This sure has been a strange season so far weatherwise.

We had a squall line come in off shore yesterday, so we went around and secured everything.

As a bit of background, I have these rubber snubbers on the dock lines. We sometimes get a good jolt of wind, since I am only about 1/4 mile from the lakeshore. That it can get windy in the marina is an understatement.

Anyway, we were down below waiting for the storm to pass, when all of the sudden the boat moved forward two or three feet, then back about 6 feet. It did this twice. It felt like we were in a sling-shot, and I am guessing it must have been the snubbers stretching and relaxing.

I had never experienced such "distances" before.

I went outside and man, about got knocked off the deck as the wind was really blowing HARD. The wind had pinned the stern of the boat to the dock, which is why the sling-shotting quit. The dock is on the downwind side of the boat.

Luckily I had a couple of fenders out, and they did their job. So other than squeezing the fenders, no harm was done.

As it can be with nylon dock lines, they can stretch. And the line that held the boat away from the dock was limp. And the wind was blowing so hard that I could not push the stern of the boat away from the dock. My eldest son happened to be with us, and with the two of us, we got the boat away from the dock and re-tied down.

I threw on a couple of spring lines as well so that we didn't sling-shot anymore, and survived the storm.

Luckily no one was attempting to dock just then, but about 10 minutes before the wind hit, one of our dockmates just made it in.

I did notice one boat coming in after the storm. It was a 33ft fishing boat, so they were probably out on the lake and had to ride it out.

Glad nothing got damaged or y'all hurt being bounced around.

Wasn't so much being bounced around as it was a kind of strange sensation looking out of the porthole and seeing your neighbor's boat going by - until you realize its your boat that is moving...

So one thing about the snubbers - they work really well, but maybe have a limit as to how well they work, and probably should have a spring line or two to limit their travel.

Glad everything is now OK. Can you maybe explain "snubbers" or how they work?

Aren't those storms fun!

We get those around here also. My old marina was fairly well protected from southerly winds. The new one not so much. Lotsa fenders and dock lines are the answer.

I talked to the guy that came in what I thought was after the storm. He actually attempted during the storm, and got pushed into a piling sideways, putting a 2ft crack into the side of the boat.



He said he also saw a Silverton slam against the break wall, and a boat slam against him. They were being pushed sideways by the wind and sort of piling up on each other.

No word from the dock yet as to who that was (probably another marina), or how many boats were damaged.

Sure Seabuddy;

The typical dockline is nylon. Nylon is chosen because it stretches, which in itself provides a bit of a shock absorber effect so that when the boat is rocking in the slip, it is easy on the cleats.

Sometimes this is not enough. Especially if you moor your boat in a windy area, or prone to a lot of wave action. Then the use of a snubber is a good choice.



As shown above, they are made of rubber and basically provide an increased shock absorber capability. As the boat gets tossed about due to wind or wave, the snubbers allow the lines to give under a smooth tension.

Before we bought them, we were moored in the marina in a wind storm, and each time the boat pulled on a dock line, you could feel the whole boat shudder. I thought I was going to lose a cleat. The next day we went out and bought 4 snubbers.

These particular ones are made by Tempo, and are the ones I have. There are other similar designs made by other manufacturers as well.

They ain't cheap. Depending on the size, expect to pay $25 to $50 for each one. And if you use 4 of them, it becomes rather expensive. But its cheaper than fiberglass repair.

I have seen some of these broken, but in the 6 seasons I have owned them, I am starting to see some cracking in the rubber, but after yesterday's wind, I'd say they have some more life in them.

Glad to hear you had no damage Al. Do you typically put spring lines out when you are not near the marina?
That picture above sure hurts.

Mark

Can you vary the number of wraps around snubber to change how much stretch it would have?

Mark; we typically put spring lines on the boat when we leave for the week, but we have been on vacation and took the boat out twice, so we had not put them back on yet.

HotByte; Maybe you can. As I recall, I went with the manufacturer's recommendation with three wraps. The things will stretch about twice their length, so I am sure if you only put two wraps on, it would not stretch as far. You can buy smaller ones though for a smaller boat. I think those would allow 3 wraps but with a shorter stretch.

If I recall, they are sized by dock line size (one for 3/8"dia, one for 1/2"dia, one for 5/8"dia).

Cap'n Morgan moors his boat about 13 miles north of me, and I wonder how they faired.

Very helpful photo and description. Thanks, AL!

Well I didn't go to the airshow here today and I'm glad I didn't. A microburst storm hit with little warning, 1 person died, a little boy, and 12 were injured. Glad I wasn't on the water either. Been through a few of those and they can get bad around here.

Story at www.WHNT.com

Al - weather has been strange this whole summer. With a chance of thunderstorms over 50% it seems like every weekend we haven't attempted to hit the big lake yet this year.

The winds have been so bad here in Oklahoma, that we have not had much opportunity to boat. 60+ mph winds have become routine. That and the constant rains. We went driving around to the lakes this weekend and almost every one was in flood stage. Skiatook was so high that only one of the ramps was open. Grand was a mess. Too high to go from my aunt's place to the main lake even if I had tried to launch. My BIL's place was where he had to swim to his dock. That and the high amount of debris that was being floated down the rivers made things fun. And it was raining all morning Saturday.

Geez, that's a big crack! That must have been a concrete piling?

I beat a similar storm into our dock by about 3 minutes a few weeks ago. It was a short storm in our case, but I sure was happy I didn't get caught in the middle of the marina channel when those 60mph winds went by, even if they just lasted a few minutes.