Preparing Your Boat for Hurricanes

"Batten down the hatches!" Is what the old salts on sailing ships would say before the storm hit. Well last week those of us that live in the cape region of Baja California Sur now know better than ever, why you prepare. As the storm came in from the southeast Cabo San Lucas and San Jose del Cabo prepared for what could be the worst when a class 2 hurricane is coming to town. While we definitely got rains and

winds in Los Cabos, Hurricane Ignacio as he was christened, turned north and made landfall further up the East Cape towards La Paz. Anyone that has been through one of these parties learns that to pre-pare is to avoid re-pair.

In the marine world from Cabo to Loreto boats were getting hauled, moored or docked with double and triple lines and fenders. Dropping sails on boats and double-checking bilge pumps can help avoid these costly repairs (see pictures). 

Also See:
• Prepare, Prepare and Prepare...
• Preparing Particular to Baja
• Batten down the Hatches
• NHC's Hurricane Prep Suggestions
 

On land, taping up windows, picking up loose items, taking down awnings, storing drinking water, getting your food, ice, flashlights, candles all together is well worth it. It makes the fiesta just a bit more comfortable. The electricity almost always goes out and of course the pumps and refrigerators don’t seem to work real well.

Because there comes a time when ,,,heeee’s here and there isn’t much we can do but watch as mother nature once again show us the force at which she can reshape our world.

Most of what we have seen and heard here at the Insider was standard fare for a hurricane of this size but because of Ignacio’s slow movement, down to 3 miles an hour at times the party seem to last forever.

Rains, that caused some of the most damaging erosion to roads, properties and filling in wells all over the rural areas. Winds, while not that high in velocity (gusting into the 70’s regularly) steadily blasted La Paz lasting for one day in one direction and one whole day in the other.

With it’s passing finally, as with many good fiestas, it’s but a blur of memories and it’s time to clean up. This is where we will leave you as we go in search of more reports and pictures as to how people are recovering from Ignacio’s party last week! And remember the season for these kinds of parties in the Baja isn’t over till mid October at best.

Insider's Notebook: What defines a hurricane?

The terms "hurricane" and "typhoon" are regionally specific names for a strong "tropical cyclone". A tropical cyclone is the generic term for a non-frontal synoptic scale low-pressure system over tropical or sub-tropical waters with organized convection (i.e. thunderstorm activity) and definite cyclonic surface wind circulation (Holland 1993).
Tropical cyclones with maximum sustained surface winds of less than 17 m/s (34 kt, 39 mph) are called "tropical depressions". (This is not to be confused with the condition mid-latitude people get during a long, cold and grey winter wishing they could be closer to the equator ;-)) Once the tropical cyclone reaches winds of at least 17 m/s they are typically called a "tropical storm" and assigned a name. If winds reach 33 m/s (64 kt, 74 mph)), then they are called: a "hurricane" (the North Atlantic Ocean, the Northeast Pacific Ocean east of the dateline, or the South Pacific Ocean east of 160E); a "typhoon" (the Northwest Pacific Ocean west of the dateline); a "severe tropical cyclone" (the Southwest Pacific Ocean west of 160E or Southeast Indian Ocean east of 90E); a "severe cyclonic storm" (the North Indian Ocean); and a "tropical cyclone" (the Southwest Indian Ocean) (Neumann 1993).