New boater eavesdropping / 120v twist lock

[Daveinet]

I always define a good day sailing as not hitting anyone/anything and not breaking anything.

My worst one so far was backing the trailer tire under the dock. had an awful time trying to orient the trailer without the back of the boat hitting the dock.

 

[JeffM]

Our dock used to have an open view of the marinas main launch ramp, and the show was always worth watching. Our standard comment was "they just didn't have room after loading all that crap to pack any common sense". We've seen cars and trucks end up in the water ... one floated out a minute or so before going down in 25 feet of water. One Flicks owner found out that unhooking the bow line before backing down a step ramp was a bad idea. That boat will shoot right of the trailer.

 

[dennismenace111]

3 parts here, but related. A stunning comedy of potential tragedies this weekend.
For the last month or more, my neighbor to starboard has had the anchor light on. Rinker 300 powerboat. When I came down this weekend on Friday, the light was off. Finally he must have visited the boat.
Then, I saw it. The twist lock shore power cord at the dock box. -See picture-
These types of situations litter this whole harbor, especially on my dock and others where there are still 15 amp outlets requiring adapters. (The harbor was built in 1966)
Loose plugs, indoor extension cords, exposed wires, etc. Yet, no fires :-/

Anyway, I secured the connection for him. Suddenly, the anchor light began to glow.

Next, this morning at 6:15am, my neighbor to port came to his new-to-him Grady White, noisily piled on fishing gear as usual, and started up the twin Yamaha's. One motor began a medium-pitch grinding noise a second after starting. Alternator, stuck solenoid? Didn't matter, he left to go fishing. It's ok I guess, he's got 2 motors.

This last one is fantastic. My neighbor 2 slips to port comes around about a minute after the Grady left, and discovers that he's got dead batts on his new-to-him Mainship 30 diesel. His shorepower cord had (coincidentally) apparently been knocked loose at the dock box by the Grady owner's dock cart, and the Mainship guy was blaming the dead batts on it. I knew this through the Mainship guy complaining to his wife on the cellphone.
20 minutes later, the charger had apparently juiced up the batts enough to turn the diesel over, and it started. But with a loud whining alarm below, not at the helm. (Bilge alarm?) He couldn't find the source.
The family then arrived, a couple if teens, wife, and a guest I think.
The owner's response to the still-screaming alarm was, "maybe it will go away".
They left. And they only have one engine.
All this in one weekend, in just my little area in one harbor.

This is what you call....More money than brains... You should see what happens here in South Florida on any given weekend at any given marina...

 

[dennismenace111]

Our dock used to have an open view of the marinas main launch ramp, and the show was always worth watching. Our standard comment was "they just didn't have room after loading all that crap to pack any common sense". We've seen cars and trucks end up in the water ... one floated out a minute or so before going down in 25 feet of water. One Flicks owner found out that unhooking the bow line before backing down a step ramp was a bad idea. That boat will shoot right of the trailer.

I saw this happen at a boat ramp here in Ft. Lauderdale...the guy was retrieving his boat... he loaded it on the trailer then neglected to attach the bow winch line... as he pulled his truck and trailer away from the ramp, the boat slipped off the trailer and landed in water too shallow to float. The comedy really started when he tried to reload the boat on the trailer.

 

[JamesG161]

New to their boat, but not boating, a couple needed to fuel their recently renovated power boat for the first time on Friday. They pulled up to the fuel dock and proceed to put 40 gallons of diesel in the Hold Tank Cap. That would been just a "waste" ( pun intended ) of fuel..
But...
Their hold tank bladder had been removed!!

The diesel dumped on top of their new genset and into the bilge. Luckily their bilge pump DIDN'T work either.
They spent 6 hours hand pumping to jerry cans and cleaning boat.

Local's comments...
1) From fuel dock attendant .... "Geeezzze what a waste of $100."
2) From the helper who cleaned up the diesel.... "Wow they have many more problems on that boat!"
3) From another slip renter... "Get that boat out of marina into open water before you dump that diesel!"
4) From the owner..."Wow, good thing we found our bilge pump was broken." and "What is a hold tank bladder?"

Jim....

 

[etfink]

This is all entertaining, thanks for the stories. I was helping a 45' power boater pull away from the fuel dock (after being MIA for about 15 minutes). He unties the bow, hops on, fires up the engines and starts to pull away. I asked him if he wanted the pier in addition to the fuel he took on because he forgot to untie the stern. He laughs with me, puts the boat in neutral at about 1500 RPM, steps to the stern and unties the line. Reeked of alcohol. Goes back to the wheel and puts it in forward, still at about 1500 RPM. At this point I notice that he is towing a jetski that is on about 40' of line tied to the other stern cleat and 'drifting' on his seaward side. He bumps into it, and reverses out of the marina running over his tow line and drags the jetskit about 5' off the bow. He turns around an floors it out, again running over the tow line. I was hoping I'd be picking up a 'free' jetski, but no such luck. I don't know how he didn't cut the tow line.

If your marina's electrical is as abused and as dated as your picture suggest, I would be seriously worried about its integrity and safety.

