Key Largo to Key West what a trip!

[dserrell]

I would suggest putting fenders out even if nobody is next to you when you arrive at the dock, but then again, the fenders could easily disappear. Our boat is moored very close to a public dock and I often leave fenders out. Luckily, they haven't disappeared yet!

Ahoy Scott T-Bird.

Good idea! Never really considered doing that. In this case that probably wouldn't have worked, but having extra fenders on the water side of the boat isn't a bad idea at all!

We were docked parallel, and another small boat docked parallel in front of us. The dinghy stuck his bow in between us, tied it to a piling with one dock line and no fenders, and left. Because it was a bit stormy that day, we had a bow line, stern line, and two springlines holding Pachabella to the dock. Pachebella only has 2 - 6" x 18" fenders, and they were both on the dockside of Pachebella. Storage of an additional 2 fenders will be a challenge. Possibly in fender baskets mounted to the bow pulpit, the stern pulpit is full!

An earlier posting suggested using our dinghy at public docks, then we would avoid incidents like we experienced. Pachebella has two inflatable boats on board we use for dinghy's. A 2 person and a 4 person, but we rarely use them, because of the effort to inflate and deflate them. Probably will start using them more.

We were prepared for the possibility of things disappearing. Pachebella has a cabin lock, lazarette locker locks, fuel storage hatch lock, and a cable locking her motor.

Thanks for the reply! I deeply appreciate all the replies we have received! Kit and I always try to help our fellow sailors. Which reminds me to post a story about how Kit and I rescued 4 boaters who got stuck in shallow water! Have a great day!

David