CYCLONE MOORING PREPARATION

Cyclone Mooring Preparation

It does get hot in Townsville over the Summer months ... and humid, so air-conditioners throughout the marina tend to be ON most of the time. We like to be below decks or in other cool places like the local library or the supermarket, from mid-morning to around 5pm. Then a walk along the nearby Strand or a barbeque with friends is delightful as the evening breeze sets in and the sun goes down. However, if there is a reason to go south sometime during the year (in our case to visit friends and family), then Summer is a good time to do it.

Summer is also the time when cyclones can occur too so the choice to leave the boat and head south is made in the knowledge that it should be secured for such an event. Townsville has been spared from a direct hit category 5 cyclone for many years but it is our practice that illywhacker be battened down just in case. Over the years we have weathered a few storms in harbour and at sea and have listened to cruisers who have suffered mightily in severe storms. As a result we have gathered equipment and follow a routine that we use which minimises the amount of worrying when we're away. Basically we imagine the worst - a wind that removes everything from above the deck that is the slightest bit free. Such a wind will probably cause extreme heeling, causing pressure against the docks and adjacent boats with consequent havoc below from any unsecured objects. To deal with such a scenario we do the following:

Our mooring lines (up to 10) are of 22mm nylon and run from every deck cleat (3 each side) so the load is shared across every available dockside cleat. We have hefty bollard-type cleats mounted right at the gunwales to avoid chafe through fairleads when the nylon stretches it's 40%. From our years spent tieing up in commercial fishing harbours, we have fitted most lines with thimbles which are shackled and or chained to dockside fittings to avoid chafe at that end also.

2 mooring lines to every cleat - these are mounted outboard to prevent chafe	A mooring line to an inboard cleat via a fairlead will suffer chafe - nylon stretches up to 40%

On deck, every sail is removed and stored below and all halyards are wound around the standing rigging and securely fastened. Wind transducers, safety equipment, whip aerials and the wind generator blades are packed below as are our cockpit clears and sunroof. A rugged tonneau-type cover fastens between the doghouse and the aft coachroof to cover the cockpit. It all takes a few days work and afterwards illywhacker looks a bit bare but it is s good excercise in cleaning and checking equipment which occurs more or less annually.

Plywood cockpit cover - originally for the snowload provides strength for the weatherproof cover	Inside the "snow-cave"
Cover with port side rolled up for access	Looking fwd - note wound halyards, clear deck. The dinghy is bolted down from underneath

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