If you don't know how to anchor.. DON'T !!!!!

[Steve Morris]

Hmmm! I'll be sure to remember that

I think I'll print a picture of your boat and keep it handy in case I come upon you somewhere. I'll remember that your are'nt out there to make friends, or provide guidance to those less knowledgeable than you, and want to be left alone. You'll get a wide berth from me.

On the other hand, RW, you seem like a really reasonable guy. I'd love to raft up with you and enjoy a weekend of shared boating experience. I think that you would be willing to share your experience and make me a better sailor on subjects that I don't fully understand.

 

[r.w.landau]

Tim,Maine Sail, please don't think that I am attacking you.

Maine Sail is a hugh, did I say HUGH, contributer. I did edit a previous reply. I go to the boat to get away from stuff. When stuff presents itself at the boat, it is a definite intrusion when I finially chill. I have found, that when bad things happen, and I have to extend out of my way to correct them and then return to the calm, not only do I enjoy my time, I enjoyed my effort.
Then again my peace is found in helping people...
r.w.landau

 

[Maine Sail]

Actually...

Quote: "Maine Sail, after the excitement of problem and with some time to cool down from a frenzied situation, is to motor back up and kindly say something like, I see you are not from the area. May I suggest you use a scope of 7:1 or more which in this anchorage 90 feet or what ever. The guy would probably brag about the local contact he had and his special info."


I did do that after they re-anchored and politely they had room for a little extra scope, swing room wise. After they failed to get a set numerous times I thenw ent over and hinted that setting at a longer scope sometimes helps then they could shorten once set.

The guy just looked at me as if I had three holes in my head and said "We're fine!". He had no desire to make friends, offered no thank you from saving his boat from both damage and a GROUNDING event...

Seeing as we were down wind of him and he seemingly already "knew how to anchor" we decided to leave...

I help lots of boaters on a regular basis but when he is seconds from hitting my vessel, and feet from the rocks, there is no time to make friends...

 

[Ross]

Mainesail can you rig a paintbrush to a boat

hook. Fending off with a brush full of red oil based paint might be most effective. ;D

 

[Maine Sail]

No,,

Quote: "When you returned from your hike, you noticed that his scope was suspect AND that he was anchored upwind of you. Did you stop by his boat to ask how much scope he had out? "





#1 With an all chain rode and zero wind the chain is always straight up and down so deciphering scope is next to impossible until you get some wind with on the chain which did not happen until 3:00 a.m..

#2 No I did not go over and nit pick his anchoring skills as I find that would be awfully rude to do every time someone anchors up wind of me. Sometimes you have to be trusting. His boat looked salty, well used and they had already sailed from Edgartown so I wrongly assumed they knew what they were doing..

 

[r.w.landau]

Thanks,MaineSail, that is part of the picture that wasn't there before.

I have days when the wife says let it go... If I let it go, it drives me nuts.... Glad to hear you are as helpful there as you are here.
Hopefully this was a good vent!
You are appreciated very much here,
r.w.landau

 

[Maine Sail]

Steve...

Quote: "I think I'll print a picture of your boat and keep it handy in case I come upon you somewhere. I'll remember that your are'nt out there to make friends, or provide guidance to those less knowledgeable than you, and want to be left alone. You'll get a wide berth from me."


Perhaps before you judge me, and what you think my personality is, you should search my screen name and read some of my stuff.

I'm one of the most helpful boaters you'll ever meet. When a 40 footer is bearing down on our boat and it then takes you 90+ seconds to even come on deck yes I have issues with that especially when you then try and back into me and when offered insight into bottom conditions and scope you blow it off and claim your all set on your "guessed at" scope ...

This guy DID NOT want ANY advice or to listen to any local knowledge about bottom type, eddy currents etc..

 

[letterman]

Deeeeeeeeeeeeeep breath

Seems to me that posting a picture is worthless. Why not google the boat mane (looks like a documented vessel) and find the owner and send him some info on how to anchor rather than do nothing.

 

[Steve Dion]

I really hope you do feel better.

