Faceplant

Jan 10, 2011
319
Macgregor 25 675 Lake Lanier
When I take people on my boat I tell them the same thing every time. The first thing I tell them is that they need to step onto the boat or stay on the dock. They need to decide to step and then complete the step and not change their mind in the middle of getting on the boat(unless I have a video camera set up).

Well if you haven't guessed by now I'll have to tell you. I went sailing with the Barefoot Sailing Club for the last cruise of the season. It was a wonderful day. Everything on the boat worked perfectly. I came in to the dock just as the sun was going down. Still plenty of light but getting kind of cold. The wind had died down and I drove right into the dock, hit reverse and the boat stopped perfectly. It was sitting in the slip just as if it was tied up. I unhooked the fuel line so it would clear out the carb. I had not unhooked the safety line and just planned to step over it.

As I stepped over the safety line and onto the dock I noticed that my bow line was hooked to the hanger by the safety line. I had forgotten that it was there since we had rafted up the boats. I reached down and picked up the line. As I did this I noticed that the boat was leaving the dock since one foot was on the dock and the other was still on the boat. They were already too far apart for me to step on either one. My only choice was to dive onto the dock.

Unfortunately I hit face first. I thought I was going to lose a tooth but it was just loose. No bruise this morning and the tooth is mostly secure. I need to stop working so much and do more sailing. Too much thinking about work and not enough thinking about sailing.

I need to follow the rules that I make for others and step on or off without changing my mind.
Interesting end to a wonderful day.

First thing I did was jump up and make sure no one saw it happen.
 
Nov 8, 2010
11,386
Beneteau First 36.7 & 260 Minneapolis MN & Bayfield WI
You said there was going to be video...
 
Oct 2, 2008
3,807
Pearson/ 530 Strafford, NH
Laughing so hard my coffee blew out my nose. Don't worry about that tooth, a little epoxy will hold it in. And if it turns black, cover it with gel coat.

All U Get
 
Aug 16, 2009
1,000
Hunter 1986 H31 California Yacht Marina, Chula Vista, CA
The ultimate definition of a boat owner is a person who gives up a tooth to save a stanchion.
 
Feb 17, 2006
5,274
Lancer 27PS MCB Camp Pendleton KF6BL
I am so sorry for your (almost) loss. But I had to laugh so hard with just the visualization. No video require. I really hope you are alright, and I am not laughing at you, I am laughing with you because I am sure the same thing would happen to me.

Be well.
 
Sep 27, 2014
57
Montgomery 17 driveway
Oh, my list is long and distinguished. Lets see,there was the time I stepped down into my kayak from my Cape Dory 28 and decided to move a dockline with my foot as I was doing so..splash! Fortunately the tide was out so I was able to crawl out of the water under the dock through the muck since I had quickly discovered I could not climb back aboard or hoist myself up onto the dock.
 
Dec 13, 2010
123
Hake 32RK Red Bank
Been there, done that, and no-no video or details available. Some things best left in the past.
 
Jun 28, 2005
440
Hunter H33 2004 Mumford Cove,CT & Block Island
Docking

Sometimes, you watch the show.

Sometimes, you are the show.
 
Aug 24, 2014
4
Catalina 27 Bayville, NJ
Dont feel bad, l have done worse. I recently stepped off the bow onto the finger pier with the wind pushing me away from the dock. Of course I wanted to save time and had my hands full. Of course I wasnt fast enough. Of course I almost did a split. I say almost because my luggage got "caught" on the lifeline. YEEOOW!!! I made it to the dock but the box I was carrying went in the drink. Nobody saw that one but I do walk a little funny now! :eek:
 

babbe

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Sep 23, 2013
4
Beneteau Oceanis 41 Bayfield
We've all been there

Reminds me of the scene in the movie, "On Golden Pond" where the guy has one foot on the dock and the other in the boat and the separation from dock to boat gets wider and wider until he finally asks what to do and his only choice is to take a swim.
 
Jun 8, 2004
350
Macgregor 21 Clinton, NJ
Never happened to me - but came close a few times! Did happen a couple of times with the pooch as he got older(he hates getting wet!).
 
Aug 16, 2009
1,000
Hunter 1986 H31 California Yacht Marina, Chula Vista, CA
The H31 sits pretty high off the water and I only have a 2 stepper at the dock. Too lazy to unhook the bottom lifeline. The probabilities long ago shifted in favor of a dunking. The slip next to me is unoccupied so when the inevitable occurs, my only hope is to clear the dock.
 
Nov 10, 2014
1
Hunter 290 Keyesport
Ok, I saw this post and had to tell a story.

A few years ago my wife and I were motoring back into our slip on a fairly calm day and I total botched the landing (was too far away from the finger). Well the first rule my wife and I had always learned was not to jump off the boat, which my wife proceeded to do anyway. So now my wife is on the dock and I'm at the helm and she reaches over to try and attach a spring line that was way too far and pretty soon she is holding onto the boat with her arms with her feet still on the dock. As she is doing this she is slowly pushing the boat further and further away from the dock. I leave the helm (boat in neutral of course, just drifting sideways) and grab my wife’s arms, I look over her shoulder and she has her toes curled around a dock cleat and pretty soon she is stretched the distance between the boat and the cleat and is saying “I’m going in”. Still holding on to her arms I said “well, yes you might be going in”, just then one of our neighbors came over and said “excuse me” and grabbed her by the back of the pants and pulled her back on the dock. Luckily no one else was around but the neighbor that saved her because we put on a good show that day and my wife has earned the knick name “Wife line”. Needless to say she doesn’t jump on the dock anymore.
 

Joe

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Jun 1, 2004
7,999
Catalina 27 Mission Bay, San Diego
Man, that story is more familiar than you realize....

I love it when I see a boat heading into a slip with a guest crew standing at the BOW holding a line! Even funnier is NOT holding a line... thinking he's going to jump over the pulpit onto the dock...