Nor'easter in Marblehead: 16 boats lost to chafed pennants
An early autumn nor'easter saw at least 16 boats break loose, sink or go ashore in Marblehead Harbor, all lost to chafed pennants. The harbormaster says not one mooring dragged and no chain broke. After four or five days of pitching, the pennants simply chafed through.
Rescue NAMMERT Assekuradeur GmbH
On 26 and 27 September 2026 a nor'easter worked its way along the Massachusetts and Rhode Island coast. In Marblehead, north of Boston, at least seven boats were driven ashore at Riverhead Beach and near Glover's Landing over the weekend, and a 37 foot sailboat capsized and sank.
The harbormaster called it the most damaging storm in the harbor since 2018. By 6 October his count had risen to at least 16 boats broken free, sunk or washed ashore, plus others hit by drifting boats. Sail and power were roughly evenly affected, and some powerboats rolled over while still attached to their moorings.
What gave way is the instructive part. Not one mooring dragged and no chain broke, he said. It was the pennants: four or five days of the bow rising and falling wore the line against the fairleads and cleats, and chafe gear tends to slide away and leave the rope exposed.
Narragansett and a marina near Westerly also saw lines part. The timing made things worse: yards were deep into haul-out season and many owners could not get their boats out in time. The sources give no wind readings, and no one was injured.
What happened
- From 26 September: a nor'easter keeps boats pitching on their moorings for days
- Pennants wear against bow fittings as chafe gear slides out of place
- Lines part, boats go ashore on beach and rocks, one sailboat sinks
- 6 October tally: at least 16 boats, not a single chain broken
The bills a case like this leaves behind
Five kinds of cost, and the question worth putting to your own insurer.
Damage to the boat
Is this kind of event a named peril in my policy, and does sinking follow from it?
Pumping, plugging, securing
Will you pay for pumps and divers even if the boat is lost anyway?
Salvage and wreck removal
Up to what amount is wreck removal covered when an authority orders it?
What this means for owners
For anyone on a swinging mooring this is a maintenance story as much as a storm story. Many wordings exclude poor upkeep, and a pennant that was already worn before the blow invites exactly that argument. Ask your insurer how a parted mooring line is treated, and before a forecast gale double up, renew the chafe gear and take a photo.
Our view as NAMMERT, not part of the news. Your own policy wording decides.
Where this comes from
- Source: Marblehead Current: At least seven boats wash ashore in nor'easter
- Source: Marblehead Current: Nor'easter damaged at least 16 boats
- Source: New England Boating: The toll of the September nor'easter
The text is our own; the sources supplied the facts and figures, not the wording.
