Is a crash landing ever 'normal'?

Charlie Jones s/v Tehani · Sep 6, 2016

LuzSD- from a Jimmy Buffet song- There's no dumbass vaccine!!

Let him slide by himself. You don't need the drama.

And my ex was a quite accomplished helmsman (woman?) We were once coming in under sail , she didn't like the looks of things and bailed.. Twice!! Third time she brought it in beautifully Guy on the dock asks- "don't you have an engine?" She replied- "That's no fun"

Not in the marina- just an open dock

Keep on docking it !

Justin_NSA · Sep 6, 2016

"it extends about 3 ft. into the walkway directly across from our boat, long pulpit and anchor attached as well. If you are not careful you will slam into it somewhere between face and chest height, depending on how tall you are."
Our park rangers have told us that the bow (pulpit, anchor etc) cannot extend over the walkway. As you say, it is a safety hazard. It might be a rule in your area as well.

Charlie Jones s/v Tehani · Sep 6, 2016

Justin_NSA said:
"it extends about 3 ft. into the walkway directly across from our boat, long pulpit and anchor attached as well. If you are not careful you will slam into it somewhere between face and chest height, depending on how tall you are."
Our park rangers have told us that the bow (pulpit, anchor etc) cannot extend over the walkway. As you say, it is a safety hazard. It might be a rule in your area as well.

They are out there. Be aware

jeepbluetj · Sep 6, 2016

LuzSD said:
actually you are close but no, G dock, the west side of the Dock, Island side, East basin..

Ahh. I'm on the cove side, east basin. We've had our share of nonsense over here.

This video is H on the right, I on the left. The boat is still there, with new owners and a different name. The new owners are courteous and I've never seen any boat handling issues.

(My boat is actually in there too, but doesn't get hit...) Dock scuttlebutt says he had only one engine operational. It's a twin screw, fixed prop boat so you gotta get it moving to steer and it doesn't have a keel. Dunno if dock scuttlebutt is anywhere near reality, but I don't see two washes.

I do help motorboats. I have MB's on both sides, will offer a catch if I see em coming in. There's a fishing boat (single screw, fixed prop) that has trouble getting out of the slip quite often, I help him even though he's a total jerk. (He's very polite when I'm helping though) It's just the right thing to do. I'll also help sailboats. If nothing more it usually gets a 5-10 min conversation of "how was it out there today?" etc...

The overhang rule is enforced by the marina staff. LuzSD, I kinda know some of the office folks, I can talk for you if you want. PM me if so.

As to dock damage, it's not gonna be any worse than it is now. All the docks in DP are falling apart pretty badly. They had one sink last week.

druid · Sep 6, 2016

jeepbluetj said:
Ahh. I'm on the cove side, east basin. We've had our share of nonsense over here.

This video is H on the right, I on the left. The boat is still there, with new owners and a different name. The new owners are courteous and I've never seen any boat handling issues.

What was he trying to do? get into a slip or go out, or...?

I guess I don't need to point out pretty much ALL sailboats have a single, fixed prop and they seem to do OK

In fact, I've found sailboats under power usually do worse than the powerboaters.

My favourite one WAS a powerboat, though: Two guys in the cockpit at the stern. Engine obviously stalls whenever you put it in gear (fwd or rev). So... Put it in reverse to back out of the slip. Engine stalls, boat drifts over and hits a boat. Get the engine started, put it in fwd. Engine stalls, boat drifts forward, hits another boat. Get the engine started, put it in reverse...
This went through about 5 cycles or so, with neither body making any attempt to fend off. I don't remember the final outcome, but I did think it was rather amusing (I don't think they did much if any damage to the boats - they were going pretty slowly)

druid

jeepbluetj · Sep 6, 2016

druid said:
What was he trying to do? get into a slip or go out, or...?

I guess I don't need to point out pretty much ALL sailboats have a single, fixed prop and they seem to do OK In fact, I've found sailboats under power usually do worse than the powerboaters.....

Leaving. Maybe he lost one on the backing out of I dock, and figured going out would be better than trying to get back in. I don't really know, I wasn't there and my boat won't talk about it.

A single screw outdrive or outboard is almost silly simple to drive - unless you're a sailor and need to remind yourself that if it's not in gear, you really don't have steerage. (My friends make fun of me as I repeat "no power, no steer" constantly while docking MBs. Of course, these are the friends that want me to dock their boat if I'm on it....)

Fixed prop, I'd bet the lack of a keel is tough for a sailor to get used to - there's gotta be a lot of leeway, wind blowin you around, and little steerage in reverse. I'll dock outdrives all day long, but fixed props, I'd need some practice because I bet my sailboat responses are wrong. Dunno really, 'cause I've never driven a fixed prop MB.

capta · Sep 6, 2016

I just don't get why this is just a powerboater thing here. I've seen plenty of sailboats dock with as little or even less skill than the operator in this case. Perhaps because there aren't a couple of big block Chevys gurgling away as the sailboats come in, people don't notice so much?
Motorboat operator's lives matter.

Ralph Johnstone · Sep 6, 2016

jeepbluetj said:
This video is H on the right, I on the left. The boat is still there, with new owners and a different name.

Are you sure that video wasn't taken at Thunderbird Marina, West Vancouver. B.C ? I've got my suspicions.

