Drunken boat Handling

DAKA

DAKA

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There is a single engined boat berthed close to me who manages to get out of his berth but on returning from all male fishing trips his helming ability is shocking and crews leap into action the length of the fairway as they try to fend off damage.

I have witnessed two collisions and prevented three collisions from the same boat, a couple of weeks ago he even returned to the wrong fairway and started to berth in the wrong finger !
Last week he jumped off his boat without a rope while it was still moving and tried to stop it by hand, of course he had no chance and it continued down the fairway colliding with two boats.

Should I say something to the skipper ?
Does the Marina manger have any duty under H&S to ensure good seamanship within the Marina ?

There's never an apology, damage is not reported or even checked.

Captain Black beard and his crew of merry pirates are happy as pigs in sh!t, beer goes on , fish comes off and no one else matters.
 
The headline in the list of forums says 'Druken Boat Handling by DAKA'

Surely not I thought!

If damage is witnessed, correct action, I would have thought, is to report the matter to the marina management. They can then contact owners of damaged craft and take from there.

Wouldn't get involved with errant skipper, unless you like verbal or physical punch ups.
 
Talking to the skipper is unlikely to get you anything other than abuse. Then, when you or someone else does complain to the manager, you'll get some more abuse. A few pics or some video of his antics and a word with marina management would be my first move. If that didn't get some immediate action, a word with plod.
 
DAKA said:
There is a single engined boat berthed close to me who manages to get out of his berth but on returning from all male fishing trips his helming ability is shocking and crews leap into action the length of the fairway as they try to fend off damage.

I have witnessed two collisions and prevented three collisions from the same boat, a couple of weeks ago he even returned to the wrong fairway and started to berth in the wrong finger !
Last week he jumped off his boat without a rope while it was still moving and tried to stop it by hand, of course he had no chance and it continued down the fairway colliding with two boats.

Should I say something to the skipper ?
Does the Marina manger have any duty under H&S to ensure good seamanship within the Marina ?

There's never an apology, damage is not reported or even checked.

Captain Black beard and his crew of merry pirates are happy as pigs in sh!t, beer goes on , fish comes off and no one else matters.
Click to expand...

Nope, the skipper has a duty of care, the marina manager does not because he is not in control of the vessel. As such the drunken skipper is a "stranger" and no one is responsible for the actions of a stranger.

If everyone complained about it, the manager MAY then have a duty of care to ensure the safety of everyone else and move the offending boat to a place where he cannot damage anything.

In any case, a stiff letter to the skipper may be in order.

But as far as the skipper driving the boat whilst drunk in the marina, unless a local bylaw or expressed contract term in the marina T&Cs specifically prohibits this, then the manager at present cannot stop it.

If a drunken slob hit my boat, I'm afraid I would be very vocal about it.

I've never hit anyone else's boat YET, had a couple of close calls and would be absolutely mortified if I did.

I think, even if no damage was caused and the boat was unattended, a brief letter of apology and a crate of beer left on the boat would be in order.
 
There is a fair chance that if he is over the normal legal limit for driving then his boat insurance will not cover him for any damage to third parties. That's what it says in my policy :(
 
Csail said:
How wrecked was he? I could moor a boat without problems after 8 or 10 pints!
Click to expand...

Yeah but you don't say where you'd moor it, if it's parked up on a beach that's nothing to brag about....








....I mean I could do that too :D



My view on it is, if you aren't breaking a drink "boating" law then it's down to the skipper to decide how much booze is consumed..

...I don't believe in a complete dry boat and if I'm out all day then I'll probably have a beer or two...but I treat it like I was driving.

If I have a couple of beers at Anchor then I'm not going to be going anywhere for a good couple of hours afterwards...

I make sure that if anything is likely to happen then I'm more than clear headed enough to deal with it.

As for the state of the fella you mention...unacceptable... To be to in such a condition is an accident waiting to happen and to damage other peoples boats when ****3 faced....I'd have a quiet word with the plod next time he's jumping in his car to drive home....
 
A case like this would surely be catered for by the HM? He would have the statutory power within the harbour and would be able to do something about it. A letter/email to the HM and cc'd to the MCA would get a response one way or the other.
 
Dyflin said:
A case like this would surely be catered for by the HM? He would have the statutory power within the harbour and would be able to do something about it. A letter/email to the HM and cc'd to the MCA would get a response one way or the other.
Click to expand...

also cc'd to the marina management I suggest.

But be sure you have data to back it up !!

Tom
 
Dyflin said:
A case like this would surely be catered for by the HM?
Click to expand...
Harbour Masters don't generally like using their too-drunk-to-boat powers because by doing so they would demonstrate the fact that those powers already exist, and they don't actually need the powers that will be available to them if the misleadingly-named Railways And Transport Safety Act comes into force.

The only thing wrong with existing powers (n most cases) is that they do have to go through that tedious rigmarole of actually producing some evidence, and they don't have the right to hold someone under indefinite arrest until the local plod turn up to take over (as they would under the Trains and Planes law)
 
Thanks for all your replies, not 100% sure what Im going to do, its bad enough complaining when rafted for the weekend , never mind a permanent neighbour.
If he stayed in the Marina I could find a chance to talk perhaps but they just turn up, load beer on and go, on return they jump off before moored up , they have disappeared within 1/4 hour
 
I've no idea if it's true or not but you could always mention it to the marina, pointing out to them that it would be a messy claim on their insurance if they were drunk as their own insurance could be invalid. If they say your insurance would have to pay point out that your company would be going after the marina as they have a duty of care, especially now you've told them about it. That may motivate them a bit.

To me you're in a Marina for the security and lack of hassle as much as anything else - that's why you pay the money. This isn't easy or pleasant for them but it's what you're paying for.
 
Avoid confrontation like the plague, they will not be considerate people as they have already shown.

Dont take photos from your boat as Sherlock Holmes would not be needed to find out who has produced the evidence.

I think the marina has a care of duty to its clients. Dont bother with harbour master go to the top. If it is a large organisation write to the company secretary calling for action. This will concentrate the efforts for sure.
 
Good point about going to the top. The Board must have a director whose bag contains Risk Management. A letter addressed to her/him MUST be acted upon and recorded in the company diary.
 
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Boat owners dont have to be drunk to be bad at handling their boats. The owners of the boat on the neighbouring berth to ours are bad, in fact very bad at handling it. Its all hands on deck, literally, when they come or go. Luckily they dont come or go very often.
 
I would not put anything in writing. If you saw him hit a boat, have a verbal word with the marina manager to get confirmed that it was reported; they usually keep a log. If the owner of the damaged boat approaches the marina about the damage, you have done your duty.
If it happens again, report it to the marina again. But I would be clear that you are reporting an incident, and I wouldnt make any implications about the skipper being drunk.
If he is regularly bashing boats, and the marina gets info as to who is causing this, I am sure it is in their interests to address it.
With regards to his berthing technique WITHOUT hitting boats, I m not sure that is your concern.
 
The problem is when I leave my boat there isnt anyone there to fend him off.
I have added extra fenders but you cant protect some areas from such a collision, 3000rpm F&R is common, we are not talking about light touches.

The absentee owner of the other damaged boat left his outdrives up, not sure how much damage could have been done but they took a good solid hit, thankfully they reduced the momentum and two of us with fenders on my boat managed to avoid serious damage to me.

The owner of the damaged boat might just head out to sea , break down and pay his own repairs without even knowing Captain Black beard and his merry pirates rammed him and didn't even check for damage, they just offloaded the fish and bu@@ered off.

Agreed I cant prove they are drunk, they may be using the cases of bear as ground bait.
 
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