Hurricane survival

rwoofer

rwoofer

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In this months YM I read the story about surviving the hurricane in Grenada on the yacht Camille.

It was a very interesting read and sounded as if they had luck on the side not be be washed onto the rocks. What really caught my attention was that the author said that the chances of surviving a hurricane in open water were nill.

Why would this be the case? I would have thought waves were a bigger danger than the admittedly very high winds. Since hurricanes pass through an area quickly, surely the waves wouldn't have much chance to build to big and dangerous sizes.

Take the Grenada example, would boats in the water have fared better being in the open sea rather than at anchor?

What does the committee think?

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Hurricanes aren't very fast moving, 15 knots would be typical. A typical storm diameter would be 150 miles. So extreme conditions will last for maybe 10 hours, quite long enough for exceptional waves to develop. In addition they have a long slow build up, pushing surges before them, and are at their worst in areas that already experience significant ocean swells, both of which contribute.

Of course, a number of yachts (and their crews) have been known to survive hurricanes well out at sea, so it can be done. Survival probability is actually pretty good.

But don't forget that there are hurricanes and hurricanes. Surviving an SS category 1 hurricane is plausible, but a category 5 hurricane like Ivan (3 when it struck Granada), with winds in excess of 136 knots and a storm surge of 5.5m or more, is many times as destructive. I know of no verified account of a yacht at sea surviving a direct hit from a category 5 hurricane.
 
Re: Wrong question

Real issue is whether crew survive

If crew ashore and yacht in berth crew have a chance even if yacht lost

If offshore and yacht is lost.............................

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To add to Andrew's reply. if you are unlucky enough to be near the centre you then have the problem of the wind changing direction as the eye passes, overlaying one set of wave trains upon another giving rise to the dodgy, unstable pyramidal wave structures that are capable of flattening most yachts.

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I haven't been out in a hurricane, but the worst storm I have experienced was a force 10 in the North Atlantic, between Orkney & Iceland. This was on a 16,000 ton tanker, and you wouldnt believe the damage to one of Harland & Wolf's finest !

No Titanic jokes, please - This one was built in their Clyde yard !

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The next one will be my 5th. Two at anchor and 2 in a berth. No damage at anchor and only minor damage when alongside. We were lucky. As for survival at sea I believe that a well found and well designed boat would stand a fair chance. The integrity of the hull and any hatches or other openings being the most important consideration. You may or may not lose the rig but as long as you can keep the green stuff from getting below in major quantities you will still float. Perhaps you have all seen the film of the US coastguard pulling a chap from his boat against his will having had his voyage declared "unsafe" to give them the authority to do so? The boat washes up ashore with very little damage. However in this day and age with 3 or 4 days advance warning available and reliable and powerful diesels at the ready RUN LIKE HELL IF YOU CAN.

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In the article a number of boats anchored in a bay and it seemed the boats were manned as was the case with Camille. In the first half of the storm, the wind was offshore and boats apparently dragged until they foundered on reefs. When the wind changed, boats were blown ashore where they also foundered.

So my question was that if you are going to stay on a boat is it better to be well offshore were the only danger is waves. Or anchored etc, where you are still susceptible to waves, but also to reefs and the shore.

I think the author of the story was very lucky to survive, so I was just thinking that there chances may have been better offshore if they really wanted to stay with the boat.



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I'm a sailor of small keelboats, so excuse my naiveté, but I wondered weather you could motor into the wind in your "hurricane hole" and stay roughly stationary, whilst monitoring position via GPS.

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The trouble is that hurricanes get bigger and bigger until they run ashore, unless they miss North America entirely and head back out into the atlantic, losing energy as they go. You either need wheels or you'll be there a long time!

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this was done during hurricane Luis in St Maarten there is a video of a guy (taken from onboard from the safety of the companionway) withhis boat at three quarter throttle wearing mask and snorkel, the rain was unbeleivable, his biggest problem was the bow swinging from side to side as the wind grabbed it, as for me i have now sat through four hurricanes moored up in a small harbour, so far, so good........keith

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