What to Do If You’re Caught in Bad Weather on a Boat

Summer weather on the water has a way of changing fast. A clear sky at 11 a.m. can be a black wall of cloud and a 35-knot squall by 2 p.m., especially during the late spring through early fall storm season across most of the country. Lake Mead, Lake Powell, the Florida Gulf Coast, the Carolina sounds, the Great Lakes, and the Pacific Northwest all see fast-developing weather that catches boaters off guard every year. Most of the recoverable accidents on the water start with the same mistake: a boater saw weather building and kept going anyway. This guide is about what to do when you are already in it, and when you may need to get storm coverage on your boat insurance policy.

Step One: Know It's Coming

Weather avoidance beats weather response, every time. Three habits before every trip:

• Check the NOAA marine forecast for your specific waterway, not just the general area forecast.
• Confirm the VHF weather channel (WX1, WX2, WX3, WX4, or another in your region) is monitored on the boat — set the radio to scan WX so any National Weather Service marine warning interrupts what you are listening to.
• Watch the sky and the barometer. A falling barometer over the course of an afternoon, building cumulus that towers up vertically, or a sudden shift in wind direction are all warnings worth taking seriously.

If the forecast is questionable or the sky is showing signs, the right answer is usually to come back another day. The boat is going to be there next weekend.

Step Two: When You See It Coming, Move

If you are caught with weather building and a return to your home port is realistic, head for shelter. Pick the closest safe harbor, marina, or protected anchorage rather than insisting on your original destination. Tell your passengers what is happening and what to expect. Have everyone put on a life jacket — not when the storm hits, but when you first see it coming. PFDs are much easier to put on calmly than to wrestle into during a squall.

While you still have time:

• Stow loose gear that could become projectiles in heavy seas
• Close hatches and ports
• Turn on navigation lights — visibility drops fast in heavy weather
• Note your position on the chart or chartplotter
• Make sure the bilge is dry and the bilge pump is working

If you have a marine radio, make a precautionary call — let the Coast Guard or harbormaster know your position, your destination, and that weather is building. A precautionary call costs nothing and can shorten a response time if you end up needing help.

Step Three: If You Cannot Outrun It

Sometimes the storm gets to you before you can get to shelter. The basics for riding it out:

Reduce speed. Slamming through heavy chop puts massive stress on the hull, the engine mounts, and everyone aboard. Slowing to a speed that lets the boat work with the seas, rather than fighting them, almost always produces a safer ride.

Take seas at the right angle. Quartering into the seas — bow into the waves at roughly a 40-to-45-degree angle — is generally safer than taking them head-on or beam-to. Beam-to seas can roll a boat. Stern-to following seas can broach. Quartering gives the hull a chance to ride the wave rather than fight it.

Keep weight low and centered. Move passengers off the bow and out of high points. The lower the center of gravity, the more stable the boat in heavy seas.

If the boat is too small for the conditions — consider anchoring in a protected lee shore rather than continuing. A well-set anchor with adequate scope can keep a small boat oriented into the waves and out of trouble until the squall passes. Pulling into a calm cove behind an island and waiting it out is a perfectly legitimate strategy.

Step Four: Lightning

Lightning on the water is a real risk, particularly on lakes and bays where boats stand out as the tallest object on the surface. If lightning starts:

• Get all passengers below decks or as low in the boat as possible
• Stay off the radio, the antenna, and metal handles
• Avoid contact with metal stays, lifelines, and the wheel where possible
• If the boat has a properly bonded lightning protection system, you are in much better shape than if it does not

Lightning protection systems and proper bonding are worth installing on any boat that operates in lightning-prone regions. Florida, the Gulf Coast, the Carolinas, and the upper Midwest are particularly active lightning regions during summer afternoons.

Step Five: If You Capsize or Take Water

If the boat is taking water faster than the bilge pump can keep up, get the right things in motion fast:

• Issue a Mayday call on VHF Channel 16
• Activate EPIRB or PLB if you carry one
• Have passengers don life jackets (and any other safety gear) if they are not already wearing them
• Stay with the boat — almost every search-and-rescue case is easier if rescuers are looking for a vessel rather than people in the water
• Use flares, signal mirrors, or whistles to attract attention from passing boats or aircraft

If the boat capsizes, the right answer is also usually to stay with it. A capsized hull is far more visible to rescuers than a swimmer, and even an inverted hull floats long enough for help to arrive in most cases. Swimming for shore is almost always the wrong call.

After the Weather Passes

Once the squall passes and conditions improve:

• Account for everyone
• Check the boat — bilge, fuel, electrical, engines, rudder
• Assess damage and document with photos before re-entering rough water if any returns
• File any reports required by your state for incidents involving injury or significant property damage
• Notify your insurance broker for any meaningful damage

What This Looks Like in an Insurance Claim

Real bad-weather claims fall into a few familiar buckets: hull damage from heavy seas, lightning damage to electronics, broken running rigging on sailboats, dragging anchors that put the boat onto rocks, and grounding while seeking shelter. Most of these are covered under a standard hull policy and storm coverage. The carrier wants to see that you operated reasonably given the conditions, that you took protective action when you saw weather coming, and that you have proper safety equipment aboard.

Sun Coast has spent over 35 years writing coverage. We are here when the weather does not go your way.