Mooring buoy and rafting up etiquette

So I should leave the kids at home then. Perhaps we could have some adult only marinas or grown ups mooring buoys. If you have kids and you want to sail then they will have to come. As a reasonable parent I threaten my kids with all manner of dire consequencies if they cause annoyance to others and embarassment to me. Like most people I have no time for badly bought up oiky children. I have even less time for their parents. I am a teacher in a school for the behaviourally disturbed and I see poor behaviour everday, behaviour most people would not believe. Believe me I know what kids are like. My colleagues would smile if they heard me described as a bleeding heart but I do believe that people with kids deserve to be treated as first and not second class citizens. Ok so you have done your bit and the kids have gone. But what about a few years ago when they where little, how did you react when adults treated them as less than human. Perhaps ypu were lucky and this did'nt happen, I just find it massively annoying.
 
Rafting on a wall, pontoon or buoy is normally down to custom and practice in the location you are visiting.
Some might try to dissuade you by saying they are leaving early, but you can suggest that perhaps they would like to move to the outer position on the raft, or ask what time they are leaving and be sure to be up and ready to assist their departure. If they fail to materialise at that time, you can help them out by knocking on their cabin roof, just in case their alarm has failed to wake them.
Walls / pontoons are sometimes graded to areas that correspond to boat size. As to the nose to tail rafting, it is nice if you can, but it often depends on the direction of the current / wind at the time.
On visitors buoys, it's more often than not, one to a buoy. Though there are exceptions i.e. Salcombe where they have up to four boats per visitors buoy. If you do raft on a buoy, fenders, springs and a stern breast line are important.
If you pick up a private buoy, you can often tell if it has been in recent use and it's state of repair by the amount of weed on the pickup buoy, the state of the pickup buoy rope, riser chain and mousing on the shackles. It isn't courteous to leave your boat unattended on a private buoy. If it belongs to a boatyard, don’t be surprised if someone taps on the hull asking for money. In that case, confirm that the buoy is suitable and that it's ok to be away from the boat.
 
It is also his right to state his opinion and to invite who he likes to raft up to him or not, or whether he likes children or not, Some people are sociable some not, respect the others views. IMHO of course.
 
What is the basis for these statements?

1. In many of the non-marina ports frequented by yachts, where rafting is the norm (Portpatrick, Port Dinorwic, Dunmore East, Arklow, Padstow, Penzance, Boulogne, Calais, Oostende, Lowestoft, Scheveningen, to name but a few) I suspect that anyone refusing another boat rights to come alongside would receive little sympathy from fellow yachtsmen or the harbour authorities.

2. Also in many of these there are often rafts of boats seeking shelter from bad weather. Are you suggesting that alternate boats should place their sterns into the weather, receiving heavy rain into the accommodation and waves into the cockpit? I suggest this is totally unrealistic and never seen in my experience.
 
Never seen boats rafted bow to stern, and the harbour authorites will decide whether you will accept a boat outside of you! If you refuse, they will tell you to leave! In Holland you'd be ostracized! Same as if you allowed your kids to run riot over other peoples boats!
 
in most ports where rafting up is the norm ,there is a right to raft up
anyone refusing (or refusing to move a dinghy which prevents this is in the wrong)
I have seen at least two persons asked to leave a harbour after refusing allow others to
come alongside in denmark.
 
I have, but the theory that it affords more privacy goes out the window unless the boats are of similar build!...in some cases (owner having stern cabin!) it can make matters worse.
To come back to Kirky,....no we weren't treated as parahs...but then we didn't have the disposable income to do so many of the things that are enjoyed by families today!....as I said before it is difficult,and it does require sympathetic understanding for/from both parties and compromises should always be sought.
TôMö
 
oh dear

You see - you raise all sorts of accurate points to do with mooring etiquette, proud of your contribution and wishing to sign off on a lightish note you mention your liking for the juice of the barley - you throw away a line about children - and I don't think I've ever really been upset by having young children around the boat - either mine or those of my own - and suddenly a whole new offensive kicks off.
Hmm - seem to have lifted the lid on one there - perhaps I'll start a new thread although for the sake of the blood pressure of forum members, perhaps not!
regards
John S

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I wonder about this. Is it always right to respect the others views. Are others views always deserving of respect? All according what their views are of course.
 
