Sailboat Bay Hurricane Preparedness
/It is critical that everyone review the detailed Sailboat Bay Hurricane preparedness plan that is found on our website. Part of this plan includes securing all boats and moving all vehicles and items that could pose a danger in the event of wind and flooding from under our buildings. Now is the time to prepare our community and to” tighten the ship” to be sure that, if we are in a hurricane warning condition, most of the essential preparations have already been taken or anticipated.
Hurricane Ivan left tremendous damage at sailboat bay. Please be sure to understand the hurricane Preparedness plan for Sailboat Bay
Hurricane Preparedness Plan (Short Version)
For ease of review, below is a Cliff’s Note version of Sailboat Bays Hurricane Preparedness plan. The detailed document is on our website for your review. This is a good time review the complete document early in the beginning of the season with time to work on our preparedness plans.
Understand what you need to do to prepare. When you are not here, make sure your property is left in hurricane mode.
How to prepare your condo, boat, cars, and other equipment:
You have to do this before you leave. The staff will be too busy. Remember if your property (boat, vehicle, etc) damages others through lack of preparation, you are liable.
Understand the timeline if a hurricane strike is predicted. When do you have to evacuate, remove vehicles, and secure boats?
Get your emergency supplies. Most of this can be done in advance.
Hurricane / Tropical Storm Alerts
Tropical Storm Watch: An announcement that tropical-storm conditions are possible within the specified area.
Hurricane Watch: An announcement that hurricane conditions are possible within the specified area.
Because outside preparedness activities become difficult once winds reach tropical storm force, watches are issued 48 hours in advance of the anticipated onset of tropical-storm-force winds.
Action: During a watch, prepare your home and review your plan for evacuation in case a Hurricane or Tropical Storm Warning is issued. Listen closely to instructions from local officials.
Tropical Storm Warning: An announcement that tropical-storm conditions are expected within the specified area.
Hurricane Warning: An announcement that hurricane conditions are expected within the specified area.
Because outside preparedness activities become difficult once winds reach tropical storm force, warnings are issued 36 hours in advance of the anticipated onset of tropical-storm-force winds.
Action: During a warning, complete storm preparations and immediately leave the threatened area if directed by local officials.
Extreme Wind Warning - Extreme sustained winds of a major hurricane (115 mph or greater), usually associated with the eye wall, are expected to begin within an hour.
Action: Take immediate shelter in the interior portion of a well-built structure.
Hurricane/ Storm Preparation List Things to do before Hurricane Season starts:
Make sure our Property Manager has keys to your condo.
Find a neighbor who can be your “Hurricane Buddy”.
Stock up on supplies
Keep some proof of residency with you.
Pull together important documents and papers.
Before you evacuate:
Move everything off your decks and patios and secure them in your unit
Move all valuables, solvents, paints, pesticides, bug sprays upstairs to your unit.
Move all gasoline and diesel containers to the boat yard storage area.
Turn off the main electrical breaker and shut off the main water valve to your unit.
Move all vehicles, boats and trailers to the boat yard or other designated parking areas
away from the buildings.
Fill all bathtubs with water for use later
Put your box of valuable information, extra water and food and several days’ changes
of clothes in your car. Secure your boat. Please see section three of this document on the website for more detailed instructions.
Remove all canvas, cushions, sails, dinghies etc.
Move your boat away from the marina if possible.
Remove all portable valuable equipment to a safe location.
Boats on lifts
Lash the four corners of your boat to the lift rails.
Raise the lift as high as possible.
Tie the front of your boat to the pilings on the bulk head. Leave enough scope to
allow for a storm surge
Boats in the water:
Center the boat in the slip.
Use 3 strand nylon line and anti-chafe material at all tie points. Larger rope is better. Do not use polypropylene as it does not stretch.
Double up all lines including spring lines. Make the lines long to allow for any storm surge.
Hurricane Ivan taught us hard, but valuable lessons. One of the lessons we learned was that storm surge damages cars, trucks, boats, trailers, and buildings. We had several cars totaled during Ivan and one building experienced an under-building car fire as a result of storm surge.
As we are all aware, once we receive a hurricane warning, everything kicks into high gear; we do not want to wait for that time to start preparations. Many actions can be accomplished prior to a hurricane warning and/or a mandatory evacuation order. The Board plans on being pro-active in this approach. We urge you to review these guidelines, print a copy or go to our Sailboat Bay website listed under Hurricane Preparation.
Once local authorities announce a mandatory evacuation, all vehicles/boats/trailers must be moved away from the buildings and into a safe place.
BOAT PREPARATION
This is a good time to review the basics and then take the steps necessary to protect our investments (boat, condo, and marina facilities). Remember your actions not only affect you, they affect your neighbors. When YOURS is the one boat that comes adrift in the storm, it is THE one that may cause significant damage to others’ boats as well as our facilities.
TRAILERABLE BOATS: If you are not here full time, your best insurance against damage is to put your boat on its trailer and move it to the storage lot or off-site until you return. If you ARE here full time, plan to move your boat to its trailer at least 48 hours before landfall.
ALL POWER BOATS (LARGE AND SMALL): GET THE CANVAS OFF!!!! Make sure your batteries are fully charged and your de-watering system (bilge pumps) is operating independent of shore power as required by Alabama law. Be aware that power to the docks WILL BE secured prior to the storm’s landfall if we are directly threatened.
BOATS ON LIFTS: The best results during both Ivan and Katrina were achieved by the following:
If you’re going to be gone for an extended period, consider removing it from the lift and putting it on its trailer and move to the lot (or take it home). Otherwise...
GET ANY CANVAS OFF and remove all gear not permanently attached to the boat
Secure (tie) the boat TO THE LIFT (all four corners, 3-strand nylon rope);
Secure (tie) the LIFT TO THE PILINGS (all four pilings, 3-strand nylon rope)
Ensure the boat can properly drain (drain plug out/drain unobstructed)
DO NOT ATTACH ANYTHING TO THE DOCK OR FINGER PIER. The docks and finger piers are the WEAKEST POINT of attachment for either boat or lift. VERY FEW pilings moved or pulled out during either the 2004 or 2005 storms
SAILBOATS: GET THE CANVAS OFF. This means the bimini, the dodger, the sails and sail covers. DON’T WRAP IT – REMOVE IT!!
Again, this is just a brief of our detailed document on the website. If you have questions or want specific recommendations for YOUR particular boat and slip, contact the office and or the Board at SBBBoard@Sailboatbay.net and we will arrange for someone to review things with you. We have a lot of very experienced and experts in many fields that can guide us all.
Working together, we can make this a safer Hurricane Season for all. Be safe,
Sailboat Bay Harbor Committee and Sailboat Bay Board of Directors
