option, and it is possible to do so if you know which way the storm is blowing. If you can’t find the right port, you are left with two options: trying to outrun the storm or hoping your marine skills are ready to sail out the crashing waves and unrelenting wind. This allows for a dampening effect that helos with holding. When the boat or ship is tied off the chain should be allowed considerable slack. These are known as “hurricane holes.” Once docked, boats should place the engine in reverse to set the anchor. The ideal port will have high cliffs or mountains surrounding it, with a good holding. Some ports are even more dangerous than being in the open sea, whether for traveling reasons or poor ancorages for your boat. If you have advanced notice, you should try to find a port. Knowing what to do ahead of time is the best course of action – but what is that? While nobody likes to think of being at the sea’s mercy, it is always possible. When you spend time sailing the open water it is inevitable that you will run into a storm at some point.
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