This was the second year BoatU.S. sponsored its Hurricane Preparation Symposium for marina and yacht club owners.

It was filled with great, practical ideas for marinas and individual boat owners. But other major players have their roles in storm survival. Marinas are in communities; communities are bound by local, county, state and federal laws.

The folks at BoatU.S. and their conference partners – the Association of Marina Industries, the Marine Industries Association of Florida and the Marine Industries Association of South Florida – learned last year that these other players need to step up, too. Many communities need more or larger breakwaters to protect exposed marinas and shorelines. There aren't enough moorings available for recreational boats that can't be pulled out and strapped down.

The industry is responding with innovative, eco-friendly products for decking, breakwaters, moorings and pilings, but vendors as well as panelists lament that the permitting process moves like molasses.

"All these solutions are great if you can fast-track the evaluations," says Glenn Sosa, president of Wavebrake of Florida, which has brand-new breakwater product that floats, doesn't hurt the marine bottom and fits together like oversized Lego's.

Hurricane season starts June 1. The early forecast calls for 13 named storms, seven hurricanes, including three major ones. But to quote Steve Letro of the National Weather Service, numbers don't matter much, expect that bigger numbers are bad. What matters is where. And we don't know.

For U.S. boaters, the last two seasons weren't so bad. But don't forget 2004 and 2005: Do the names Charley, Frances, Ivan, Katrina, Rita and Wilma sound familiar?

MadMariner.com plans more coverage to help you prepare for what may come. Send me ideas of topics you'd like to see. Drop me a line at pamcoyle@madmariner.com.

Just don't make it nasty, old, three-strand nylon.