 

[dbecker68]

I have a former brother-in-law who found the best inexpensive entertainment was a 6-pack of adult beverage at the local boat ramp on Saturday afternoon. Never a lack of excitement or entertainment!

 

[agprice22]

I would not touch another boater's power cord. You cannot tell the condition of the wires or receptacle or the ac connection inside the boat.

Thanks,
Andrew

 

[chopperssc]

I'm on A dock in Dana West.
My boat has been ran into in my dock, my stern pulpit was bent, the guy across from me had his bow spirit broken off, and the Powerboater who knows everything leaves his power cord in the water.
This is what happens on my dock the last 3 months

 

[shemandr]

Maybe not as entertaining but there are other ramp experiences. When Joaquin was stirring around the Bahamas a number of locals were pulling their boats at the ramp. My friend has a deck that has a view of the ramp. We sat up there and we would see a trailer heading by his house for the ramp and almost at the same time a boat would appear heading for the ramp. The boat driver would drive it onto the trailer and in no time the boat and trailer were headed by us the other way. Great choreography. Boat after boat. It was a joy to watch.

 

[tahoemark]

I always thought it would be great to have a condo across from a busy public ramp. I could sit on my balcony and laugh all day long. Just think of the entertainment on big holiday weekends!!

 

[bfahle]

I will confess to putting a small bit of diesel down the waste hole. They really ought to make different size openings. I mean, I put diesel in the thing once a year at most (and I sail almost every weekend), so who can remember what's what by then. But I lost my humor for boat damage after all the damage Tropical Storm Bill did to our yacht club. Three boats sank, probably 40-50 took damage, and three of the docks headed to the other side of the slough. The best and most experienced sailor I know just finished getting his J-105 fixed from the storm damage. Shiny and just like new, he dropped her back in the water. This weekend was the first regatta and he was all ready to race. As is his custom, he pulled it up on the jib crane to wash the day before the race. The lifting strap broke and the boat fell over, breaking the mast and putting a huge dent in the fin keel. Talk about mayhem. This guy, he takes it in stride and jumps on somebody else's boat to crew. You wouldn't know by talking to him what had happened. I guess he's seen it all before.

 

[fredwlee]

I always define a good day sailing as not hitting anyone/anything and not breaking anything.

My worst one so far was backing the trailer tire under the dock. had an awful time trying to orient the trailer without the back of the boat hitting the dock.

I always end a good day of sailing with the phrase "Nothing got broke and nobody died"

 

[dvideohd]

About Dana Point....
The electrics are seriously dated....
The Marina Owners and City have spent huge (thinks $$$ 1000s) of dollars on politics and questionable Marina plans... while NOT updating electrics... At least, that was my observation...
******
They are not shy about notifying slip leasers that there is anything amiss - when it comes to issues which can produce more revenue.

I always thought that more time and $$ on maintenance and less time and $$ on politics and "advisers" would have been a better choice.

 

[Leeward Rail]

' he has his captains license.'

Yup. Presumably so did our cab driver in Las Vegas who ended up driving the wrong way down the road.
My companions in the back seat were yelling but he was oblivious. I was worried that if he realized his error, he would make things worse, so I kept my mouth shut.
Fortunately oncoming traffic was far enough away that he turned at the intersection before I would have had to take action.

At one time I firmly believed that licences, both marine and road, helped a lot. I'm becoming less and less confident in that belief.

I must say that I too, find ramps, marinas, etc. entertaining. Though I must admit that I have had some serious concerns when a nice boat was in peril.

 

[capta]

' he has his captains license.'

You are aware that a trained monkey could get a 100 ton USCG master's certificate aren't you? All one has to do is take the prep course and ANYONE can pass, ANYONE! The courses pride themselves on their pass rate.

 

[FastOlson]

About Dana Point....
The electrics are seriously dated....
The Marina Owners and City have spent huge (thinks $$$ 1000s) of dollars on politics and questionable Marina plans... while NOT updating electrics... At least, that was my observation...
******
They are not shy about notifying slip leasers that there is anything amiss - when it comes to issues which can produce more revenue.
I always thought that more time and $$ on maintenance and less time and $$ on politics and "advisers" would have been a better choice.

Odd that their insurer had not forced them to upgrade the AC system. Really odd. Amazing, actually.
I manage a small YC moorage and we have just finished a changeover/upgrade to all-GFI 30 amp outlets for all slips. We are required to prove due diligence in lowering risk, and we also like to protect our members as much as reasonably possible.
This keeps our ins rate as low as possible and protects the members best we can.

 

[Gunni]

Curious: I have to have a special carburetor in my California-registered automobile, but using a 15 amp adaptor to plug up a 30 amp shore power cable in a Dana Point Marina is OK?

 

[Ron20324]

[QUOTE="... but using a 15 amp adaptor to plug up a 30 amp shore power cable...QUOTE]

It looks like you are saying a shore power cord adapted into the 15-amp outlet? nothing wrong with that, if that's what you mean.

 

[Daveinet]

The problem with the first picture is the guy should have used an adapter with a short pigtail, so it would not hang off the plug and become disconnected. I have one that I use in my RV all the time, but the plug is at a 90 degree angle so it does not come unplugged.