Owning a boat sucks!

[rpwillia]

My $0.02

Hermit, From reading all of the other posts try not to lose heart. You are doing all of the right things, and I can tell you from personal experience that EVERYONE has issues with their boats and marina's from time to time. It does sound like you need to move a little further into the marina. From your description of the damage (ripped out cleats) something substantial happened. Catalina's are solidly built boats and to have cleats ripped out had to be pretty extreme that caused it. I have also seen boats come into marinas and cause pretty substantial damage. And it is not always just the power boaters. One time this guy in a MacGregor 26 (oh wait, that is a power boat) was trying to back into his slip on a windy day. I wore myself out running from boat to boat keeping him off of them as he would not listen. We also had a guy last year that knocked the exhaust fitting off of one boat and caused some nice damage to two others before the marine police arrived to talk to him.

The suggestion to spend a night or two on your boat is a good one. 1/2" dockline should be OK (I personally use 5/8, and prefer to make my own eye splices and custom fit the lengths. I am also fond of big fenders. I also personally like to have my boat as far inside the marina as possible. My theory is that I can handle my boat pretty well and I don't mind driving my boat past all the others on the way in and out, as every boat I pass gives one less boater the opportunity to pass me. Also sometimes even the good boaters have problems, like a guy with a Catalina 30 who had just put his boat into gear, gunned the throttle and then had his steering cably jump out at that very moment.

We would need to know a lot more. I did google your marina, Is that attached picture it? If that is a concrete breakwall you should be mostly OK. In Quantico we do have a concrete breakwall and that takes most of the stuff out, although sometimes a big power boat wake will get things rocking and rolling. Also a few years ago with Hurricane Isabel we nearly lost everything with the 10' surges that lifted all the new floating docks off of their pilings.

Bottom line; replair the cleats, replace the lines, and spend a night or two on your boat and check everything. You state the tides are mild, but how mild are they? If your lines are a little tight and a tide lifts or drops the boat they are now very tight and capable of ripping even a well backed cleat out.

 

[sailingdog]

Using oversized docklines can be just as much as a problem as using undersized ones. Lines that are too heavy for your boat won't fit the cleats properly and won't stretch under load enough to provide any shock absorption, increasing the risk of damage to your deck hardware.

 

[Hermit Scott]

rpwillia-that is the marina I am in(I don't want to say MY marina, I am not so proud of it)lol As one would pull into the marina from the bay, I park it on te north most pier about 1/3 of the way in from the bay. You can see the prevailing wind white capping the water against the sea wall.

 

[Franklin]

Well Hermit, you know one thing now, the cleats will not hold a JSD on your boat

 

[higgs]

The fact that some boats near you seem to fare well suggests you are doing something wrong. Hang out and talk to find out what you need to do.

 

[NC-C320]

Helpful Advice

Hermit, you have me mixed up with someone else. I've always used this name. When I post, I try to help the person to whom I'm responding. I think I did it here also, and I suspect the part of my post that you didn't like is on the mark. Most of what I said was also consistent with the helpful hints from others. In any case, good luck...

 

[Mr. Sucker]

Yes, Boats suck...

Yes, thousands of dollars I spend, hundreds of hours of work. Money, time, time, money and it's an eternal endless cycle. Guests arrive, ignorant of the blood, sweat, and sacrifice I make for her and complain "Where's the fridge?" "Do you have any Sprite?" thinking my boat's provisioned like a supermarket. I have no advice Hermit... sorry your boats banged up, uhmm, your wife looks great, very pretty...Good luck with the repairs.

 

[Bob Poff]

On the docklines breaking....

If your boat has significant movement while tied up, I've been told to stay away from the multilayer braided lines. As the layers slide over each other they heat and finally fail.

Although I've never had a problem with this on my old Mac 22, I've changed the lines on my H34 to stranded just in case.

Keep at it, learning. Yes, it gets frustrating at times. It'll get better. After all anything that's easy, isn't worth doing to begin with.

Heck, the first time I took my then new girlfriend out on the 22 the motor quit in the middle of the river. While I was hung over the trasnom pulling the starter she came up behind me (which I didn't hear), I pulled the rope. Hit her smack in the mouth with my elbow. Fifteen years later it's still the same girl. Bigger boat.

 

[Hermit Scott]

Ken Honeycut-thank you for the link on spring lines. The pics say it all.
Bob Poff-the stranded lines you switched to, do the look like 3 twisted lines?
The more I think about it, there is a power boat 35' or so in my marina. I can picture that guy flying in causing a huge wave and causing the damage. I need to move my boat furhter into the marina. I like where I am at becasue I don't have to manuver around anything, but I think I need the practice anyway.
And Bob, I always love a story that involves a good elbow to the mouth!
The first time I ever took my boat out, I was moving it to the yard from where I bought it. I did sleep on it for one night because I couldn't find the yard in the dark. I tied up at a RV park on the water that had a dock on the ICW. That was a really cool night for me. It made me really like my boat. I haven't stayed in my marina over night though, the wind is always too hard.

