So, a couple weeks ago I took my boat off the trailer and left it in the yard resting on some foam so I could use the trailer to get some steel to build a new trailer.

There was a big wind warning for today, didn't think anything of it. I come home and there's yard furniture scattered all over the driveway. My garbage can is just gone, probably halfway to Utah by now. I get things squared away, go inside to get dinner stared, and then suddenly think about the boat.

Sure enough it was about thirty feet from where I left it, in some rocks. It looks like it only has one major hole, but lots of nasty scratches. Dang.

A friend has his boat parked at my house too. Despite being chocked and on gravel, the trailer was about ten feet from where it was left. Doesn't look like it was damaged, though.

I guess the lesson is to leave your boat on a trailer or tie it down.

Rhino,
Look on the bright side- the boat could be with the garbo.

Last year a member of our club had his A on a trailer and came home to find the whole thing upside down with the boat still strapped in and a very bent mast support
regards

Go find a tent rental company, they will sell/give you some of those thick tent stakes, they make great boat/trailor tie downs. I have a set in the yard to tie the boat down when its home and a set that I take with me to regatta's and on vactaion to tie my boat down. You can pound one of these into just about anything, gravel, hard clay, etc, stuff that those corkscrew tie downs will never get in.

Bill

I second the big tent stakes. Never used them on sailboats, but at rowing events I use them to strap my single to the ground.

I use a dog chain-leash, corkscrew thing I bought at a pet supply place. You can also buy giant versions of this at Wal-mart that you pound into the ground, rather than corkscrew them into the ground. (I guess that also makes them useful for cats, hehe..)

Try this kind of earth anchor. It's easy to screw in and out with a piece of pipe. It works well in sandy locations.
http://gmesupply.com/index.php/cPath/13_278?gclid=CK2ejr7z3ZACFSYRQQodPGdvQA

I'm guessing the mast was not up, yet the wind was still strong enough to blow the boat away? If you put your boat on flat ground you can always open the inspection ports and put in a garden hose, put some water in each hull, enough to make it heavy enough to not blow away, then just pull the drain plugs after the storm.

Yeah, the mast was not up. The boat was just bare hulls. Filling them with water is a good idea, but wouldn't work around here in winter.

This has been a fun storm. First the psycho wind wrecked the boat, then a flash flood washed out the low water crossing on my driveway, now there's a foot of snow and more snow on its way. Glad I got myself a tractor instead of a new boat.