Storm season brings a level of responsibility every boat owner needs to take seriously. Whether you're in a cyclone-prone region or heading into a southern winter, preparation is everything — and the owners who fare best are almost always the ones who did the boring admin weeks before the first warning was ever issued.
1. Start With Your Insurance
This is the one step that's easy to put off and impossible to fix after the fact. Make sure your policy is current, your vessel's value is accurately declared, and you understand exactly what is and isn't covered. Some policies have specific storm preparation requirements that must be met for a claim to be valid — read the fine print now, not after the event, when it's too late to comply with something you didn't know was required.
2. Assess Your Berth
Is it sheltered from the expected storm directions, or exposed to the one bearing you're least prepared for? Rig additional lines in a proper storm configuration, and add chafe protection wherever lines contact cleats or rails — a line that looks fine on day one of a blow can be half worn through by day three.
3. Strip the Vessel Down
Remove canvas, Biminis, and sail covers. Secure or remove loose deck equipment — anything that can become a projectile in high wind should already be off the boat, not still up for debate. The less windage your vessel presents, the better it'll ride out whatever's coming.
4. Check the Basics, Then Make a Plan
Check bilge pumps and through-hulls before the season starts, not during the first warning. And have an actual plan: know where you'll move the boat if the berth becomes exposed, who you'll call, and how much notice you're realistically likely to get. Having those answers settled in advance means no rushed decisions made under pressure, in the rain, at the worst possible time.
The Part You Can't Control: Being There
Here's the challenge every owner eventually runs into — storms don't wait for a convenient weekend, and you can't always be at the marina when conditions turn. All the preparation in the world doesn't help if you find out something's gone wrong three days after it happened.
This is exactly where YachtPilot earns its place on the boat during storm season. Bilge level alerts notify you immediately if water starts entering the vessel, and geofence alerts fire the moment your boat shifts from its expected position — so you're finding out in real time, not on your next visit. For anyone in genuinely harsh conditions, the Sensor Connect+ Extreme is ruggedised for vibration, moisture, and temperature extremes, built to keep monitoring exactly when the weather gets serious.
Find the Right Sensor for Storm Season →
Do the preparation. Then let YachtPilot handle the watching, so a distant storm warning doesn't turn into a very long drive back to the marina.
