This past weekend we were enjoying a laid back sailing Sunday following a SCA Saturday in the mouth of the Piankatank River near Jackson Creek on the Chesapeake Bay. On one of our tacks out of the Fishing Bay area we passed through a cluster of fishing boats. As we approached the cluster we spotted a ski boat which appeared to be drift fishing with 2 adult men and 2 kids. The kids were wildly waving at the 5 or 6 fishing boats all anchored within 200 yards of the ski boat. As we passed through, the kids began waving at us. We were under full sails making around 3 - 4 knots away from them.
Feeling it was our obligation to ensure they were ok we changed course, hove’d to and slowly passed within 20 feet of them to determine the distress. Upon conversing we discovered their vessel was disabled due to a busted engine coil. They proceeded to ask us for a tow to the nearest marina.
Being we have a 216 (18’ of waterline) and a 4 HP outboard motor, the likelihood of towing them without jeopardizing our boat was not a risk I was willing to take. They had cell phones, but did not have a VHF radio. They also did not have any life jackets, signaling devices, nor an anchor deployed to prevent them from drifting onto the impending shoal. Obviously they were inexperienced and unfamiliar with the area.
We told them we would help them find a tow and recommended that they deploy their anchor to avoid drifting onto the shoal. Their frustration with us was obvious and they were quite rude and terse at this point. We contacted the Coast Guard to inform them of a disabled vessel in the area. We began circling - tacking/gybing accordingly. We hailed a few marinas in the area who indicated they had no means to tow a boat at that time. Our next move was BoatUS. To our amazement they did not want to pay the $250/hr fee for TowBoatUS - although pretty steep the alternative seemed grim.
We stuck with them circling, tacking/gybing. After 15 minutes, a head boat passed by, we signaled them and they slowed up enough to establish that the boat needed a tow. They strapped the towlines on and were gone.
And that’s it. No thanks, no acknowledgement for stopping to help, nothing. What’s worse is the way that each of the fishing boats turned a blind eye to a vessel in distress. We stopped as the most unlikely of vessels having an inkling of capability to provide a tow, subject to wind direction and tidal movement and limited engine power. We felt “good” about ourselves for offering, however, a sad commentary on the general nature of the boaters we observed that day.
Feeling it was our obligation to ensure they were ok we changed course, hove’d to and slowly passed within 20 feet of them to determine the distress. Upon conversing we discovered their vessel was disabled due to a busted engine coil. They proceeded to ask us for a tow to the nearest marina.
Being we have a 216 (18’ of waterline) and a 4 HP outboard motor, the likelihood of towing them without jeopardizing our boat was not a risk I was willing to take. They had cell phones, but did not have a VHF radio. They also did not have any life jackets, signaling devices, nor an anchor deployed to prevent them from drifting onto the impending shoal. Obviously they were inexperienced and unfamiliar with the area.
We told them we would help them find a tow and recommended that they deploy their anchor to avoid drifting onto the shoal. Their frustration with us was obvious and they were quite rude and terse at this point. We contacted the Coast Guard to inform them of a disabled vessel in the area. We began circling - tacking/gybing accordingly. We hailed a few marinas in the area who indicated they had no means to tow a boat at that time. Our next move was BoatUS. To our amazement they did not want to pay the $250/hr fee for TowBoatUS - although pretty steep the alternative seemed grim.
We stuck with them circling, tacking/gybing. After 15 minutes, a head boat passed by, we signaled them and they slowed up enough to establish that the boat needed a tow. They strapped the towlines on and were gone.
And that’s it. No thanks, no acknowledgement for stopping to help, nothing. What’s worse is the way that each of the fishing boats turned a blind eye to a vessel in distress. We stopped as the most unlikely of vessels having an inkling of capability to provide a tow, subject to wind direction and tidal movement and limited engine power. We felt “good” about ourselves for offering, however, a sad commentary on the general nature of the boaters we observed that day.
