Storm Preparation

Hurricane Jose is moving North but is expected to weaken to a Tropical Storm before having any impact on our coast. Even though sustained winds will be moderate, gusts could be as high as 50 kts. With the forecast I decided to prep Nauti Dog in case  Jose swung West.

Motoring the dinghy out I was greeted by a flock of bird on the deck, boom, rails and the brand new Lifesling. Other boats nearby were hosting flocks of birds too. I have never seen this many birds in the mooring field before. No idea if the storm pushed the birds up along the coast???

Other boats were preparing for Jose too. Before any prep started I cleaned the deck, sail cover,etc. Afterwards  I started with the following: Charged the batteries, tied safety knot on mooring cleat, secure mooring pennant float, removed and stow spinnaker pole below deck, de-sailed, secured halyards to the outer most points, secured & bundled lines to large winches, ops-checked bilge pump, secured/removed any loose gear below deck (brushes, grill, bucket). Then when I was ashore removed outboard from dinghy. Total prep time was less than 2 hours and most of that time was cleaning.

Lifesling2 "Installed"

It took me longer to remove the old horseshoe buoy mount than “installing” the new Lifesling2. All I had to do was hang the Lifesling2 on the stern rail and secure the flap with velco on the vertical and horizontal rail section. Then tied the retrieval line to the stern rail base. One key note from the manual is to “mount the bag inside of the stern railing or pulpit”. I have seen several creative mounting location and methods on various boats. Next is practice! Then we can decide if the Lifesling Hoisting Tackle is necessary.