Extreme weather.
The boat handles weather better than the crew most of the time. Your job is to set her up right and stop trying to drive her hard — then ride it out.
Set up early. Decide where you ride it out.
Extreme weather rewards preparation and punishes improvisation. Reduce sail before you need to. Decide where you'll be when it hits.
- 1
Reduce sail early.
When the boat heels excessively or steering gets difficult, you're already late. Reef one step deeper than you think you need.
- 2
Brief and harness the crew.
PFDs on, jacklines clipped, watch rotations clear. Heavy weather is a marathon, not a sprint.
- 3
Secure the boat.
Below: nothing loose, hatches dogged. Above: lines coiled, fenders away.
- 4
Decide your location — at sea, at dock, or at anchor.
Three different procedures. Pick now, because the weather won't wait for you to figure it out.
Where you are decides what you do.
Where will the storm find you? The procedure splits three ways.
At sea.
You're caught offshore. Survival is sail plan, steering, and patience.
Go to steps ↓At dock.
Don't leave. Pile on lines, fenders, chafing gear.
Go to steps ↓At anchor.
Maximum chain, second anchor ready, eyes on every shift.
Go to steps ↓Reduce sail early when heeling is excessive or steering is difficult.
Reef before the squall, not during. Being under-canvased for an hour costs far less than a blown sail.
When you can't reef further, change to storm setup.
Storm jib, trysail (or deeply reefed main). The sail combo designed for survival, not speed.
Downwind: headsail only or bare poles. Maintain steering.
Go faster than the breaking crests, or much slower with a drogue. Sitting at wave speed is the worst place to be.
Consider motor-sailing with the main reefed and tight.
Hard against the wind in big seas, motor-sailing keeps your bow up and your steering effective.
Consider deploying a sea anchor or drogue.
Sea anchor from the bow holds you bow-into-wind. Drogue from the stern slows your downwind run. Different tools, different problems.
Lying a-hull — drop sails, lock tiller to leeward.
Last resort. Do NOT do this if breaking waves are larger than your beam — beam-on to a breaking wave will roll the boat.
If the boat is breaking down or the crew is failing:
Transmit Mayday. Cold, clear voice. Position, vessel name, conditions, souls on board, nature of distress.
↗14Emergency CommunicationsDon't depart.
The decision to stay or go is made when the storm is first forecast. If you're at the dock when it hits, you stay.
Double the mooring lines.
Bow, stern, springs, breast. Back every primary line with a redundant one to a different cleat or piling.
Add chafing gear and fenders.
Wherever a line crosses a fairlead or rail, chafe protection. Fenders on the side that will rub. Replace damaged fenders before the storm, not after.
Consider changing location within the harbor.
Some berths fare better in certain wind directions. If your berth is exposed to the storm's direction, move to a sheltered slip if available.
Consider risk from adjacent boats.
Your boat may be tied perfectly. The boat next to you may not be. Communicate with neighbors; help where you can.
Consider a breast anchor to avoid hitting the dock.
An anchor laid into the harbor pulls the boat AWAY from the dock as the wind drives her toward it. Especially valuable in a beam-on berth.
If the dock is failing or the boat is being damaged faster than you can manage:
Move the crew off the boat to safety. The boat is replaceable; the crew is not.
Let out maximum chain.
Scope is your friend. 7:1 minimum in protected water, 10:1 or more in storm conditions. Length matters more than weight.
Use a snubber, and a steadying sail if you have one.
The snubber takes shock loads off the chain. A mizzen or steadying sail keeps the bow into the wind, reducing sailing-at-anchor.
Use chafing gear where the rode crosses the bow roller.
Anchor lines fail at the chafe point. Tube, leather, garden hose — anything to protect the line.
Add a second anchor.
On a Bahamian moor (two anchors from the bow, set in opposite directions), or as a backup further out. Doubles your holding.
Reduce windage by folding bimini and dodger.
The less the wind has to push, the less load on the anchor. Down with everything that catches air.
Consider the safety of your anchorage — change it or put to sea.
If the wind is shifting onto a lee shore, your safe anchorage just became a trap. Decide before the wind makes it impossible.
Consider your position relative to other vessels and the shore.
If your anchor drags 100 m downwind, what do you hit? Plan that before the storm — and reposition if needed.
If you start dragging:
When the weather passes:
Inspect everything. Check the rig, the sails, the lines. Tighten or replace what worked too hard. Storm conditions accelerate wear by a year per incident.
If the storm is worse than forecast and you're not where you should be:
Mayday. Cold professional voice. Report position, conditions, vessel status. The Coast Guard makes the call about deployment — your job is clear information.
↗14Emergency CommunicationsGear for this moment.
The equipment we'd want aboard if this alarm went off right now. Each piece earns its place against a specific step above.
The sails built for survival, not speed. Bagged, hanked-ready, and small enough to keep the boat under control when everything else is too much.
View gearBow-on holding or stern-on braking — the two ways to stop a boat from surfing into a breaking crest. Carry both; they solve different problems.
View gearTakes the shock load off the chain and protects the rode where it would otherwise saw through at the bow roller.
View gearSeaWise may earn a small commission on these links — it helps keep the procedures free. We only list gear we'd carry ourselves.
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