Reedville, VA

We originally anchored in the Great Wicomico River (on the Western Shore of the Chesapeake Bay, not to be confused with the Wicomico River on the Eastern Shore of the Chesapeake Bay) for Hurricane Jose. The holding was superb and we had good protection from the waves, but there was nothing to do there. As soon as Jose passed, we were planning to shoot over to Tangier Island, but Hurricane Maria is close behind Jose.  

There is a good week between when the two storms will hit, but the winds between such monsters can be rather fluky. If the winds die out on us while we are in the middle of the bay, our small electric motor won't be of much help in getting back to this wonderful hurricane hole. So instead, we chose to explore new areas in the same river. 

We raised our seriously buried anchor and headed up a narrow creek towards Reedville, VA. We arrived at 8pm, and only one restaurant was still open, Tommy's. Being how we had just spent over a week away from civilization, anchored out in the quiet parts of St. Mary's River, we really wanted a meal off the boat and around other people. 

It was dark, so we walked down the middle of the main road, though no one was to be seen! The houses had their lights turned off, the stores were all closed, and everything was very desolate. Tommy's was the only place still open at this "late" hour, so that is where we ate. What a treat this place was! Maddie and I both got delicious meals with dessert for $40! 

It turns out that Reedville is a sleepy little town. The restaurants are only open Thursday, Friday, Saturday, and Sunday. And they are all closed by 9pm!  

We plan to be anchored here for a few days as we explore the town and visit the local museums, but it will take some getting used to as we are accustomed to tree lined creeks where you won't see another soul or port towns that never seem to sleep. This seems like a very sleepy little town that will strike a nice balance in the middle for us as we explore around while waiting for the next hurricane to pass by. 

Waiting For the Hurricane to Pass

Hurricane Jose passed nearby our anchorage, but not close enough to cause any damage. At its closest, the eye was 200 miles from our position. Thanks to the protection we sought out in an anchorage, our experience was one of rest and relaxation. 

Today, the winds were finally light enough that we decided to venture out from the cabin. It has been two days since we stepped outside, and what a wonderful experience it was!

The calm waters lapping up on this sandy beach made this journey to shore for Morty very enjoyable! After two days of listening to the wind howl in the rigging, it is nice to now listen to the waves on the beach instead.  

Anchoring for a Hurricane

Hurricanes are no regular storm, they almost take on a life and personality as they crawl through the skies. Avoiding these monsters should be the first choice, but if you are land locked and the storm is coming at you, you will need to prepare. 

Previously, we discussed the options of securing your yacht for the storm. They are: tying up in a marina, anchoring, or sailing through it. Marinas are preferred if you already have a slip and you know the yacht will be safe there. Sailing through it is a dumb idea and should be avoided. We will now delve deeper into how to anchor for the storm. 

The first thing you need to do is find a protected place to hide. Preferably one with land all around you to stop the waves from tugging on the anchor in the bottom.  

The next thing you need to do is let out enough anchor rode. Chain is preferred, as it won't chafe on anything on the sea bed. The minimum scope for all chain is 5:1.  This means that for each foot of water depth, you will let out 5 feet of chain. 5:1 is fine for light weather, but this is a severe storm we are dealing with, so the scope needs to be increased.

The minimum scope for an event like this is 10:1. Naturally, this limits how deep you can do this in by how much chain you have. If you carry 300 feet of chain, then you can only do this in 30 feet of effective depth. This means that the height from the bow roller to the bottom is only 30 feet. If you have a 10 foot high bow roller from the waters surface, then you can only reach 10:1 scope in 20 feet of water! 

After you let out all of that chain, you then want to reduce the amount of shock load that the system will encounter. Chain is great for anchoring because it is heavy and the weight of the chain will form a nice catenary curve leading to the anchor. This means that the chain closest to the anchor will be horizontal and the pull on the anchor will be horizontal along the seabed. This reduces the risk of pulling the anchor up out of the substrate. 

Wind gusts will push your yacht back and waves will cause the bow to rise and fall. All of these movements will tighten the chain and snap on your ground tackle. To dampen these effects, we need to introduce some elasticity to the equation. 

You will want to use a very strong piece of 3-Strand nylon rope, as it will offer the most stretch available with the strength required. This line, called a snubber, will be tied to the chain itself and led to a cleat. More chain will be let out and the snubber will begin taking the load. I like to let even more chain out, causing it to drop straight down from the bow, letting me know that if the snubber stretches a lot, the chain will never come into tension. This will dampen any shock loads on the chain and anchor, leading to a much more secure anchoring. 

Now, to make sure the anchor is set well, you will want to drop it in a different from normal fashion. In cases like this, we will sail into the anchorage under full sail and drop the anchor while moving at speed and in the direction that the winds are predicted to be coming. 

