Leaving boat on 4 post lift during hurricanes?

[Flot]

I seem to see this go both ways. Some people say lifts are safe, some people say you should take them off.

I've got a 27' CC that I currently keep at a buddy's dock, but thinking about getting a 4 post boat lift installed... My question is... how did these fare in the last round of hurricanes we had in FL? If I get an oversized lift and strap the boat to it well, am I in good shape?

My alternative is towing the boat to an as-yet-unknown location and leaving it on the trailer there, which isn't especially safe either - although I've never seen a boat sink on a trailer.

Thoughts? There is no other advantage to the lift, I've already bottom painted and with whips the boat is safe for normal mooring. The question would be, if I got the lift, am I good enough in hurricane season that I can sell the trailer?

[FearNaut]

How safe it is when you tow it elsewhere depends on how far away elsewhere is.

I personally would not want to leave a boat on any lift if I know a hurricane was coming. I'd want to move it as far out of the storms path as possible, preferably in a concrete bunker!

Recognizing that this is not necessarily all that practical (particularly the bunker part), I'd move it as far as IS practical, and make sure it and the trailer were anchored to the ground as well as I could.

BTW - I have NO experience in this particular area. I believe BoatUS has an article on it though. Since they end up paying a lot of claims on hurricane damage, they've done a lot of research on what the best storage options are in such situations.

[Glen E]

I have had my 32 footer ona 4 post lift all last year - thru 4 hurricanes. I have a simple rule - if it's a cat 1 coming no where near me - I leave it on the lift and snug it down with tie-downs. Anything above a one, it comes off the lift and goes into a concrete wharehouse...

tie down is pretty straighforward - tie down boat to lift - tie lift to pilings - we don't get much storm surge on the east coast so not too worried about that in cat 1's....

[Flot]

Hey Glen, I was especially curious about your take on it since my boat is just a half mile inland from yours - and we got some pretty nasty weather last year.

Previous owner let the boat ride the storms out on the 3rd (top) floor of a boat rack at a marina, I find it hard to believe that a lift would be any less safe. Since I don't HAVE a truely safe location to put the boat even on the trailer (won't fit at my house) I'm starting to think the lift might be easiest...

BTW with the 4 post lift do you find it any harder to get on/off the boat? My buddy is in a wheelchair so we just wheel him over the side, not sure if the lift and associated hardware might make it harder (although it would certainly make it easier at low tide!)

PS: I saw the Boat US Article and their advice to remove from lifts.. but I have to wonder how that varies with different lift types, poorly design or overloaded lifts, people not securing the boat/lift, storm surge, etc.

[Hank Bauman]

A cat 1 or 2 you're probably safe. A 3.....anyone's guess....But a 4 or 5 with 10-15 foot surge, I would load the boat and get the hell out of Dodge. Plus if one is coming in and it's 1 or 2, it could jump up to a 3 or 4 in the hour before it hits.

[Glen E]

AdamLotz - 7/9/2006 10:47 AM

Hey Glen, I was especially curious about your take on it since my boat is just a half mile inland from yours - and we got some pretty nasty weather last year.

Previous owner let the boat ride the storms out on the 3rd (top) floor of a boat rack at a marina, I find it hard to believe that a lift would be any less safe. Since I don't HAVE a truely safe location to put the boat even on the trailer (won't fit at my house) I'm starting to think the lift might be easiest...

BTW with the 4 post lift do you find it any harder to get on/off the boat? My buddy is in a wheelchair so we just wheel him over the side, not sure if the lift and associated hardware might make it harder (although it would certainly make it easier at low tide!)

PS: I saw the Boat US Article and their advice to remove from lifts.. but I have to wonder how that varies with different lift types, poorly design or overloaded lifts, people not securing the boat/lift, storm surge, etc.

