Following our adventurous sailing trip from Dominica to Carriacou, we learned that we only had 2 days left until we were supposed to get hit by a Hurricane. Since we had to go into the mangrove forests with our old sailboat anyway because of pandemic quarantine regulations, it was a good idea to do a real hurricane vlog and create a storm documentary about how we secured the boat in the mangroves properly for this tropical cyclone. Mangrove forests are the best protection for coastal regions, villages and also for sailboats when dealing with gale force winds and tropical cyclones. Sailboats need a reliable hurricane shelter as well and there is no better choice than mangrove forests. Their wild roots offer a terrific hold and tame the rolling waves. There is no better defense than mangrove roots from the incoming storm surge. The dense foliage calms the murderous winds and leaves hardly any area of attack as long as the boat is parked deep enough in the mangrove forest. The shallow draught of Bamba Maru was a big advantage to get into the shallow bay to avoid the massive storm surges.
Because of the heavy winds, it is important that all sails and attachments are removed. Enough supplies must be on board and one must expect that after a direct hit the supply chain often breaks down for several weeks. Good preparation is the key to be safe in those weather conditions. We were lucky that with our shallow draught we could make it into the inner bay. There it is very shallow and only a few boats can get there. Mostly catamarans, power- and fishing boats or some swing keel sailboat. There is a certain time to prepare and when it hits, you have to take what is coming. So the hurricane preparedness is essential and most important because there is nothing that can be done during the impact of the storm surge. Some tried to sail south, away from the cyclone in hope they would get shelter in Trinidad, but apparently they decided to send sailors back out at sea as long as the storm was not declared a major hurricane. As the track moved south way more than expected, it surprised many cruisers out at sea. Fortunately, not as bad as it was a few years earlier with hurricane Fay and Emma. For cyclone Gonzalo we had a safe spot to hide and survived the storm without any damage. After 10 days in the mangroves, we had to undergo a COVID-19 test and were allowed to join the other yachts in the Tyrell Bay after a confirmed negative result. We didn't try to create an instructional video, but we did focus on what is important when preparing the boat for a potential hurricane.
There are pretty good videos around from @Sailing SV Sarean or @The Sailing Frenchman where you can can learn more about being in the mangroves for a storm. @Distant Shores TV actually made a very good documentary about it too, called "Tying Sailboat in Mangrove for a Hurricane".
Things can turn out bad like with hurricane Laura, which hit a couple weeks later on the US coast in the Gulf of Mexico. A catastrophic category 4 hurricane that devastated parts of Texas and Louisiana. If there is a chance to survive a storm like major hurricane Laura 2020, it will be in the mangrove forests which are the best natural hurricane shelter for sailboats. However, there is apparently a discussion going on whether mangrove forests are good or not for the coastline of Texas and Louisiana. The aftermath of major hurricane Laura will certainly help to figure that out.
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Cheers
Joanna & Andy