If you are in the storm and sailing into the harbor of choice during the storm, then you already know which direction the winds are going to be blowing, and you can do this maneuver on a run. When the eye of Hurricane Jose was passing 20 miles East of us, we sailed into the anchorage on a run and under storm sails. The effective depth was 20 feet, so I only needed to drop 200 feet of chain for 10:1 scope. As we were sailing along, Maddie gave the signal that we were in the right place and I dropped our anchor with 100 feet of chain (5:1 scope). The anchor dug into the bottom as we moved over at around 4 knots and brought the yacht to an abrupt halt. The bow stopped and the stern swung around rapidly as it was still carrying all of that momentum. This let me know that the anchor was set and well buried, as it did not drag under those extreme conditions.

I then let out an additional 140 feet of chain, bringing our scope to 12:1. I let that sit for about an hour, making sure that the anchor was not going to drag. When we were certain of its holding, we then added the snubber to the equation. 

Should the anchor begin to drag, all we need to do is untie the snubber and let out more chain until it stops dragging. Then we can tie a second snubber (which is kept on the bow as well) to the chain to hold us, should we need it. 

Anchoring for a severe storm is a critical skill to have and should be practiced enough that you feel confident in carrying out the task when the moment arises.

Hurricane Hole

As Hurricane Jose passes by us in the Chesapeake Bay, we need to find ourselves a safe anchorage. The hurricane is passing by offshore, but the effects of its massive low pressure system can be felt for miles! 

The eye of the storm is only 4*W of our current position, and at our latitude, that comes out to be roughly 206nm away. This is by no means the equivalent of getting slammed by the hurricane, but the winds in the area surrounding it will be significant. We need to seek safe harbor to wait out this massive storm! 

Our options as cruisers are the following:  

1.  Tie up in a marina

2.  Anchor in a protected anchorage

3.  Sail it! 

Tying up in a marina may be the preferred choice for most boaters, as you have the security of tying up to a fixed object. The problem with this is we would be arriving new to the marina and tying up blindly to the structure we encounter. We would be considered a transient yacht, and placed in whatever slip is available. This may entail being in a narrow slip that will bang up your top sides as the storm rages over, or being set on a Tee-Head where the side of your yacht will be pummeled into the pier!

The worst thing about a new marina is you don't know the condition of the marina. The wooden piling you tie to might look find from the outside, but they could be completely eaten away by worms. As your yacht puts pressure on the wooden structure, the piling could snap off!  If you have been in a marina for a long time, you would have come to learn its tricks and know how to safely tie up for a storm. 

The next problem with marinas during severe storms is that they are subjected to the tides. If the storm floods the waterway you are in, the marina could go underwater! You would need to let your docklines out at the water rises to avoid them getting too tight. If the water is sucked away by the approaching storm, you could find yourself stuck on the bottom for days until the water flows back in. 

Back in 2012 when Hurricane Sandy came through, I hauled out Wisdom at the only marina that had space left to haul out. The travel lift slip was 10 feet deep and we drew 6.5 feet. Getting out of the water was no problem, the real dilemma came after the storm! As Hurricane Sandy passed by, she drained the bay of its water, lowering the depth in the travel lift slip do 4 feet! It took nearly 2 weeks for the water to flow back into the creek where the marina was located so that I could be launched again. 

As cruisers on a budget, getting stuck on the bottom in a marina slip for days after the storm has passed means we would need to pay for all of those days. Every day that passes could be anywhere from $45 to $90 a day, depending on the transient rate at the marina.  

The second option is to anchor in a protected area. This is certainly cheaper than tying up in a marina, but a bit of a gamble. Anchorages can either save or destroy your boat, and the outcome depends completely upon your preparation and selection. 

The first thing you want is an empty anchorage. If there are other boats around you, especially upwind from you, you may have to deal with unwanted situations.

The second thing you want to look for is the right water depth. Too deep will require too much anchor rode just to reach the bottom. Too shallow and you may hit bottom in the troughs of the waves. I prefer an anchorage that is 16 feet deep, because that gives us 10 feet under our keel.

The third thing you want is a good bottom that the anchor can dig deeply into. The ideal bottom condition depends on the anchor you are carrying. We have a Mantus anchor, which works best in sand and mud. If you have the option available to you, try to find a bottom that is soft mud covering hard mud. What happens is the anchor will sink deep under the soft mud, giving it plenty of holding power. As it gets to the bottom of the soft layer, it will be perfectly oriented to penetrate the hard bottom below. Soft bottoms can hold well, but they can also allow the anchor to creep through it. A hard bottom will lock the anchor in place and stop it from dragging. Having a soft layer above the hard layer ensures that the anchor will not slide along the surface of the hard layer, causing you to drag anchor as you careen onto a lee shore!

