What will you do if a hurricane comes?

"What will you do if a hurricane hits?" is a question we get from a lot of people. The flipant answer "Kiss our butts goodbye!" is not that funny so, of course, we have to have a hurricane plan. While putting the boat in a marina sounds like a good solution, it is not the best plan as almost all hurricane damaged boats we see were damaged in a marina by banging against a dock. And boats anchored in a large harbor are often torn loose due to big waves or other boats dragging their anchor and hitting them.

So we went looking for a "hurricane hole" which is a very small enclosed place to anchor the boat. Ideally it is so small that you can tie to trees on both sides or on one side with anchors out on the other. It should be so small that there is no room for waves to build up at all and the entrance protected from waves that build up in a large bay or the ocean. I looked on the charts and sattelite photos and found a likely spot only a few miles from our "home anchorage".

We went and checked it out and it was perfect. Way up at the end of a narrow canal with mangroves on both sides just off a small outer cove where we could anchor and check out the hurricane hole by dinghy and using a weighted line to check the depths.

So, if a hurricane is headed our way this summer while we are in this area, we will go to our "hurricane hole" and secure the boat as best we can. If it looks like a major hurricane we would evacuate to a shelter. If it is a minor one or tropical storm we might elect to remain on board.