Jackdaw and Brian: Here's a little more color around the incident, given your interest.
- Long day of preparation and driving to reach the marina in San Diego from Phoenix, after a very long and hard work week. I was tired when I got there.
- I had signed up for "mast-up" storage at the marina. I arrived at the marina toward the end of the day when marina staff we're closing up and going home. They helped get me situated, assigned a slip to me for the night, and provided me with the needed keys for the marina gates. Before getting back in my car to drive the short distance to the boat ramp, I specifically asked whether there were any overhead electrical wires to worry about. It was an after thought to even ask this - it seemed like an unnecessary question given that I am paying for "mast-up storage" - store and launch the boat with the "mast-up", right? But, I asked. The marina person said there was one wire that is overhead and is there to temporarily service construction work on a building near the boat ramp. He asked what kind of boat I had, I told him, and he said no worries - it'll be no problem.
- I had never been there before and lacked local knowledge. I relied too much on the information from well intended, but misinformed, local resources. In hindsight, they weren't very knowledgeable about trailer-sailer requirements ... I thought they should know a little more about that. But, whatever.
- I drove to the ramp area, parked, stepped the mast, and rigged my boat. I launched, motored the short distance to slip, walked back, retrieved my car and boat trailer, and parked them in the marina's parking lot. I had dinner, messed about on the boat for a bit greatly enjoying the scenery, the smells of the bay, and the cool breezes - 30-degrees cooler than Phoenix! I was looking forward to a night of great sleeping aboard the boat after a long day.
- I didn't sleep a wink - worst night in 20-years. We don't have them in Phoenix, not in those numbers, and so I wasn't prepared; but, MOSQUITOES were everywhere, all night long. They faded away shortly after dawn, and I then grabbed an hour or two of sleep. I woke up late, skipped breakfast (no coffee!), and set-about finishing up paperwork with the marina and retrieving my boat. I motored a bit in the bay (it was beautiful!); but, turned back toward the dock in short order - I had an appointment back in Phoenix that evening, and needed to be on my way. I docked, retrieved the boat onto the trailer, and slowly drove through the busy parking lot (the ramp is in a popular county park) to the marina storage yard a few hundred feet away.
- I did not even think about overhead wiring. I was looking everywhere but up - in a busy parking lot with traffic, its not common to get attacked from above! The signage for the wires did nothing to get my attention - they weren't located where anyone would even see them driving under the wires at that spot. There were no colorful streamers on the wires to draw attention to them (although I could see where there used to be lengths of caution tape hanging from the wire at some point in the past).
- I struck the wires, which toppled my mast, ripping out the mast bolt holes at the base of the map, bending the mast step and mast bolt, parting all of my standing rigging except the backstay. Great support from the local police, and the electric company arrived in about an hour or so, and de-energized the circuit.
Now, all of that said, and to Jackdaw's point, I accept responsibility for striking the wires and I am accountable. I was tired, not on my game, and I didn't see the wires - I didn't even think to look for them. And, just as I hold myself accountable, I expect others to be accountable for their actions. In this case, there is at least culpability on behalf of the marina and the boat ramp operated by the county:
- the marina rents out mast-up storage ... but there is no way to get to the ramp with the mast-up. That doesn't even make sense.
- the marina personnel gave me bad information about the overhead clearance. Yes, I should have personally verified it; but, did not.
- the marina personnel were not very well informed about conditions on the adjacent county property, whose boat ramp they have their customers use. I should have verified the local situation myself.
- Everyone in the boating industry knows that overhead wires and boat ramps are a formula for disaster. I did some web research on electrical codes, and from what I can tell that wiring was no where near code requirements. it is negligent to operate a boat ramp and install temporary, low-hanging, poorly marked, overhead wiring. Our local boatyard / sailboat shop in Phoenix is run by a great guy - Tom Erickson - who has lost three (3) customers to electrocution over the past several years, when their masts struck overhead wires. The police officer told me it wasn't the first time this has happened. The operator of the boat ramp - San Diego County in this case - is negligent, in my opinion. They need to fix it before someone is killed. I expect accountability from them.
The reality is that I likely will not pursue reimbursement from San Diego, or even from my insurance company - I'll suck it up, mostly because I don't have the time to waste to pursue it with either. Likely high PIA factor with both. But, I feel well within my rights to hold the county accountable for the unsafe conditions that they have created.
If, on my next trip there, I WILL raise holy hell with the county if those conditions continue to exist. It's not okay to allow a hazard like that to remain unabated. The next occurrence could hurt or kill someone.
And, I am understandably not happy with the marina. Nice well intended people; but, they need to be accountable for their services. It is not okay to rent "mast up storage" and not have any way to launch with the mast-up. That's ridiculous. I will be finding another marina.
So, that's the rest of the story, or at least most of it. I've learned from this experience. And, I am re-focused on getting my boat back together and enjoying a weekend or two on San Diego Bay before summer is done.
- Bob
