How NOT to tie up your tender/dinghy.

Fr J Hackett said:
I used to secure my dinghy with a long stainless wire about 6mm plastic coated with very good locks. It was long enough not to cause inconvenience to others.
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Plus a locking bar over the outboard securing screws.

A forum member I knew had his dinghy pinched whilst he was asleep in his cockpit anchored off the southern end of St Lucia....
 
capnsensible said:
Plus a locking bar over the outboard securing screws.

A forum member I knew had his dinghy pinched whilst he was asleep in his cockpit anchored off the southern end of St Lucia....
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Yes I used to use a stainless steel section that locked over them and was only removed when I took the outboard off.
 
OCuea said:
Both brilliant points. You have a very good eye for these photos and the sailing points they underly. Most people carry a battery angle grinder I would have thought. Noisy, but cut one link by the wood and chuck chain into dinghy and be off.
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I’ve got no problem with people locking their dinghies. We invariably lock ours here in the Caribbean with a padlock and a wire rope with an eye on the end. The wire is longer than our painter and is laced through the fuel tank etc. The outboard has a stainless bar over the clamps with another padlock. Of course these locks won’t stop a determined thief but it means our dinghy is insured and hopefully the thief will move into one of the dinghies that isn’t locked.
 
john_morris_uk said:
I’ve got no problem with people locking their dinghies. We invariably lock ours here in the Caribbean with a padlock and a wire rope with an eye on the end. The wire is longer than our painter and is laced through the fuel tank etc. The outboard has a stainless bar over the clamps with another padlock. Of course these locks won’t stop a determined thief but it means our dinghy is insured and hopefully the thief will move into one of the dinghies that isn’t locked.
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Neither have I. I even said I used to lock my tender in the uk . My post 7 agreeing with post 5 which agreed with your post 1 of inconsiderate docking. So agreement all around. I then noticed Sandy had a solution and good idea for solving it all - I had not seen the transom clip or black bow line in the photo. All good stuff.👍
 
The etiquette of having a long painter is possibly only learned if someone actually gets told it or happens to stumble across it written somewhere. Maybe some signage on dinghy pontoons to explain the etiquette.
I think there's a few things around sailing where the etiquette is only learned through experience or being in the right place at the right time
 
colhel said:
The etiquette of having a long painter is possibly only learned if someone actually gets told it or happens to stumble across it written somewhere. Maybe some signage on dinghy pontoons to explain the etiquette.
I think there's a few things around sailing where the etiquette is only learned through experience or being in the right place at the right time
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Well I never gave it a thought- But in all fairness, I only use a dinghy from a beach
I would have probably tied it tight to make it easier to get into on return
 
If I “owned” the finger pontoon with the “dry berthing rollers” behind I might find it equally annoying if people left dinghies there with huge painters on them obstructing my approach. Is that really THE dinghy dock because one cleat also seems unusual if they expect multiple boats there - perhaps the marina prefers people to lift dinghies out and store ashore?
 
ylop said:
If I “owned” the finger pontoon with the “dry berthing rollers” behind I might find it equally annoying if people left dinghies there with huge painters on them obstructing my approach. Is that really THE dinghy dock because one cleat also seems unusual if they expect multiple boats there - perhaps the marina prefers people to lift dinghies out and store ashore?
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Yes it really is ‘The’ dinghy dock’. And it’s $10/day to use it! No facilities for hauling out your dinghy ashore.

To be fair, the office staff are very apologetic when you pay and have told us several times how they’ve reported its poor condition to the marina owners. However the marina owners have done a deal with a jet ski and jet ‘car boat’ hire company who use the surrounding area and money talks…. What’s even more bizarre is the young man helping run the jet ski and jet hire car company telling dinghies to slow down as they approach the dock.
 
Sandy said:
The rear line can be unclipped and the front one adjusted.

