Storm Ciaran

[Boathook]

The met office have issued an amber alert for the wind on the south coast now. The local tv (bbc south) forecast made it sound bad.
Just hope my boat is OK afloat on her mooring, though the sw'ly wind does blow her off the mooring. Luckily took the sails off last week.

 

[wonkywinch]

Lyme Regis to Lands End including the Isles of Scilly (8)​

Outlook for the following 24 hours:

West or southwest 5 to 7, occasionally gale 8, becoming cyclonic severe gale 9 to violent storm 11, occasionally hurricane force 12 later.

Inshore waters and strong winds

 

[jac]

The met office have issued an amber alert for the wind on the south coast now. The local tv (bbc south) forecast made it sound bad.
Just hope my boat is OK afloat on her mooring, though the sw'ly wind does blow her off the mooring. Luckily took the sails off last week.

I still have both sails bent on and sprayhood up. I'm hoping the Hamble itself may be a little more sheltered

 

[Gixer]

Just got back from checking my boat, doubled the mooring lines, wrapped rope around the furled Genoa and around the main sail cover. Fingers crossed!

 

[Wansworth]

Going to be breezy……five lines on the wind arrows from the west,snow,rain

 

[Beelzebub]

This was posted over on SA half an hour ago. Living on Guernsey, it is of particular interest to me.

https://forums.sailinganarchy.com/a...-1_moddeuhd_2023103112_37_15_11-1-png.625385/

 

[sailoppopotamus]

Ideally one will have removed the genoa well before the storm hits. If however you haven't managed to get to the boat in time, and it's already pretty windy and you don't fancy unfurling the sail and dousing it, perhaps it's worth considering taking a spinnaker halyard and wrapping it several times round the furled genoa as a safety. Apologies if I am stating the obvious here.

 

[dunedin]

Ideally one will have removed the genoa well before the storm hits. If however you haven't managed to get to the boat in time, and it's already pretty windy and you don't fancy unfurling the sail and dousing it, perhaps it's worth considering taking a spinnaker halyard and wrapping it several times round the furled genoa as a safety. Apologies if I am stating the obvious here.

Having had to rescue a number of other peoples genoas in gales, my thinking is slightly differnt.
1) Furl the entire sail as tightly as possible from the first turn - stop 2 or 3 times when furling, cleat the sheet, and pull furling rope as tight as physically possible, then continue.
2) Ensure three tight turns of the sheets round the sail - then tighten these as much as possible - I sometimes winch gently. (Never leave any clew out, and certainly never leave the sheets dangling loose).
3) Rather than putting on a sail tie or wrapping a halyards round (unnecessary if done 1 tightly enough) take a short piece of strong rope and tie the furling drum so that it cannot loosen if the main furling rope slips or breaks.
The last is important as the reef line failing was the reason for two of the jibs coming free and ripping that I have seen.

Hope none of our boats get damaged in this storm.

 

[wonkywinch]

If you scroll through the synoptic charts, you'll see a repeat performance on Saturday with another similarly deep depression passing through. Better keep hatches battened for the next week.

Also worth tuning into Big Jet TV this week.

https://m.youtube.com/@BigJetTV

 

[st599]

Are you sure? It only needs to blow at 75mph (64 knots) to qualify as a hurricane

No, that's hurricane force. A hurricane is a tropical rotating storm and the great storm of '87 didn't originate in the tropics.

 

[zoidberg]

If you scroll through the synoptic charts, you'll see a repeat performance on Saturday with another similarly deep depression passing through. Better keep hatches battened for the next week.

Pleased that someone else is 'Reading The Runes. See my #26 earlier, near the bottom. Let us agree to call that next thing 'Storm Debi'.....

As for Ciaran, it will be weaker.... or stronger, a bit further north.... or south, either earlier... or later. What the MetO publish is their 'best guess'. We know these things......

 

[Stemar]

The Met Office Deep Dive on Ciaran is talking about record low pressure for November - 950mb as being pretty certain, but some uncertainty about exactly where it'll go. If it stays south, France will get a hammering, a bit further North, and it'll blow the IoW into Portsmouth Harbour (glad I'm out of the water!), a bit further and it's the Thames that gets it.

 

[oldharry]

is it advisable to put down the spray hood and drop the furled genoa in the conditions? boats at gillingham marina?

