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From: Black Swan (no email)
Date: Thu Aug 12 2004 - 00:59:50 EDT
Seen this same scenario many times Jeff. We have made a habit of not having
the bow line available to the "helpers", and if it's necessary for "good
manners" to hand off a line, it's the beam spring.
However, it is truly astounding to see that a vast number of "boaters"
have absolutely no idea of docking practise or even how to tie their boats
up. We continually see boats tied up with hopelessly inadequate lines,
boat tied up with dock lines secured to flimsy handrails, knots that seem
to be designed to fall apart if you even look at them, and even lines that
are so hopelessly decayed that they literally fall apart in your
hands. Mention of any seeming inadequacies usually gets the old "mind
your own d at mn business" response.
In Canada now there is a mandatory course and examination to get a
"Pleasure Craft Operator Card". The Admiral and I took the course
together, and though we passed, the real education was in coming to
understand how much more we DIDN'T know. I guess there's a
prevailing attitude that if you can qualify for a boat loan, that's all
you need. Seems weird to me!
Alec & Joan L/A the houseboat "Black Swan" on the Fraser River in Mission
B.C.and Cruising on the MV Morning Star, 30 ft. Reinell Bluewater Cruiser
PS, The Admiral has just assisted a group of 4 drunken male boaters tie up
to the dock. They came in with no running lights on, 3 hours after dark,
having gone out some 4 hours ago while the sun was going down. Approached
the dock at 90 degrees, bumped the bow on the bullrail, no lines ready, and
really almost no idea where they were! These guys will only learn by
fatality, and even then it "won't be their fault". Stupid.
At 12:14 AM 8/12/2004 +0000, Jeff Smith wrote:
>Hi Folks
>
>About 5 minutes ago I witnessed a collision when a boat was docking right
>behind me. A fellow on a power boat was entering his slip and lost
>control, slamming sideways into a recently refurbished old wooden yacht.
>The damage is heartbreaking, as the old wooden boat just got launched,
>having spent over three years being lovingly refinished from stem to stern.
>
>It leads me to make some observations that I think we could all take to
>heart and perhaps that might make a difference.
>
>The owner of the boat that hit the older boat was entering his dock bow
>first. He did make a mistake for sure. His dock lines were not readied
>properly (he had no beam spring line!) and his crew had not been told
>extactly what to do. That was obvious as the situation unfolded.
>
>But as I sit here watching the owners of the two boats survey the damage
>and argue, it is clear that neither of the parties involved is aware of
>the real cause of the collision. I noticed it and have frequently fallen
>victim to the same issue, fortunately without damage (yet).
>
>We all know how it feels to arrive at a dock and see the smiling faces of
>our neighbors standing at the dock waiting to help us tie up. And every
>one of us knows what it feels like to loose it coming in. We all
>appreciate the help offered by our well meaning neighbors BUT...
>
>The collision that I just witnessed was caused by a helper on the dock.
>The power boat approached the dock. In fact the wind was blowing him ONTO
>the dock, away from the old boat that he hit. It should have been a nice
>easy docking job. He was coming in bow first and had neglected to set a
>beam spring line. That was his mistake, and certainly a contributor to the
>collision. No question about that in my mind. But even if he had set a
>spring line I doubt it would have prevented the collision.
>
>You see, as his bow approached the end of the dock, a neighbor grabbed the
>bow line from his wife who was at the bow rail and then he passed it down
>the dock to another helpful neighbor, who proceeded to "help" by giving a
>tug on it. THAT caused the collision.
>
>The bow of the power boat suddenly swung hard in towards the dock (I think
>it hit the dock) and the stern of the boat suddenly veered out wildly and
>slammed hard into the new paint and rail on the old wood boat. It made a
>hell of a crunch. I haven't the heart to go see what damage was done but
>there are unhappy faces and loud voices as I type. The marine police have
>been called so I expect the damage was significant.
>
>I always do this little decision dance in my head when people come to help
>us dock. On the one hand I get a sense of security in seeing friendly
>faces standing ready to help should things get hairy. But in truth (not to
>brag), help has rarely been needed. But I sure don't feel good about
>telling everyone to stop helping. No doubt the day that I do so will be
>the very day that all hell breaks loose and I really need assistance coming in.
>
>I recently moved to a different marina. At my old marina, I rarely had
>anyone come to help. I suspect (hope) that folks realized I didn't need
>it. Or maybe they were just ignoring me : )
>
>But here at my new home I have had numerous attempts to assist. Funny
>thing is that I noticed each time somone "helped" something would go
>wrong. I had to sit and think about it for a bit too, but eventually I
>realized what was happening. Same as the problem above. I'd come into the
>dock bow first, someone would grab the bow line and pull. The stern would
>swing out and the Admiral would suddenly find herself standing at the
>beam by the shrouds, about 5 feet from the dock unable to do anything but
>toss a line to the dock. Or she'd get to the dock but before she could
>secure lines we'd swing out and get a little too close to the boat we
>share the slip with. I hate that feeling as much as every one of you must too.
>
>At first I thought perhaps it was the wind and that I hadn't properly
>compensated for it, which seemed odd to me since I'd not had that problem
>until recently. Then I thought I had misjudged the current or messed up my
>approach somehow. Finally I sort of played events back in my head after
>this happened 2 or 3 times and that's when I realize what was really
>happening. The funny thing is that this is sort of self perpetuating too.
>Your happy neighbor sees you coming home, rushes to assist, and in so
>doing yanks on the bow line and causes things to go badly. Then, as they
>walk away they are surely thinking that they better watch for you and help
>all the time, because obviously you need the help judging by the way that
>you let your stern swing out like that!
>
>In my case, I cured the problem (for now) by coiling the bow line loosely
>around the lifelines. Now, as we approach the smiling helpful person on
>the dock he or she is first unable to reach the bow line until we are
>really close to the dock, and then they are busied untying the loosely
>looped bow line while we gently glide into the slip. By the time that they
>are ready to yank on it, the Admiral has the beam spring and stern line
>secured, and through those lines and the motors we can control things fine
>even if they suddenly pull the bow line. It seems to be the most
>diplomatic solution I could come up with short of yelling "no thanks" when
>people try to help.
>
>At any rate, in view of the collision I just witnessed I thought I'd share
>my thoughts on this and see if anyone else has noticed this little issue,
>or perhaps even been a victim of it and not realized the cause or dynamics
>of the situation.
>
>I wonder if there is a way for us to communicate this concern to people
>and get folks to generally realize that the bow line iis NOT something to
>be pulled on when a boat is coming in bow first. In fact, the bow line
>really isn't good for much of anything when docking except screwing up the
>docking job in my opinion. The BEAM SPRING and STERN lines are the control
>lines. When we dock alone, the bow line is left alone until the boat is
>securely stopped and safe. Then we take a leisurely stroll forward and tie
>it up last. If the bow tries to swing out from the dock due to wind or
>current, a small application of forward engine pushes it back in while the
>spring line prevents forward movement and the stern line keeps the stern
>in. No big deal at all.
>
>Anybody else been down this trail? How do we get EVERYBODY to realize that
>yanking a bow line is a huge mistake? It's kind of interesting to note
>that your helpful neighbors who do this are fellow BOATERS who haven't
>figured this out yet!!
>
>Maybe I should send this note to Cruising World and Latts and Atts?
>
>Getting the word out would be a good start.
>
>What say folks?
>
>Jeff
>
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