1. 14 VI PROPERTY & YACHT Published by aLookingGlass Ltd.
So goes the mantra of the professional weather
forecasters at The Weather Channel and elsewhere,
as well as the amateurs at the yacht club bar,
whenever the subject of hurricanes is discussed. No
matter if the storm forecasts number in the single
digits or into the high teens, location and luck
seem to be the deciding factors every year.
So, what can a prudent boat owner do to protect
their vessel from a pounding by the elements?
The first step is to arrange for a secure place to store the boat in the case
of emergency. Many owners, of course, pull their boats from the water and
leave them high-and-dry for all or some of the hurricane season. Those
whose boats work for a living need a secure place to run to.
Popular land-based solutions include the yards at Virgin Gorda Yacht
Harbour, Tortola Yacht Services at Wickham’s Cay II, and the yard at Nanny
by David Blacklock, photography provided
by the BVI Department of Disaster Management

2. www.vipropertyyacht.com July 2013
15
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Cay. Most of these are booked well in advance, but may have last-minute
space available. The trick to procuring last-minute space is to have had made
arrangements well ahead of time. The “last minute”aspect refers to the time
of arrival at the slip or haulout, not the time of making the arrangement.
It is essential to get well ahead of the situation.
Yard manager Keith Li Greci at Nanny Cay says they still have space
available. “We require a commitment for three months, no matter how long
or short the actual period is,”he said.
Virgin Gorda Yacht Harbour at Spanish Town offers similar amenities—
Desney in manager Keith Thomas’office, stated that there is availability at
similar rates to Nanny Cay’s.
Tortola Yacht Services, now under the Tui Marine umbrella, is “basically,
jam-packed full,”according to manager Drew Whittaker. “We’ve been turning
people away left, right and centre,”he said. Whilst accommodating slightly
fewer boats this season, around 76, he relayed that TYS has had almost the
same number of additional enquiries.
On the contrary, he said, it seemed there were a greater number of boats
in the BVI than in previous years which may be a sign of an improved economy.
The Hurricane Hole in Paraquita Bay, a vast repository of boats that offers
excellent shelter from all directions, is the default destination for working
boats that are furloughed for the summer with hundreds of boats tied to
moorings in the bay.
Paraquita is an excellent option and one favoured by the large commercial
charter operators. As TMM’s Sam Welsh explained to me, “BVI Government
has given the right to use Paraquita Bay as a harbour of refuge and a
controlled hurricane shelter to the members of the Marine Association of
the BVI. It is only used for this purpose during the months of the hurricane
season and is to be vacated at other times.”
Members of the association, Welsh said, “have an allocation. The charter
companies put down their moorings and have a certain number of slots
available to them. Some private owners have moorings there too—priority
going to BVI-licensed vessels.”

3. 16 VI PROPERTY & YACHT Published by aLookingGlass Ltd.
Some mariners choose to sit out the storms at anchor. The one downside
to this practise, and indeed to any in-water solution is that in the final hours
before a storm arrives full-force, commercial ferries and other vessels are
brought in to the bays and anchorages, anchored hastily by inexperienced
crews and then abandoned to their fates. The result is that these boats risk
dragging anchor, bearing down on the vessels deeper in the anchorage,
which are themselves otherwise quite secure.
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there were a greater number
of boats in the BVI than in
previous years which may
be a sign of an improved
economy.
“
”There are many other anchorages and areas to shelter a boat. One major
dive charter has for years secured their vessel to mangroves and multiple
anchors in Virgin Gorda’s South Sound. Others have pulled the vessel for a
few days or weeks, and some get the boat out of the Territory altogether.
Whatever the choice, the planning needs to take place early and measures
must be clearly mapped out to avoid last-minute confusion. Lines, shackles
and other gear need to be checked and stored close to hand.
When all the planning is done, the remaining question to ask is the one
renowned fiction character Dirty Harry once posed;“Do you feel lucky?”