Hi all,
We had another experience with the group sailing the ICW and thought maybe other had the same negative views. This group of boats are mostly beginners who have joined/hired a captain (?) to take them from Norfolk to the Keys by the ICW. We had anchored in St. Mary's after 200 miles offshore expecting a nice Thanksgiving with cruising friends. The boats there had all anchored well and we went furthest away with plenty of swing room.
During the late evening this band of boats came in and spread out among the already anchored boats which was fine for the quiet night. By noon Thursday the wind came up and the boats all began to dance in the current. For us we would come close to the boats on either side and coming within a boat length. Another boat that had been dragging elsewhere decided to anchor upstream of us and could have stayed away but kept letting out more three strand rode to get the anchor to catch.
His boat then swung so the keel was now wrapped in the rode with the anchor behind him so he let out more rode. Now he's close to us as we swing. Then two dinghy's with outboards of low horsepower try to unwind him and cannot fight the current, so he lets out more rode. Now he's real close so I jumped on the bow and told him not to let out rode, call his leader, and call a towboat to get real help. I held our boat away as best as possible while they tried to manage.
Their leader showed up and they got a second anchor but instead of kedging away, they just dropped it to hold position inside my anchor radius. After that all the dinghies left for the meal leaving that couple (and me) to await their tow which was about three hours. Over the radio I heard this boat was afraid to go further upstream because they didn't have a working depth finder and river is uncharted. Their leader didn't stop by to offer and apologies for the inconvenience. (I heard similar stories from other cruisers the following day but I just filed it back in my mind)
We made another 200 mile jump on the outside to meet up with friends again in Vero Beach and had time to resupply and make repairs. I was helping a friend splice some lines when I noticed the horde finally had caught up to us again and began to raft their boats with those already there. There is an art to rafting and not just tying to someone else's boat like a dock but I can see once again there isn't any instruction for this group. Sentiments and experiences from the other cruisers are similar to ours.
Marinas like having this group because they have a big chunk of business and they have refused individual boats that make their way independently (and competently). Since most of these folks won't go out an inlet we will eventually get away again but I feel bad for the other boaters who can't.
We had another experience with the group sailing the ICW and thought maybe other had the same negative views. This group of boats are mostly beginners who have joined/hired a captain (?) to take them from Norfolk to the Keys by the ICW. We had anchored in St. Mary's after 200 miles offshore expecting a nice Thanksgiving with cruising friends. The boats there had all anchored well and we went furthest away with plenty of swing room.
During the late evening this band of boats came in and spread out among the already anchored boats which was fine for the quiet night. By noon Thursday the wind came up and the boats all began to dance in the current. For us we would come close to the boats on either side and coming within a boat length. Another boat that had been dragging elsewhere decided to anchor upstream of us and could have stayed away but kept letting out more three strand rode to get the anchor to catch.
His boat then swung so the keel was now wrapped in the rode with the anchor behind him so he let out more rode. Now he's close to us as we swing. Then two dinghy's with outboards of low horsepower try to unwind him and cannot fight the current, so he lets out more rode. Now he's real close so I jumped on the bow and told him not to let out rode, call his leader, and call a towboat to get real help. I held our boat away as best as possible while they tried to manage.
Their leader showed up and they got a second anchor but instead of kedging away, they just dropped it to hold position inside my anchor radius. After that all the dinghies left for the meal leaving that couple (and me) to await their tow which was about three hours. Over the radio I heard this boat was afraid to go further upstream because they didn't have a working depth finder and river is uncharted. Their leader didn't stop by to offer and apologies for the inconvenience. (I heard similar stories from other cruisers the following day but I just filed it back in my mind)
We made another 200 mile jump on the outside to meet up with friends again in Vero Beach and had time to resupply and make repairs. I was helping a friend splice some lines when I noticed the horde finally had caught up to us again and began to raft their boats with those already there. There is an art to rafting and not just tying to someone else's boat like a dock but I can see once again there isn't any instruction for this group. Sentiments and experiences from the other cruisers are similar to ours.
Marinas like having this group because they have a big chunk of business and they have refused individual boats that make their way independently (and competently). Since most of these folks won't go out an inlet we will eventually get away again but I feel bad for the other boaters who can't.