Maine Sail:

I really do hope you feel better. Regardless of your ranting and raving (and you should be pissed) this behavior will never stop.

There are those times when one anchors "properly" and still drags. This is just something that happens.

Then there are those instances when the SOB's are just STUPID, IGNORANT and plain don't give a crap. These are the ones that need to be incinerated but what can we really do about it?

 

[Maine Sail]

Leterman..

Seems to me that posting a picture is worthless. Why not google the boat mane (looks like a documented vessel) and find the owner and send him some info on how to anchor rather than do nothing.

Firstly, I SAVED THIS GUYS BOAT FROM GOING ON THE ROCKS.

Secondly, I offered advice on bottom type and what works well in the cove and how far he could "swing" before being in danger of being to close to the depth contour.


Perhaps you should read the entire thread first before you accuse me of doing nothing....

The boat is not registered on the CG documentation web site. The only boat with that name hails out of Boston not Edgartown..

Posting the picture may prevent someone else from being dragged onto by this guy. I can guarantee you that if some of the other Mainers on here see this boat they won't be anchoring near it... I don't consider warning others of a reckless boaters worthless..?

 

[Stu Jackson]

The part I do not understand is how and why

with all the $$ invested in their boats that these idiots keep showing up. They drag, they go on the rocks, they hit other boats and it's not only hassling and damaging other boats, it's their OWN BLOODY INVESTMENT that they're putting at risk. Simply by being stupid.

For Steve Morris in Reply #21, I agree with Maine's reply #27 and would have written it myself but he beat me to it. I can't think of any single person who INDIVIDUALLY has contributed MORE to this forum and linked to his own superb "How to do it" website. So Steve, I understand your basic premise, but as Maine said, do a little digging about Maine's "credentials" first. Perhaps you're new to this forum.

And, BTW, unless, Steve, you've had your own anchoring drills with these kind of idiots, it may be prudent to recognize that they almost NEVER listen to any kind of advice. If they did, they wouldn't be so damn stupid.

 

[Rob]

I feel your pain

Maine -

I feel your pain and wish we could do something about this. I had a similar experience this past weekend except the idiot behind the wheel was actually awake and fully aware of what was going on!!

I was similarly anchored in my favorite cove in the Peconic bays of Eastern Long Island (with our 2 and 3 yr olds aboard). This moron on a 32 Bertram was anchored with a 28 ft Searay tied off his stern (a real sh*& - show of a set-up). This entourage of destruction comes drifting our way with a dragging anchor while the moron on the Bertram has his motor running not knowing what to do. I was in our dink on the beach with my son collecting shells while my wife was on our Catalina 30 with my daughter resting. I start screaming from 50 yards away that your going to hit our boat....my wife does the same and he comes within inches of our bow. The anchor of the Searay actually passed OVER my anchor roller on the bow. If this was not an act of god that prevented a collision the next incident sure is. The moron continues to attempt something resembling a captain at the helm...he has his wife on the bow pulling up a seaweed infested 12" fluke anchor. The entourage comes swinging around again (15 knot winds) and this time the Searay tied off the Moron’s stern is heading straight for the mid-ship section of my Catalina 30 – a collision is unavoidable at this point. The Searay had a delta-type anchor on his roller (why this idiot didn’t have it secured at the bottom of the sea is another story). The head of the anchor had a “V” shaped protrusion that represented the forward most part of his vessel (the part that would hit my boat). Well it hit alright and I somehow lucked out because the V fit right into my mid-ship’s SS hand rail and only slightly bent the base. No damage to the gel coat or anything else as I checked.

The thing that really bothered me is the Moron on the Bertrams response to the whole incident….I speed over in my dink asking for ID from him. He tells me to have my insurance company deal with his insurance company and THAT’s why we have insurance right? The tone of a complete piker. His wife starts apologizing and points out that we reside in the same creek. She gives me his card with contact details. They anchor a few hundred yards away and 45 minutes later when they are leaving his wife is again on the bow pulling up his Mickey-Mouse anchor he probably bought at a yard sale while this fat-slob is at the helm.

