How to Protect Your Boat in a Hurricane？

Hurricane season in the Atlantic Ocean is from the beginning of June to the end of November each year, hurricanes can cause serious damage to yachts with their powerful forces, it is best to protect your yacht before a hurricane hits, understanding and implementing the best practices for protecting your hard during a hurricane will help to ensure that your yacht survives a hurricane, and this guide will help you to understand and learn how to protect yourself, as well as your yacht, in the event of a hurricane.

Safety measures for those staying on board your yacht

If you decide to stay on your yacht during a hurricane, be sure to wear a life jacket and make sure that the life-saving equipment on board, such as life preservers and flares, is in a ready-to-use condition. Prepare enough food and water and some emergency medicines in advance to deal with possible stranding situations. When the hurricane comes, you should try to stay in a relatively safe position on the yacht, try not to move on the deck to prevent being swept into the sea by the hurricane, if you have to go to the deck to operate, make sure that there are enough safety measures, such as tying up the safety rope.

Yacht safety and security

If the intensity of the hurricane is too great, the yacht is located in the location is expected to be unable to withstand the huge impact of the hurricane, or the yacht's safety is not sufficient confidence, should be timely and decisive yacht evacuation to the safety of the land. Before evacuating, make sure that important items on the yacht have been properly secured or relocated.

Insure your yacht

Purchasing insurance for your yacht ensures that you are adequately covered for the risks involved. Yacht insurance can cover the cost of repairing your yacht if it is damaged in a hurricane, and can prevent you from incurring financial losses as a result of damage to your yacht during a hurricane.

Make a plan before a hurricane hit

If you live in a hurricane-prone area, it's important to have a plan in place to deal with a hurricane before it hits, rather than waiting for it to come and start planning. When making your plan, you can check to see if the marina where your yacht is docked is safe, and if the marina doesn't have a plan for dealing with hurricanes, you may need to evacuate your yacht from the marina when a hurricane hits.

Pick a Safe Shelter from the Wind

When a hurricane hits, you need to pick a suitable shelter for your yacht. Some marinas have sturdy protective facilities, and docking your yacht at a marina is a good way to do this, so you can choose a relatively sheltered location for your yacht, and once you are docked, you can tie your yacht to the marina with a cable that is securely attached to the marina, with some cushioning on the cable to cushion the force of a hurricane, and to prevent the cable from snapping.

Strengthening and Protecting Yacht Facilities

In order to minimize the damage caused by a hurricane, all facilities on the yacht need to be reinforced and protected. All equipment that can be disassembled can be removed and placed in a safe and secure location inside the cabin to prevent it from being blown away or damaged during a hurricane. For equipment that cannot be disassembled, it is important to cover them tightly with specialized devices and secure them with ropes and clips to ensure that they can be used properly after the hurricane.

Close all hatches on your yacht

Close all hatches, windows and vents on your yacht, using seals to make sure they are well sealed to prevent saltwater from rushing into the cabin and causing damage to the yacht. At the same time, you should enhance the yacht's drainage capacity, clean the drainage system, make sure the drainage pump is working properly, keep the water level in the cabin stable, and maintain the buoyancy and stability of the boat yacht.

Remove the yacht canvas

In the face of the mighty power of hurricanes, boat owners must save for a rainy day and take active and effective protective measures. Yacht cockpit canvas is easily damaged in a hurricane and can be torn or loosened by the force of the hurricane. Remove all canvas from the yacht before a hurricane hits, especially on a sailboat, and removing all of this canvas can reduce wind resistance.