Grrrrr

[blackbeard]

As a student of human nature, I would like to ask:
What is it that makes people go through moorings (or a heavily used anchorage) when there is a perfectly good channel, free of moorings, which they could just as well use?
Is it a desire to show off skills, real or imagined?
Is it a desire to enjoy the company of others?
Is it a natural tendency to show off?
Or is it just a desire to be as obnoxious as possible?
Seems to apply to all types of boats: sports boats, motor yachts, jet skis, fishing boats, workboats, but about the worst (this morning) was a sailing yacht under power; the owner of which, on being questioned, seemed to think it his right to go as close as he wished (about one metre), my views being of no account.
Am I eccentric in wishing my boat to remain free of collisions caused by an optimistic but unskilled driver? Is it unduly selfish of me to wish my boat to remain reasonably upright while I'm cooking or loading stores from a dinghy? Should I expect my boat to be used as a marker pole on a slalom course? Or is my view of the character, ancestry and intelligence of the offenders a correct one, and are they less than gentlemen?
And will Blackbeard have to assemble a raiding party to deal with offenders?

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[jeanne]

The same people who, I suspect, when finding an empty anchorage with only one boat in it, anchor as close as humanly possible!!

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[johnsail]

How difd you learn to handle your boat in restricted situations? Or didn't you?

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[Stemar]

I've had plenty of entertainment from watching close hauled yachts with no concept of leeway or tide trying to pass upwind of a moored boat - until it's my boat they're trying to clear!

As for learning to handle my boat in restricted situations, If I can handle my boat properly in open water, I've got a chance in a tight spot, but I see no need to risk the tight spot unnecessarily. An engine failure at the wrong time can produce severe embarrassment. It happened to me leaving my mooring, and could have been expensive if (purely by chance) I hadn't had my anchor ready to go.

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