Re Raft up and damn them!

There is much to be said for our Continental neighbours attitudes where one is expected to raft alongside. However there is a tendency for boats to raft alongside another boat when they would be quite capable of going alongside either a wall or pontoon. This has the effect of restricting mooring places for larger boats and I for one am happy to put my boat alongside a smaller boat. Boats sit in water and their weight is carried by this wonderful substance, not by the boat inside them unless its blowing a hefty beam-on wind.

As for children, they are wonderful and ALL of us should encourage them and be encouraged by their presence on/in boats and on the water. This is where they learn and if you feel that your standards are not being adhered to, then a gentle word as they cross your deck will be effective. However I have NEVER kicked a kid out of my cockpit as they cross my deck but have many times stopped adults and redirected them forward. Perhaps they should have started sailing earlier with their parents and learned some basics.
 
Equal rights=equal obligations

Why do we have to put up with your kids ? They are by definition yours, not ours.

People with small dogs give me the same look when I ask them if their dog is going to howl (whimper) all night, just like last night. This look of "Intolerant man, it is natural for a dog to keep the marina up all night".

Don't expect us to accept crying babies at five am, just because that's what babies do.

If your kids are noisy, than it's your responsability, just as it is my responsability as a skipper to keep my crew quiet when they return from the bar at 0200.

Just as it is my responsability to tie my running rigging to the mast, to prevent it from tinging against the mast all night.

Kids do not have the right to make noise. Neither do dogs. Neither do nightly crew parties.

I'm just as tolerant towards kids as towards others. I'm treating them as equals, no more no less.

Obi-Wan
http://sirocco31.tripod.com
 
Perhaps 'right'is rather a strong term - I think that people are entirely justified in saying no to enormous heavy boats coming outside them, particularly if theirs is a wooden boat, varnished hull etc.
Sometimes - as Vyv pointed out, in places like Portpatrick and Ramsey you just have to get in where you can and that sometimes means being outside smaller boats - which is a sod in Ramsey as it dries.
Regards
JohnS



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Some peoples views are ridiculous and very wrong/antisocial, but they may think the same way about our views/politics/beliefs, debate isn't that the way. Same way as one mans terrorist is another mans freedom fighter, get the point, I hope so, I'm not very good with words and my spelling is atrocious! But I do think, IMHO thats it's time to leave this alone and get back to the original query.
 
I rafted alongside a Swedish boat near Oban last summer, having been directed there by the berthing master. Being polite, I asked the occupant whether we could walk across his boat to the shore. Imagine my suprise when he said no. We had to use our dinghy for the 3 metres between our boat and the land, much to the amusement of everyone else nearby.
 
Re: Re Raft up and damn them!

Sinbad
Are you right there about water supporting all the weight of boats? - I'm thinking of the sideways pressure exerted by a raft of say 6 boats on the inside one - particularly if they have (as they should have) shore lines. I'm sure there must be a fair bit of pressure there - particularly as you point out if that is added to by a beam wind.
regards
JohnS

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I think that was on Kerrera on the wide pontoon on the right (facing the island) Early August/LAte July and I think I was watching - mouth wide open in amazement!
There was a german boat in there as well I think who also had a problem with people alongside.
I see they've dumped the plan for a pontoon in Oban
Regards
JohnS

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Re: Equal rights=equal obligations

That has got to be the best reply I have seen on this matter. I wish I'd said that. Thankyou for putting it all in a nutshell.
Colin.
 
Hmm
Time for a line on the Swiss now with their nuclear bunkers, acts of betrayal 39 - 45, and Heidi?
Maybe I've done enough damage for 1 post!
Perhaps not!!
js

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