[Rhodes22-list] Hurricane Damage

[Robert Quinn]

Bill:  The anchor set out on the port side of the boat was a 35# Delta (mud 
bottom and it was the easiest anchor for my friends to access). It appears 
to have done the job with no problem.  One of my friends came by with his 
power boat and dropped the anchor in the middle of the canal while the other 
friend set it by hand and winch.  He is a big fellow by the way.

The Stuart anchorage uses mushroom anchors but I believe they failed to do 
any maintenance on them as many of the boats broke free, some admittedly 
because of the poor lines and chaff protection of the boat owners.  Another 
friend had his IP38 on the mooring field - he was ordered off his dock slip. 
His boat held but suffered a great deal of damage by the boats that broke 
free.  I didn't see it but he tells me his stern rails were cut as though 
someone had taken a sharp knife and just cut through them.  He presumes that 
it was a pretty good size vessel that came down on him.  Last time I spoke 
to him he and his insurance company were still going round and round.

If your field is inspected regularly, I could not agree more with you that 
it is about the best place you can be.  Some folks here snuggled up in some 
canals anchoring and tying off to mangroves.  They also did well.

Bob


----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Bill Effros" <bill at effros.com>
To: "The Rhodes 22 mail list" <rhodes22-list at rhodes22.org>
Sent: Monday, June 13, 2005 1:04 PM
Subject: Re: [Rhodes22-list] Hurricane Damage


> Thanks for taking the time, Bob.  Each of us will face a problem like this 
> sometime, we just don't know when.
>
> From your description, it sounds like the best protection you got was from 
> your anchor.  What type of anchor were you using?  How do you set it while 
> your boat is in the slip?  Or do you set it first?
>
> I am on a mooring with a 300 Lb. mushroom anchor.  My boat has ridden out 
> several storms, and some hurricanes--but not like yours.  All the boats in 
> my cove (there are 100s of them, widely spaced) are on properly sized 
> mushroom anchors and there is very little boat to boat damage during 
> storms.  My inclination is that my boat is safer on the water than it is 
> on the land.
>
> Up here, people have special mushroom anchor setting boats.  The anchors 
> are pulled periodically and all of the tackle inspected and replaced as 
> necessary.  The anchors set solidly in the mucky bottom, and, for the most 
> part, stay where they are set.  I have never set additional anchors in the 
> face of approaching storms, in keeping with my "ain't broke-don't fix" 
> philosophy.
>
> Bill Effros
>