Marina berthing etiquette

[rickwat]

I always feel guilty if the drift or wind in the marina pushes me unto the next boat when berthing. I'm often singlehanded but always obsessively fendered, this must be quite acceptable when compared to rafting up and is perhaps a 5% occurance. Is there any sort of convention on this?

Thanks for any responses.

Rick

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[BrendanS]

Hmm! Good question. Hasn't happened to me yet, but bound to one day. I suspect if you're well fendered, and apologise if anyone onboard the other vessel (they should be up and helping fend off if they've seen you), then no problems. Everyone has or will do it at some point.

Any damage, then if no one there leave note and/or inform marina or harbour master if applicable should cover most eventualities.

It's when damage is done and idiot blithely disappears without letting anyone know contact details that people get upset.

<hr width=100% size=1>Err, let me know if Depsol enters the forum, I'll go and hide

 

[Gunfleet]

You need to look like you\'re doing it on purpose

I do it on purpose when the wind is in the right (or wrong) 1/4 on my marina berth. Anything else would mean losing control of the boat. I sort of snuggle up to the fenders of the boat next to me, tie on to it (cheeky but true). Walk round to my finger with a line, then come back and winch myself into the right spot. My boat has a loooong keel and to get it to turn into the berth head to wind I'd have to be doing about 4 knots. And then with my piddling little prop, how do I stop? No one's ever complained, except a Dutchman I was rafted up to once in Holland. I sprung off him and as I did he said dolefully, 'Mind my hull.' His was an AWB, too. I felt like saying to him, 'people have been springing this boat since you were in short trousers' but being English I just waved cheerily and smiled. Byee!

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[AndrewB]

\"Touch me and you\'re dead\"

Helpful advice by a stinkpot owner a couple of weeks ago when we squared up to lie against his downwind boat before sorting our marina lines.

'Fraid attitudes are changing. Newcomers take their cue from car etiquette where the pristine finish of their investment is sacrosanct, and the merest touch involves chest-beating displays of ape-decendent rage followed by ritual exchanges of insurance details.

 

[Gunfleet]

Hard luck.

What a wretch! Still he'd have no bloody choice with yours truly. It's lie against him or ram him. The long keel and small prop will only turn where it wants, not where I or the man in the motorboat want. Name that marina. We will avoid it.

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[tonydyer]

Stinkpots

Of course a point of view depends very much on whether you are the owner of the boat being hit, or the owner of the boat doing the hitting!

I was sitting comfortably and quietly alongside at a long marina berth the other day, when a rather large power boat decided that he was going to tie up on the other half of the pontoon. He approached too quickly with the current behind him and managed to hit the bow of my boat with considerable force. At the time he (on the fly bridge) was gawking over his stbd side towards the pontoon and was not aware that he had hit me, and she was prancing about on the pontoon with both head and stern lines all in a tangle.

When I shouted to attract their attention he reversed away from my boat, but having still not left the fly bridge and continuing to give heated instructions to his partner on the pontoon, his boat drifted again onto mine and collided in the same way as before. This time I was there trying to keep the two vessels apart. He had paid no attention to the current and was exercising no control over his boat's movements.

Was I happy about all this? Certainly not. This is the other side of the coin - if the other joker has control over his boat (or at least is attempting to retain control over his boat) and is doing everything possible to avoid collision, then there is no problem. If it's just lack of interest and no consideration for the other boat, then I'm on the side of stinkpot. There are definitely two sides to every situation.

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[vyv_cox]

Our experience with "boxes" as opposed to pontoon fingers, is that it's virtually impossible to do anything else unless very heavily crewed. With only two of us aboard it's a full time job securing a bow and stern line and in a cross-wind it is inevitable to lie against the adjacent boat. As you say, with sufficient fenders this should do no harm to anyone.

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[Tiger Rag]

Re: You need to look like you\'re doing it on purpose

Far too few people use a midship breast line, it will normally only need to be a couple of feet long and fairly light. If I short on crew or single handed I always do as you do and deliberately lay alongside the yacht (gently) next to my eventual berth, once this is attached you have all the time in the world to reposition fenders if need br and then winch/manouvere the yacht into it's final position.

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[tony_brighton]

I think its entirely acceptable with appropriate fendering and politeness. We tend to do it fairly frequently. Far better than blowing off the pontoon and smacking them unexpectedly.

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[tcm]

Re: \"Touch me and you\'re dead\"

well, that's ridiculous. Touching another boat via fender is perefctly, perfectly acceptable. Or, if it isn't - they ought to have a (miles more expesnive) lonely berth out of the way where they can't be touched, and i'm thinking of something like the IYC at Antibes.

All stern-too moored boats touch all the time. It's the audible twack that isn't really acceptable. Spose if being blown on, the game is to try and line it up parallel, so all the fenders take the contact, not just one.