Insurers often regard a furled jib/Genoa as being set, excluded in the small print. If you leave it up, make sure it is tightly furled so the wind cannot pluck at a loose fold. That's how a blown out furled jib starts. Sprayhoods should be ok as long as they are facing the wind. If the wind gets inside the parachute effect places massive loads on it.. Safer taken down as it reduces windage.

 

[V1701]

I usually end up rescuing the odd genny in a storm, last time (Eunice Feb '22) I felt it wasn't safe to do it. I hope this one isn't as bad as Eunice which was not pleasant, don't think it will be...

 

[Martin_J]

Just got back from checking my boat, doubled the mooring lines, wrapped rope around the furled Genoa and around the main sail cover. Fingers crossed!

I did the same.

Spinnaker halyards were not much use clipped to the deck, so they're now around the genoa..

And the mainsail cover has a rope half hitched over it from clew to tack.

 

[Martin_J]

And the mooring lines go to cleats both sides of the boat.. and to nearest and furthest side of the pontoon finger.

So annoying that the fingers are so short these days in marinas, they don't reach anywhere near as far as the aft on deck cleats.. thus putting the stern line at a bit of an acute angle.

 

[wonkywinch]

If you're in a South Coast MDL marina, you've most likely just received this:

As you would have seen from news reports and our social media channels, the weather will stay unsettled and, at times very windy, over the coming days. This unsettled period peaks with Storm Ciarán, which crosses southern UK on Thursday into Friday.

Wind and rain warnings associated with Storm Ciarán are in force from tonight onwards into Friday. These include amber warning for winds for southwestern parts of England and Wales Thursday early hours and morning, and the far south and southeast of England Thursday daytime and early evening.

Storm Ciarán is expected to bring very strong winds along all southern coastal areas of England during this time, in particular where gusts of 70 to 80mph are possible, perhaps exceeding 85 mph in the most exposed locations. Further inland, gusts could reach up to 50 or 60mph.

With this in mind, we would strongly advise our customers not to attend their vessels during the extremes of the forthcoming storm, including being out on the pontoons, onboard or working under their vessel whilst stored ashore.

Please be assured that our staff will be checking all boats around the clock in a safe manner. If you should have any specific concerns then please contact your home marina using our online form.

Windfinder forecasts near 60kt southerly gusts at 3am tonight which is the end of the flood tide. I reckon there will be quite a bit of flooding up the 'amble in the early hours.

 

[Wansworth]

If you're in a South Coast MDL marina, you've most likely just received this:

As you would have seen from news reports and our social media channels, the weather will stay unsettled and, at times very windy, over the coming days. This unsettled period peaks with Storm Ciarán, which crosses southern UK on Thursday into Friday.

Wind and rain warnings associated with Storm Ciarán are in force from tonight onwards into Friday. These include amber warning for winds for southwestern parts of England and Wales Thursday early hours and morning, and the far south and southeast of England Thursday daytime and early evening.

Storm Ciarán is expected to bring very strong winds along all southern coastal areas of England during this time, in particular where gusts of 70 to 80mph are possible, perhaps exceeding 85 mph in the most exposed locations. Further inland, gusts could reach up to 50 or 60mph.

With this in mind, we would strongly advise our customers not to attend their vessels during the extremes of the forthcoming storm, including being out on the pontoons, onboard or working under their vessel whilst stored ashore.

Please be assured that our staff will be checking all boats around the clock in a safe manner. If you should have any specific concerns then please contact your home marina using our online form.

Windfinder forecasts near 60kt southerly gusts at 3am tonight which is the end of the flood tide. I reckon there will be quite a bit of flooding up the 'amble in the early hours.

Seems a sensible seaman like attitude

 

[Stemar]

Please be assured that our staff will be checking all boats around the clock in a safe manner.

The last time I sat out a storm (100kts at the Needles), I thought I'd could keep an eye on the other boats on our club pontoon, but when it all kicked off, I took one look at the way the pontoon was leaping around, and decided that "checking all boats in a safe manner" involved not going near them

 

[franksingleton]

"There won't be a hurricane"
Actually the poor old sod was right from a meteorologists POV but the popular press were not going to let the truth get in the way of a great bit of character assassination.
Nothing changes!

As the BBC said, when we challenged them, “Why spoil a good story?”