Our Cyclone Mooring
Leaving the yacht during the critical months in a cyclone area requires special preparation. Here are a few ideas we've learnt from experience and gleaned from others.
The morning after the typhoon hit our marina in Japan - we were tied up to the dock belonging to this ramp!
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.
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.
