Learn from Hurricane Sandy on March 12 - wherever you sail

by BoatUS/Sail-World Cruising on 9 Mar 2013 No matter where in the world you are, your boat can be subject to a catastrophic storm event. One of the worst weather events in world history happened recently when Hurricane Sandy hit the east coast of North America. So what can one learn from such an event?

The Association of Marina Industries (AMI) and the Boat Owners Association of The United States (BoatUS) have teamed up to offer a series of three online webinars for marine facility operators and others interested in learning about how to secure boats to avoid damage in future storms. One has already occurred, but there are still two to come

What:
The second webinar, 'Securing Boats on Land,' is on Tuesday, March 12, and will focus on the challenges of securing boats inside storage structures as well as outside on the hard. Three hurricanes made landfall in Florida within six weeks of each other in 2004, and another three devastated the state in 2005. In the wake of those two record-breaking seasons, Florida marinas developed more storm-resistant strategies for storing boats on the hard that reflected the risks of individual marinas and the differences between power and sail boats in strong winds and high surge conditions.

Beth Leonard, Director of Technical Services for BoatUS, will discuss those strategies, and examine whether they would have been helpful in reducing the damage from Sandy. She'll also share some potential modifications to those techniques that have come out of debriefing the BoatUS Catastrophe (CAT) Teams after Sandy.

Why:
Hurricane Sandy was the single-largest recreational boating industry loss ever recorded, with over $650 million in damage to boats alone. Not included in that figure are the hundreds of millions of dollars in damages to marinas, boat yards and yacht clubs. Boats that didn't stay put in Sandy's exceptional storm surge caused damage to other boats, marina infrastructure, and private and public property.

When:
All webinars are at 6.00pm UTC (GMT), and you can work out your own time from there. For instance, it is 2:00pm American Eastern Standard Time, 5.00am Eastern Australian Summer Time THE NEXT MORNING.

March 12 - 'Securing Boats on Land,' the next Webinar in the series, will focus on the challenges of securing boats inside storage structures as well as outside on the hard, and discuss some potential solutions and best practices.
March 26 - 'Securing Boats in the Water,' will look at the challenges presented by moorings and by various dock structures such as fixed or floating docks, and also look at solutions and best practices.

The first in the series, 'Sandy Overview: What We've Learned,' was held on March 5 and looked at what made Hurricane Sandy so destructive and the types of damage it caused to boats and marinas, and share some survival stories.

HOW: The cost to attend is $10 per webinar for members of AMI or BoatUS and, for non-members, $25 for one webinar, $40 for two and $60 for all three. NY and NJ facilities are invited to attend for free, compliments of AMI and BoatUS, but they must still register.

Any proceeds after costs will be donated to the NJ Recovery and Relief Fund to aid recreational marine businesses damaged during Hurricane Sandy. Go to http://marinaassociation.org/training/online-webinars to register, or, for more information visit www.MarinaAssociation.org.

About the organisations involved:
The Association of Marina Industries (AMI) is a nonprofit membership organization that provides management training, education and information about research, legislation and environmental issues affecting the marina industry.

The BoatUS Marine Insurance Catastrophe (CAT) Team salvages boats and processes insurance claims after major hurricanes. Comprised of insurance claims representatives, surveyors, adjustors, crane operators, transport staff, on-the-water towers, yard managers and administrative staff, its goal is to salvage damaged boats and settle BoatUS Marine Insurance Program claims as quickly as possible. With many of its members having over 25 years experience, the BoatUS CAT team has been asked frequently by local authorities to coordinate salvage efforts among multiple insurance companies.