Maine – your post motivated me to post this story….I completely feel your pain and wish something could be done to keep these people off the water and at the docks.

- Rob

 

[Stu Jackson]

Remember the Slapping Halyard Story

that was posted a few years ago? I have copies of it printed, but so far haven't stuck them in a plastic bag and dropped them off on offending boats because we never sleep on our boat in the marina )or other marinas for that matter).

Maybe we could copy the West Marine "How to Anchor" Advisors and simply hand it to the idiots.

Not that they'd read it. Ah - maybe their wives would!

 

[Jim]

wow close call.....

You really were lucky. Good thing you checked.

 

[Paul Akers]

Gotta Learn Somehow!!!

These people have to learn to anchor somehow/somewhere. Maybe they should pick their own secluded spot and learn that way?

 

[Maine Sail]

Just like...

with learning to drive you first read books or get a grasp on the basics before you even practice in real life "somewhere" especially around other boats.

You don't just toss the keys to a 13 year old and tell them to run to the store for groceries nor should a boaters first anchoring be at the 4th of July fireworks bonanza or in front of a seven figure Hinckley......

There are many, many, many books which teach basic anchoring techniques and I've yet to see guessing at your scope suggested by any of them.... "We're fine now"....? Really?

 

[KayakDan]

Cocktail Cove

TimR,funny you should mention Cocktail Cove as the location. Last time I was there,we saw a bunch of guys bring a good sized (16-18?) power boat over into the (beach) area on the north side,into about 2 feet of water.Then they all headed up onto the island to get stupified.
When they return a few hours later,the boat is there-the water is not.
Ever watch a group of drunken idiots try to drag an 18 ft powerboat back to the water? Welcome to Maine,where there are serious tides. Wonderful entertainment.;D

 

[Steve W (NY)]

Maine Sail....your right but.....

not everyone thinks the way you and I do. There was a situation over on the trailersailor board that I commented upon. I, for one, come from the boy scout mentality of being prepared. Not everyone seems to think that way. They feel it is there right to learn at anyones expense, including there own, rescue personnel, other participents, etc. I wouldn't even anchor a dinghy without reading about it first, or having someone show me the right way. But that is just the way we are wired. I've learned a lot reading your posts, and I think you are right in this situation. A 40 foot boat on the loose can be dangerous.

I commented about someone having no business doing something and I got chastised for being rude with the same response some here would give you for your comments. I try to be helpful when help is welcome, but sometimes you just have to realize that not everybody who reads this knows your history and your helpfulness. I was kind of shocked by the resposes I got to something I thought was logical, but I learned a lesson about posting strong opinions.

While I am mostly a lurker here, I always read your comments and value them. For those who are critical, all I can say is that you probably need to know MaineSails MO better.

Take Care,
Steve

 

[Tim R.]

So Maine

I guess my wife told you how she learned to drive She used to take the family car down to the local market to buy her dad smokes when she was 13.

I knew I was in love with the woman when I watched her back a tractor with a manure spreader into the barn.

 

[Scott B]

lots of information available

I learned to anchor last year, having spent all my sailing time in Lake Ontario and never crusing before. There is a ton of info readily available on the internet and good old fashioned books. I spent months doing research on technique and graound tackle and now have close to 40 nights on the hook.

Couple weekends ago went to bed in calm conditions, but had let out more scope ( as I had found out in my research ) as Environment Canada were calling for T-storms and strong winds overnight. Just before settling in for the night, the storm hit and I popped up into the cockpit to check our situation and watch the storm. Wind speed was 35 knots and I could feel the rode pulling straight onto the anchor, which was holding fast. Looking around I noticed another boat with its nav lights on and realized the lights were approaching. He, 33-36 ft. sailboat passed between us and a power boat missing us both by 50 ft. As he went by I could see him on the bow fiddling with the anchor line. Finally got it to reset couple hundred yards behind us, which luckily was heading into open bay. His porbelm was most likely not enough scope and/or the fact we swung 180 deg. between dusk and when the storm hit. Although sandy bottom, he probably did not reset on the swing. Bruce and CQR are very popular up here but I could not tell what he had.