Have A Boat Moored? Now Is The Time To Move It

Anybody with a boat in Madison, Clinton, Westbrook or any shoreline town should move it to a safe place,if they haven't already, says the town's deputy harbormaster.

Robinson C. Vancil, the town's deputy harbormaster, said the town does not have a formal harbor management plan, doesn't have any regulations in terms of size of moorings or construction or moorings, and doesn't even really have a protected anchorage.

But Vancil does have a recommendation.

"Any time conditions call for this level of storm, whether a hurricane or even a gale, boat owners should be vigilant about the location of their boat and make a decision based on what they think their mooring can handle. Since we don't have a protected harbor here in town, we have to be extra-vigilant about watching the weather," he said. "My suggestion after watching the most recent forecast is that anybody with a boat moored off the town of Madison should move the boat to safer anchorage."

The problem, of course, is that Irene, a Category 3 hurricane, is headed our way. It's not clear that we'll get hit full force, but it's not clear that we won't either. It does look like Irene could strengthen further on Friday.

"I would like to see all of the boats out of the bay"

Vancil said options include getting it pulled out of the water and put on the owner's trailer, or taken to a protected boat yard. "No later than, I would hope, by tomorrow later afternoon, I would like to see all the boats out of the bay."

Vancil said he and Madison Harbormaster Bradley Allin do not have the authority to order people to take their boats out of the water and move them to a safer location. "In many ways, we are hands off, letting people set their own course. Since we don't have a formal harbor plan, it would be up to the police department and public safety department" to take the lead on setting any mandates when it came to the location of the boats.

Vancil's classic Dyer 29 sport fishing boat, as it happens, is already out of the water and in a safe location, because it is being repaired. He generally keeps it moored inside the anchorage at Tuxis Island, across from the Madison Beach Club.

"We are under the gun"

He said many in town are already moving their boats, "it's hard to find anybody who doesn't realize we are under the gun."

At the Madison Beach Club Thursday, boat owners were moving at a steady clip, getting their boats pulled out of the water. Madison Beach Club is home to Lightning Fleet 129, a group of centerboard sloops owned by members of the club who race them against other fleets. The Madison Beach Club also is home to a fleet of Optis and 420 sailboats, which are used to teach juniors how to sail. And, recently, a new fleet of 29-foot sailboats were introduced, Atlantics.

"We had one, then we added three more," said Tom Davidson, who was at the beach club Thursday pulling his 17-foot Boston Whaler out of the water. "And we had more coming. It would be unfortunate if something happened to them."

Doing some repairs, hoping for the best

Tom Fitzgerald also was at the beach club Thursday. He already had pulled his motorboat out of the water and had plans to pull his sailboat out Friday morning. He was having his taken to a marina in Clinton.

Jim Deephouse was sitting on his Lightning sailboat Thursday, tinkering. What was his plan?

"I'm doing repairs so I can take it out and race it this weekend," he said, flashing a big smile. When pressed, he said his optimism about the direction of the storm might not last and that he too might move his boat.

"We're going to get it for sure"

Mimi Adkins, walking up alongside of Deephouse's boat, said she thought "we're going to get it for sure. High wind and rain at least."

Davidson said she might be right. "They're saying it could be really bad, it could be one of the worst in 200 years," he said, securing his boat to his trailer. Davidson's wife, Sarah Davidson, works at Gowrie Group, a leading marine insurer based in Westbrook, CT. Adkins said the company was getting hundreds of calls every day from people seeking information about the storm and their coverage.

While they were talking, Dan Lyons, a junior at Daniel Hand High School, was running the launch, taking boat owners out to their boats so they could bring them in. When asked what he thought, he said, "it's up to the individual person, but they really should have them out of the water."

Read Clinton Harbormaster Tim Wahl's suggestions for boat owners .