Everyone on our canal last year used their lift with no ill efects - but before we get another 10 jillion posts here how bad it is to use lifts during bad weather, I agree that you need a good plan to get it off the lift quickly if it turns bad or turns toward you...Sundance will let me in their concrete reinforced bunker for boats within 12 hours of the storm hitting.

That being said in all the stuff last year - mine DID NOT MOVE an inch once I had ratched it down and tied it tight - no damage whatsoever and Wilma was blowing about a cat 2 when it got here from the west coast...

however, if your intention is to spend upwards of 15 K to get a lift to protect you against hurricanes, I would say not. Keep the trailer and use the money to find a safe place for it inland....some farmer in the center of the state would be glad to take your money - or just a friend in parkland!

Post this question down with Tony at the Davitmaster forum - he's discussed this a lot...

[Tireless]

Make certain that whatever steps you take are consistent with the expectations of your insurance carrier.

[BlueMarlin]

Dont rely on the time and tested truisms for surge. We had areas with over 30' of surge and at my house it was 27.5'. and this from a strong 3 / weak 4..... granted the eye wall was 35 miles across... the tides were right.... and the angle of attack was optimium........ just saying I expected only 15-17' at my house...and we are at 15' asl.

Personally anything over a cat 1 and depending on the surge situation in your area.... I wouldnt leave it on a lift.

[Snapper Head]

Yep, it will only take the 'once in a lifetime storm'; and Bluemarlin, myself, and thousands of others here on the MS coast have seen 2 'once in a lifetime storms'.

Put it on a trailer, put the trailer in a very open space, get at least 4 of the auger type anchors used for securing mobile homes, strap it to those anchors.

Water - will be pervasive; everywhere. Wind - the chances of the boat on a trailer getting tagged by a super-gust or tornado are alot lower than it getting destroyed on the lift because the storm surge was much higher than forecasted.

Hey, do what you want. I get my boat(s) as far away from the water as I can during storms.

Big Al

[tobnpr]

Mine is kept in the water, I'm ordering these as soon as my new pilings are in- what a cool idea, hurricanes no problem as long as the pilings and slides are long enough to account for storm surge.

http://www.tideslide.com/

[Glen E]

tobnpr - 7/9/2006 11:25 AM

Mine is kept in the water, I'm ordering these as soon as my new pilings are in- what a cool idea, hurricanes no problem as long as the pilings and slides are long enough to account for storm surge.

http://www.tideslide.com/

my neighbors and I looked at these and ruled them out for a few reasons - although you will slide up and down, the movement of the boat side to side in the water can help the boat rip them out and then you're in world of hurt. Also you're putting a ton of stress on your cleats in a major storm...
1st choice: get it put of the area - trailer it inland
2nd choice : tie on a lift
3rd choice :leave in the water

[tobnpr]

My understanding of the Tide-Slide system is different.
The point of the system- according to the owner/inventor I spoke with- is that the boat can be tied tightly to the slides. This eliminates the "side to side" movement you refer to. The boat can rise and fall with tidal change, but the only movement that can take place is vertical. It is this elimination of the inertia - the boat yanking on her lines as the wind blows it around- that makes the system work (at least, it makes sense to me).

[flyau98]

Here is Davit Master's advise:
http://www.thehulltruth.com/forums/t...102958&posts=2

If a major storm comes through, odds are you are screwed no matter where the boat is stored. Thats why we pay the big bucks for insurance.

[radioshop]

If the lift fails, the boat could sink or, end up crashing into the house. Don't forget the torrential rains that can come with a hurricane. Your boat will gain weight. How much water can be evacuated out of the plug? Do you leave the plug out? What if the lift fails and your boat needs to float? Can it do that without a plug? How much abuse do you want to put your pillings through? How much abuse can your lift take?

You're better off on a trailer. If it fits at all in the front yard, meaning not where it would be practical to store it, but it'll fit in a pinch, use that area. Use the screw in anchors take the trailer off it's tires and, block the frame. I'd much rather deal with land based hazzards than a boat that's been sunk or bashed up against a seawall or, both.