The fourth thing you want is plenty of room to swing. This requires a large open area where you can swing around as the wind shifts. If there is a wreck, landmass, or other boat in the way of a full circle swing, you may encounter that obstacle during the storm so it would behoove you to move to a different anchorage. 

The last thing you want to find is 360* land coverage, and preferably tall land. High land, especially cliffs will shield you from the wind, as the land itself shields you from waves. If you have any exposure to a larger body of water, huge waves can come in created by the greater fetch. Obviously, having enough swing room means that the area will be wide open, so you will still experience some wind-related issues. 

Finding this perfect place while out cruising can be challenging. Sometimes you will need to make a compromise and anchor in a less than ideal location.  

We were lucky to find this place as it offered all the needed criteria and was completely empty! The depth in the entire basin is 16 feet deep and made out of soft mud over hard sand!

While this anchorage may seem like a dream come true, the truth is we were very fortunate to find it and get into it in a timely manner. 

We were safely anchored in another river, but decided that it might be fun to go sailing today since the winds in the river (where we were very protected) were rather light. A friend of ours who was sailing further north in the bay told us that the winds were rather light today and the seas were only 1 foot tall.  The thing is, we were much closer to the passing storm, so our winds were amplified, as was the sea state!

This brings us to our thrid option, "Sail It!" The bay is rather small, so heaving to for the entire storm isn't very practically as you will probably drift into an obstacle before the storm passes. If the winds are blowing you in the direction of travel that you wish to take, you could always run before the storm to get to safe harbor and wait for it to pass.  

We went out in what we expected to be rather light conditions, only to have ourselves beaten into submission! We had a reeked sailplan up, just in case the winds would be stronger than expected, and then we met the full fury of the storm. The winds were a steady 27 knots with gusts into the 30s and waves that required us to look up at the crests! Our original destination was slightly to windward and we quickly changed our minds and ran downwind as we searched for a new place to stop. 

Luckily, all this wind gave us an incredible boost of speed! We cruised along at around 6 and 7 knots the entire way, making a 20 mile away destination seem much closer. From anchor up to anchor down, we were only moving for 6 hours, and only 2 of them were very intense as we ran before the storm. On our run, we searched the upcoming rivers for a place that was deep, protected, and the right kind of bottom.  

I figured the sailing would be intense as I was raising anchor, but the winds were blowing the same direction we wanted to be going. What only took a few hours of sailing in the storm would have been the equivalent of 2 days of beating to windward during normal weather. The lack of anchorages between these two places meant that we would have needed to spend a night anchored out in the middle of the bay, completely exposed to the ever changing weather of the bay. 

Sailiing it might seem like a fun idea at first, but I strongly recommend against it. Going out in a gale to run before the storm is extremely tiring and taxing on the yacht and the crew. Maddie was fighting off motion sickness as I had to steer us through each massive wave that tried to broach us. This was fine for a few hours during the day, but imagine if this was your plan to ride out a storm that is supposed to last 3 days?! You would die from fatigue out there! 

Cruising means that you have to be on a sailboat when the weather is far from optimum, but it also means knowing how to prepare for severe weather in a safe manner. 

How to Anchor by Sail

The commonly accepted practice to anchor requires a motor. The typical plan is to drop the anchor and then back down on the anchor with your motor. As the thrust from the propeller pulls your yacht backwards, the anchor will be buried into the seabed and hold you from drifting back. When you come to a stop, you know the anchor is well set and secure for the night.

If you are sailing, there is no motor involved in reversing to backdown on the anchor, so you can't really backdown on the anchor to know that it has set! This means that you would drop the anchor and wait for the wind to blow you back. As you are pushed back, the anchor will set (or drag). If your anchor will set, then all is fine, but if your anchor will drag, then you will slowly (or quickly) drift back.

To avoid this dilemma of not knowing if the anchor will set or drag when the wind picks up, there is a trick that still doesn't require the motor!

When sailing into your anchorage, simply drop the sails and continue to drift along with speed. While you are still moving at around 2 to 3 knots, drop the anchor and at least 5:1 scope based on the water depth. The boat will continue to drift forward as the anchor rests on the seabed.

When the yacht covers the distance of the anchor rode, the chain will become tight and start to pull on the anchor with a considerable force. This will jerk the anchor horizontally along the seabed and bury it into the substrate.

If the anchor drags, the yacht will continue to move forward until the anchor sets (hopefully). When the anchor sets, it will be very apparent because the bow will stop in its tracks and the entire yacht will spin around with some speed. This is why it is important to not do this at speeds greater than 3 knots because the force on the chain could be a bit too dramatic.

When the boat spins around, the anchor is set, and you can then let out additional chain should you desire; all while knowing that your anchor is firmly set into the seabed!