Hurricane season is upon us! Please find below a press release the CharlestonFishing.com staff received from BoatUS on August 17, 2007. This release has several links that our staff finds very useful in hurricane preparation and tracking.
BOATERS CAN GET FREE HURRICANE PREPARATION TIPS AND TOOLS AT BOATUS “HURRICANE RESOURCE CENTER”
Hurricane Dean Bears Down on Gulf of Mexico
With Hurricane Dean aiming its sights on the Gulf of Mexico, boaters along the coast from Texas to Alabama should take steps to prepare their boats. To help them with this task, Boat Owners Association of The United States (BoatUS) has some free tips and “tools” available.
The BoatUS “Hurricane Resource Center,” a storm-related Web site located at www.BoatUS.com/Hurricanes, includes a hurricane preparation worksheet, an in-depth Guide to Preparing Boats and Marinas for Hurricanes, and checklists for what to do before and after a hurricane strikes. All are free and easily downloadable.
The worksheet is a planning guide on steps to take prior to a hurricane, whether you plan on keeping your boat ashore, on a mooring or in a slip. It also lists gear a boater will need for hurricane preparation - items that could be sold out just before a hurricane hits.
The 12-page Guide goes into greater detail about how hurricane damages to boats usually occur, gives tips on what boaters should expect, and includes information and diagrams on how to prepare marinas and boats. Also included is a hurricane tracking chart and valuable information on post-storm recovery. The post-storm checklist can help eliminate further damage to your boat and help you get back on the water quicker.
Also at http://www.BoatUS.com/Hurricanes/tracking.asp, boaters can see up-to-the-minute storm tracking tools with live satellite images and a “spaghetti” tracking model that shows multiple predicted storm paths on a map. Included are landfall strike probabilities, NOAA advisories, and wind band information. A series of hurricane damage avoidance articles on chaf