I've seen this stunt so often in our marina that it's lost its OMG factor. These guys habitually try to dock their boats at right angles to the finger ............... as if it were 'normal'. These guys simply can't be born that stupid

, it takes a lot of hard work to get there.

Ralph Johnstone · Sep 6, 2016

capta said:
I just don't get why this is just a powerboater thing here.

In the beginning (back in the day) I used to figure I was biased in favor of sailboaters when I saw a stinkpotter screw up and figured rag hangers are better than that. But then I would shake my head and say "no" such mistakes are common to both species. But as time went along and I saw more and more of these clowns and their antics, I realized the % of powerboater clowns VASTLY exceeded the % of sailboater clowns. In fact, I was with a group some time in early summer and someone questioned the % of nut jobs in the general population compared to the % of nut jobs in powerboating. When you look at it that way, the difference is terrifying.

Beware, they ARE out there.

Gunni · Sep 7, 2016

If you regularly spend $2,500 at the fuel dock, you probably also have a generous gel-coat repair budget!

But then we were struck on mooring off Beef Island by a Credit Card Captain in a 50ft Beneteau. One of my guests attempted to fend him off, but I pulled him back and we watched the dude rabbit a 1/2 groove down the side of his Moorings yacht courtesy of my bow roller, right through the hull windows too!

Anonymous 121765 · Sep 7, 2016

Luz,

Looks like the rank-n-file all agree man, he's a dyk!

We've all seen operators like this guy before. What I have said to these idiot types is that, "Docking is nothing more than a controlled crash, so control your crash man."

ps: I'll trade you my neighbor for this guy any day! What does that tell ya about my neighbor?

CR

Jalepeno · Sep 7, 2016

Ralph, I saw a "new credit card boater" buy a 30+ foot power boat at our marina two summers ago. Watched him go out the following day with friends and family. He did bumper cars left and right down the D-E docks fairway, hit four boats. I tried to talk to him when he returned but he could not or would not speak either of our official Canadian languages (trying not to be racist). I reported him to our marina manager and was later told he had just bought the boat had his moorage contract cancelled without credit after paying for the damages. There is a company now in Vancouver that teaches the boating courses in Mandarin. That will be worse than driving in Richmond.

Ralph Johnstone · Sep 7, 2016

Jalepeno said:
There is a company now in Vancouver that teaches the boating courses in Mandarin. That will be worse than driving in Richmond.

As with you, not being racist, but keep an eye on slip F-68. The boat is covered with battle scars. He's hit many, many boats between E and F docks. His worst case was landing IN the cockpit of a sailboat a few spaces to the south of him. What really makes me want to rattle this guys timbers is that he always tries to get away after each impact. He has only two speeds, full throttle and stop. He was seen during the cockpit incident, reported, and the damages were about $1200.00 according to the sailboat owner. With moorage occupancy being down, our beloved manager's attitude is "if you're complaining, you're the problem". I recently moved from E dock to F dock to escape the lunatics and other credit card captains around me.

I see captnron is bragging about HIS neighbours. Wait 'til I tell him about MINE.

Ralph Johnstone · Sep 7, 2016

captnron said:
ps: I'll trade you my neighbor for this guy any day! What does that tell ya about my neighbor?

Sooooooooooooooooo ...................... you think YOU'VE got a few nut jobs for neighbours

Take a look at a few of my previous neighbours:

1. The guy behind me who loved to just sit and listen to his two outboard engines run for hours on end. Just sat there with a goofy smile on his face listening. The engines were so badly tuned, you could light the fumes and they'd fire back to his engines.

2. The guy two slips down from me who had dual inboards ............. should be able to steer with dual engines ? Not so much. He'd come into the marina, completely out of control screaming at his poor wife. "You bloody great stupid woman". Poor lady would just stand there all flustered with no idea what to do because he couldn't steer the boat. Then he'd slide into me backwards, two slips away from him.

3. Captain "Hit 'n Run" behind me who landed his boat IN the cockpit of a sailboat and then left the scene. Fortunately he was seen by a nearby boater and reported.

4. The drunk, a few slips down from me, who came back and found the boat beside him was away, jammed his boat in across the two slips and then tried to sit the boat on the finger by gunning the engines. He managed to get it balanced on the finger but it slipped back into the water.

This has been going on all summer. I had to get away to another dock.

capta · Sep 7, 2016

Let's be fair here.

shemandr · Sep 7, 2016

Kermit said:
Sounds like it must be the same guy who is harassing the racers from another thread. Gotta be the same guy.

Yeah, isn't he known as the PO around here?

Jalepeno · Sep 7, 2016

Ralph,
I'm in E-50 (north side) between E and D docks so I haven't seen your special friend at F-68. Last week I was heading out at idle speed over by the fuel float when I could smell engine exhaust just as my cabin CO alarm came ON. A big old gas power 40+ foot boat had come up behind me pushing a wake (obviously going too fast in the cove with poorly tuned motors). That is a disaster waiting to happen. My alarm returned to normal as soon as he passed me in the narrow channel. Don't know which marina he came from.

woodster · Sep 8, 2016

the great spirit would say ....."they are just a$$holes and can't help it"...

Jackdaw · Sep 8, 2016

NEVER use yourself to fend off a 30 foot boat. Way too much mass. Stay clear and let Sir Isaac Newton have his way.

Is a crash landing ever 'normal'?

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