[Seacat FL]

tobnpr - 7/9/2006 2:05 PM

My understanding of the Tide-Slide system is different.
The point of the system- according to the owner/inventor I spoke with- is that the boat can be tied tightly to the slides. This eliminates the "side to side" movement you refer to. The boat can rise and fall with tidal change, but the only movement that can take place is vertical. It is this elimination of the inertia - the boat yanking on her lines as the wind blows it around- that makes the system work (at least, it makes sense to me).

If the problem was only rising water Tide-Slides would work but obviously you have to consider the winds as well. You need to double or triple your lines and provide chafe protection as well. The extra lines should be tied to something other than your normal tie up points on the dock to provide redundancy when a line or cleat or piling fails. Tide-Slide won't help with that.

I left my boat tied up in a canal off Cypress Creek a little west of Glenn E's place in Pompano Beach during Hurricane Andrew in 1992. After I boarded up and prepared the house I used the method above and added a couple of anchors out in the canal.
I also taped up all the openings, hatches, vents, tied down antennas, removed canvas and frame and left my onboard battery charger plugged in to give the batteries a better chance to keep up with the automatic bilge pump. Then I kissed the boat dood-bye and we evacuted to Lakeland, Florida.

We were pleasantly surprized to return and find the house and boat still there. Only damage to the house was a hole in the garage roof from a fallen tree and some screens blown out of the pool enclosure.

The boat was fine although there were some scrapes in the bottom paint that matched the blue bottom paint I found on top of my dock pilings which were normally about 6 ' or more above water.

All bets are off on what would have happened if Andrew came in about 50 miles north. That would have been a disaster

[thataway]

Our area had direct hit from Ivan and Dennis. Many boat lifts came down--boat in it or not! I left my 28 footer anchored in the Bayou, with 40lb anchors, and 8 lines to trees (one of which came down)--but no boat damage. I decided not to go thru all of the fuss with anchors and got a trailer. The wife takes the RV and Toad, and heads inland 48 hours before strike. I wait until about 6 hours before strike, boat on the trailer at least 48 hours before strike, with my truck and go to a protected place 10 miles inland towing the boat.

Dry storage stacks came down in Ivan, any semi open water docks pilings etc were ripped out--Katrina was worse--and neither of these was over a cat 3!

Save your money--the lift is great for not having to bottom paint or worry about electrolysis--but not as hurricane protection!

[Flot]

Hmm, interesting comments guys. I think the lift and boat would survive a 5' storm surge - a 15' storm surge would pretty much put my buddy's house under water (and possibly mine) so honestly I'd have bigger things to worry about than whether or not my boat survives. (although the question of liability is always a concern)

My worry is more that, with a pending storm, I have more important things to do than be towing a 27'x10' boat around town while everyone is panicing. And unfortunately, the boat won't fit anywhere on my own property - the trailer fits fine, but the boat will not for a number of reasons. I can take it to a nice empty parking lot or field somewhere, but still in a cat 3 or 4 that might just mean that I come home to a cracked hull sitting on its side... which will end up with me making the same call to state farm either way...

[weatherman]

Our 2860 ProKat WA is on a 4-post lift in Gulf Shores. We're in a moderately-portected private marina off the Intracoastal, but the boat has been through Ivan (with a measured 8-foot surge in the harbor area), Dennis, and the edge of Katrina with no damage. She is lifted as high as the cables allow, tied to the lift, and the lift beams tied to the posts. She has experienced no damage to date, but I always worry...

[Bitefish]

I wouldn't do it.

You should have seen the docks around here after Ivan. Mine was the only one that survived - and that was due in part to there not being a boat on it!

[JackB]

Another thing to think about on a lift aside from banging around inside if it starts to float is the possibility of the storm surge lifting the boat AND then the pilings right out of the muck they may be located in.