 

[bffatcat]

Boat damage

1/2" dock lines and spring lines port and starboard properly secured should be able to hold your boat without much damage. If as you say cleats were ripped off the deck nothing you do
is going to stop damage. Move to a more secure slip without delay.

 

[txtowman]

Yep, I looked at marina del sol, and talked to the guy that probably owns those POS boats. he totes the note on them. I was very leary of the way it is laid out. you can get a 30 day transient rate at the city dock. they quoted me $127 a month for a non liveaboard slip for my c 22. i would think it would be affordable for you there.

 

[Ron20324]

Re: Owning a boat sucks! - NOT!

After we spend the winter on boat projects, then in the spring maybe paint the bottom, then certainly clean her up, I often wonder why I didn't take up model railroading instead of sailing.

As a skipper in a 700-plus member sailing club I get many newbies to sailing. Some have never even been on a boat. I tell them about in the movie theater when there is movie trivia before the film starts. One of the trivia facts is a movie term called an "om". It means a sudden flash of movement across the screen, usualy with a loud spike of noise- both designed to startle you and lift you off your seat and, if they've done it right, wet your BVD's. In sailing there is just the opposite. Call it a "mo" if you like. It's that moment when the sails are drawing just right and you hit the kill switch on the engine. And there is silence- except for the gurgle of the wake. That's the "mo", as in there ain't no mo(tor)- and there ain't no better mo(ment). I didn't take up sailing- it took me.

 

[Ctskip]

Being able to own anything is enjoyable!!!

Hermit Scott,
If I may chime in here. Boating is a lifestyle that few ever get to realize. There are weekend warriors who get on their vessels and put on the hat and do their thing and are home by dark. Then there are those who are living the life style 24/7. Which ever way you choose to live your life, enjoy it to the fullest. Without tragedy, how would we know triumph? If you learn from it, it's an education and it's part of the price we all pay. It's not what you pay for it, it's what it cost you that counts. If you think boating is expensive try restoring a automobile. Or a bi-plane. Sailboats are enjoyable for those who choose them and not everyone enjoys doing the same thing. some people smoke pipes, others cigars. Thank the Lord. Some like the marina /dock life, while others can't wait till race day and still others eagerly await the weekend.
From what I can gather from your posts, you sustained damage to your vessel while at the dock. That really sounds minor compared to other"tragedies" that one will encounter in our chosen field of enjoyment. Wait till a sail blows out, or a mast snaps. Always carry a second anchor and be sure the bilge pump has a backup. Don't forget the batteries, you don't want a dead one. At least the cleat problem is one that can be rectified relatively easy. Tying ones boat to docks can be and is an art. One that can be learned and will be, given enough time and enough docks you will get quite proficient at it. I've never seen any two docks that are identical in their make up. One becomes quite the artist when tying ones vessel up to a dock. I don't know if everyone does it the same way. Maybe in the same marina they do. But if they changed marinas, the arrangement will be ever so slightly different. Carry BIG fenders, and hang them securely. I have my fenders along both the fingers in my slip. Stored below, they are useless. Do what is right for your vessel and watching how others might tie up, are just a step in the learning process. You will, over time, refine your docking and tying up abilities, so that you will feel comfortable at night away from your vessel. Same goes with anchoring. Wouldn't it really be nice if everyone drove their cars, the way we do? It ain't gonna happen.

Have you ever asked yourself, why is this slip open? I had a similar problem. Open slip at the end of a finger next to the open section of the open water. My boat took a beating. It didn't take long for me to realize what was happening. I really like the ease of leaving and entering. But the overall safety of my vessel was more important. So I moved to a more protected slip. The learning curve is forever. One never stops learning.
Good luck and never stop dreaming. It's the juice that drives us.

Keep it up,
Ctskip

 

[jibes138]

A few Real Life Observations

I was in a floating slip in Connecticut when maybe Hurricane Bob or another one went through. I decided to stick around the Marina to help with boats and the marina has a high hill about 40 feet tall so surge wasn't a personal concern. I was able to observe many boats in the extreme winds (go to about 60 knots) and how they reacted in their slips. In most cases the fenders protecting the boats from hitting the floating fingers popped out of the water and ended up sitting on top of the dock with the boat banging into the dock. I spend a good portion of the storm walking the docks along with many others and putting the fenders back in place to protect the boats. The boats in this marina only tied to the floating docks, not to pilings. I guess the point is if strong winds are expects it is good to tie the boat so it is pulled away from the dock and finger to prevent damage, don't rely on the fenders to stay in place. Or maybe run a line from the fender under the boat to the other side to keep it in position. I've also seen dock lines chafe through from the chocks on boats so chafe protection is an absolute must. This storm had waves washing over the floating docks even though the marina was well protected by a breakwater and the fetch was extremely short. The real amazing part was at one point I was fishing off the end of the dock with a kastmaster lure and pulling in 15 inch shad by the bucketful. Tough to sleep in 50 knot winds and then go to work the next day.