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[Jools_of_Top_Cat]

Re: \"Touch me and you\'re dead\"

'Fraid attitudes are changing. Newcomers take their cue from car etiquette where the pristine finish of their investment is sacrosanct, and the merest touch involves chest-beating displays of ape-decendent rage followed by ritual exchanges of insurance details.


Wow, now that's an interesting thought, so true too when I think about it. How sad, that attitudes are turning in this way, I wonder if it is more confined to MOBO's than raggies. When I leave my boat on the wall to go into town etc. I am only surprised when I come back and don't find a new nieghbour!

As for people struggling to get alongside etc, I will always go and help if I can, I have a high windage boat and know what it can be like!

<hr width=100% size=1>Julian

<A target="_blank" HREF=http://www.topcatsail.co.uk/TC_minicruise_2003_01.html>Cardigan Bay Cruise</A>

 

[david_e]

If you are trying to do say, a tight stbd turn to moor onto finger stbd side and wind is blowing you off, shouldn't you instead, reverse down pontoon lane and then drive into finger having made port turn. That way windage effect is much reduced and embarrassment, arguements etc are mitigated.

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[david_e]

Re: \"Touch me and you\'re dead\"

At least you have a good idea who twacked the boat, but what do you do when you arrive for the weekend to find someone has twacked the rear of your boat and it is not your immediate neighbour?
(mention this 'cause only a few weeks ago had to fend of visiting T34 with bowthruster who couldn't drive from my wafer thin stern, and the 12 peeps on board were just sat there doing nowt)


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[GeorgeP]

It\'s what fenders are for!

(So long as you're only drifting and don't belt into them...)

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[alex_rogers]

If the manouverability and windage of the boat make turning into the pontoon difficult, then I suspect that motoring downwind in reverse will be even harder. Might be worth a try though.

Alternatively, if there is space to turn her through the wind, turning beyond the poontoon and heading upwind might be easier. Although I know that with my boat, turning through the wind between the pontoons isn't really an option.

The one positive point about the wind in this circumstance is that by blowing the bow off, it will make reversing out and having another go easier.


<hr width=100% size=1>Alex Rogers
<A target="_blank" HREF=http://www.YachtsAtSea.com> www.YachtsAtSea.com </A>

 

[chriscallender]

Re: \"Touch me and you\'re dead\"

Agree completely. There are many situations where I would choose to lie temporarily alongside someone and then sort the rest out by putting out appropriate lines and pulling myself to where I want to end up. Trying to "drive" car style into a tight spot when the wind and/or tide aren't favourable is a recipe for whacking something in my boat.

Still I wonder though what the situation would be if you came carefully alongside Mr Angry who had a preexisting scratch or gouge there and he claimed that you had done the damage, no independent witnesses. I bet his claim would be successful.


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[tcm]

Re: camera

For this very reason we have a disposablwe camera in our company cars - to take pix of slight crunches. Good idea with too i suuppose. Having pix immeasurably strengthens your/your insurance co's hand with regard to claimed actual or non-existent damage. You snap away wide angle and in close up. One of our staff did this after an accident - found the other vehicle ) lorry) had diffrent plates front and back!

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[tcm]

Re: sat there doing nowt

This seems to be fairly normal for powerboats, and a big shock in the med that (for example) a boat will berth with most of the "crew" lounging at a table geting sloshed, rather than fendering off. They just sit theior doing nowt, or rien, or nitzi, depending on which country they are from.

Usually, it is cos the boat is rented, and if people like the idea of sun and sea but do not want to get involved, they charter a big mobo, and as guests they are pretty much not allowed to bog around with lines or fenders. Otherwise, (with a 34 footer) it's cos the skipper is a bit crap at getting anyone else involved. Bet he isn't insured for 12 aboard either, on a boat that size.

Sepretly,a good idea to have enought ropery on board to tie up your self AND the twonky neighbour. Finally, um, best not to get too wound up about the odd clonk here and there...

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[Twister_Ken]

Re: sat there doing nowt

I was on a mobo, only the other day, in Yarmouth harbour, that had notices saying "Passengers are not allowed on the sidedecks or foredeck". So carry on drinking then!

<hr width=100% size=1><A target="_blank" HREF=http://www.writeforweb.com/twister1>Let's Twist Again</A>

 

[dog]

Seems a shame that marina berthing seems to cause so much agro between fellow boaters- especially it seems from reading this thread between stinkies and raggies.

I personally have experience in both, and in our marina (river Crouch) its bl**dy hard in either type of craft as the tide runs accross the berths. Im pleased to say though I have yet to have any problems- it just seems a case of everyone helps everyone else out regardless of method of propulsion. Its just a shame more places are not like that.

I was down at Port Solent lock the other week, you would not believe the amount of stinkie/raggie agro going on there (big Fairline vs big Yacht), mostly petty comments from both sides. Everyone got in safely and no one hit anyone else- wheres the problem?!

I think sometimes its just an unsaid dislike of the other party for no good reason at all. I personally just want to get on with everyone, I have enough grief during the week on the Central Line not to need it at the weekend as well!!!

What does the panel think?



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