As for the bondage chain in the dinghy I am sure that could be placed on the pontoon in about 5 minutes.
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I was tempted to adjust their lines, but was put off by someone taking photographs of the dinghy and us in our dinghy next to it… discretion became the better part of valour and we tied up on a very unsatisfactory bit of the dock nearby.
 
john_morris_uk said:
I was tempted to adjust their lines, but was put off by someone taking photographs of the dinghy and us in our dinghy next to it… discretion became the better part of valour and we tied up on a very unsatisfactory bit of the dock nearby.
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I agree that tenders should be tied up on long lines to accommodate others. I think it’s fine to post pictures of unhelpful mooring; but I do think that some of the suggestions for direct action on this thread are deplorable.

We can’t hold our heads up as a civilised society and also march around armed with angle grinders to deal with things we don’t like.

This is sailing, let’s not behave like Grand Theft Auto characters.
 
I've got no qualms about lowering a raised outboard if it's causing trouble. No matter who is watching. It's a universal rule that all boat owners should follow.
I'll occasionally lengthen a painter if necessary, although often it's not possible due to a short lock chain. I wouldn't do it unless a dinghy was genuinely preventing me from getting to the dock.

You could argue that it's sometimes necessary to tie up fore and aft to prevent the dinghy from swinging in to something that would damage it, but if that's the case you should really use a stern anchor.
 
benjenbav said:
I agree that tenders should be tied up on long lines to accommodate others. I think it’s fine to post pictures of unhelpful mooring; but I do think that some of the suggestions for direct action on this thread are deplorable.

We can’t hold our heads up as a civilised society and also march around armed with angle grinders to deal with things we don’t like.

This is sailing, let’s not behave like Grand Theft Auto characters.
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I don't for one moment think anyone on this forum would actually go so far as to commit criminal damage.
 
Poignard said:
I don't for one moment think anyone on this forum would actually go so far as to commit criminal damage.
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I was going to reply in a similar manner but was beaten to it. There were enough winks and smilies going around. I would not touch anyone else’s property without permission unless it was to help save their boat etc. The OP didn’t move it even though possible and I would have tutted and moved on too. Angle grinders are carried for cutting rigging as bolt croppers are often poor. Whilst harsh things may be written on the internet at times the sailing community in real life is pretty unique in a good way mostly or was in my past experience.
 
OCuea said:
I was going to reply in a similar manner but was beaten to it. There were enough winks and smilies going around. I would not touch anyone else’s property without permission unless it was to help save their boat etc. The OP didn’t move it even though possible and I would have tutted and moved on too. Angle grinders are carried for cutting rigging as bolt croppers are often poor. Whilst harsh things may be written on the internet at times the sailing community in real life is pretty unique in a good way mostly or was in my past experience.
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Leaving angle grinders to one side (and yes we do have a battery powered one on board) I have certainly been known to lengthen a painter or two if the dinghy is blocking the dock. I always live in hope the owner will come back and twig why it’s happened but I suspect they just scratch their heads and move on.
 
Sea Change said:
I'll occasionally lengthen a painter if necessary, although often it's not possible due to a short lock chain. I wouldn't do it unless a dinghy was genuinely preventing me from getting to the dock.
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In most scenarios where a dinghy is snug against the pontoon and not enough space for you, but you have long painter yourself can you not simply enter the pontoon via their boat (like rafted yachts) and then tie off to the pontoon?
 
ylop said:
In most scenarios where a dinghy is snug against the pontoon and not enough space for you, but you have long painter yourself can you not simply enter the pontoon via their boat (like rafted yachts) and then tie off to the pontoon?
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Clambering across dinghies is a lot more awkward than stepping across another yacht, especially if you are carrying something or are disabled or elderly.

That is why it is a common sense courteousy to secure with a single long painter.
 
ylop said:
In most scenarios where a dinghy is snug against the pontoon and not enough space for you, but you have long painter yourself can you not simply enter the pontoon via their boat (like rafted yachts) and then tie off to the pontoon?
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To be honest the most common scenario is when somebody has tied up needlessly short to the point where my own (fairly long) lock cable cannot reach a suitable point on the dock, so I might adjust another dinghy to let mine come in a bit closer.
Also, it's not ideal to be clambering through other people's dinghies, especially the half abandoned ones that are full of water.
 
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