 

[Cpt. Jon]

Scott,

Is it possible that the lines didn't have enough slack for either low tide or high tide with some big waves and eventually just ripped out under the strain? I was just down at my boat because I looked down and my lines looked a little tight and I couldn't help but wonder if something like that would have ripped those cleats out.

Jon

 

[Bad Obsession]

My boat is kept in a protected harbor. That being said, there were 1 foot waves in the harbor yesterday when a particularly nasty thunder storm rolled through. There is also a free reign area there and power boats go through the area at Mock 5. The planing hulls aren't bad but the draft hulls kick up one heck of a wake.

There is a sea wall at my marina. I made sure that I was no where near that as the boats there get pummeled with waves. I am at the middle of my dock so that the boats on the end take the waves first and I don't get the revirberated waves from the sea wall.

Bad neighbors are often the cause of a lot of grief. I once had a neighbor break a dock line and come over and ding my boat. That was a mess and I was glad to see him go.

I am in a particularly nasty harbor and the barnacles are horrible. I dive on my boat ever two weeks and clean it with a scraper. If you can find a scraper that has a curve on the back of it (like the ones used to use paint rollers) it is great for scraping the shaft. I don't use anything on my prop and shaft anymore because it won't work. I just plan on swimming when I go out on overnight trips and scrape the shaft and prop (doesn't hurt my feelings because the water feels great on a warm summer day and it is good excercise).

Don't let the nay-sayers or the wrong doers get in the way of your dreams. Often there are barricades in the way but life is about getting through, over, or around the barricades.

I have a very descent situation with my boat. That being said, there are things that pop up and cause me a pain in the butt (like my fresh water pump shutting down during a cruise, running aground a few times, and other things like this). Think of the good times to get through the bad times and never let go of your dreams.

Good luck and I hope that you get things straightened up. I would suggest that you spend a few nights on your boat at the slip and watch the goings-on there to figure out what is doing this because you might find bad neighbors on the USS Floating Barnacle are the main problem.

 

[48dodge]

I don't know if this is the case, but from looking at some of your pics on myspace, it doesn't appear that you're on a floating dock. So any wake or waves are going to really shock the lines and cleats. Also, if you have an extreme tide and not enough slack....POP!

 

[sailingdog]

If you're not on a floating dock, it is VERY important to use the longest dock lines and tying them from as far forward and running them as far aft and crossing the bow and stern breast lines, so that the boat can move up and down with the surge and tide, but not move much laterally.

 

[zeehag]

I don't know if this is the case, but from looking at some of your pics on myspace, it doesn't appear that you're on a floating dock. So any wake or waves are going to really shock the lines and cleats. Also, if you have an extreme tide and not enough slack....POP!

i notice hat you do not use spring lines to prevent jerky motion of your boat at dock---spring lines cross front to back and make the boat not be stressed by surge or wake activity. stand beside your boat for awhile and watch as the motion works the boat---figure out how to prevent the jerking of the boat by relocating lines in such fashion as to create a smooth motion of your boat---the book called royces has how to spring a boat....or just look at your neighbors lines to see how they do it.....there is a reason for criss crossed lines--i kept my boat on a dock in port of lost angeles in fish harbor wherein there is direct surge from oppen ocean--if lines not done in spring line fashion, i would have lost the boat and the docks would have suffered as well......is easy to do----take bow line from bow aft to a cleat on the dock near the stern of your boat....take the stern line from stern walk it toward the bow of your boat and cleat it there.....the cleat in midships is for a line from bow and a line from stern....work your lines to make ride smooth for the boat--every jerk the boat makes is a stressor on the boat .....after the lines are tied to your satisfaction, you will love your boat again....whenya reinstall the cleats, make sure there are heavy duty baking plates of wood or stainless or bronze to back the bolts so the spontaneous removal does not easily recur....goooodluck and welcome to rough water boating.....

 

[sailingdog]

BTW, quadrupling the lines up like you have on the bow are a likely reason for the damage to your boat. If the lines are that heavily setup, they can't stretch much and the loads on the cleat are higher on the cleats by at least an order of magnitude.