G
Guest
Guest
Shamelessy pinched from Trailer Sailor.
Doug sails a small cat, fast. But not as fast as a stinkpot....
-------
Posted By: Doug, P-18.2, Lk Norman, NC
Date: 7/7/2001 7:28p.m.
-------
Most of my powerboat encounters today were good ones. One came close and slowed down so the people could watch. There's something about someone suspended on a trapeze out over the water that makes everybody want to come for a look-see. They were nice, said hello, asked if it was hard or uncomfortable. I said no and offered rides, but got no takers. A couple of boats knew to cross my stern and were clearly being nice about it. Kids being pulled on tubes, jet skis, all courteous and friendly. One powerboat was up on plane so high, he couldn't see directly in front of himself, a quick blast on the airhorn let him knew that he was heading at me. He slowed down and veered off.
Now the bad news for the day. A big 40-footer, loaded with people came hauling a** in my direction. I was out on the wire, on a broad reach, doing about 15-knots, flying the windward hull at about 20-degrees. He was coming in off the port bow on the windward side. He wasn't turning, so I hit the airhorn. Oh he saw me all right and turned, RIGHT INTO MY PATH! He was barelling down on me on purpose! I've been involved in this game before. Big powerboat skipper drinks several beers and wants to impress the girls on board by how close he can come to the little sailboat and give it a real good rocking! Or they're too drunk to judge distance and speed and just hit you.
I had about three seconds to do a quick mental judge of where I was on the lake and whether I would bail and jump or cling to the boat if he hit me. No time to come in off the wire. Sure enough, he turned off about a boat length ahead of my bows at top speed.
I had just enough time to crank on the hiking stick to get the bows turned into his (what seemed to be a 5-foot) wake. True to form and design, at 12-knots, the bows didn't dig in and I didn't pitch-pole. The launched! The wind caught under the trampoline and the boat turned and did a stern stand in the water. I hung on and she came down forward instead of backflipping. I'm ok.
Where oh where are those 8 local county sherriff boats when you need them? A string of loud, horrible (NY-accent) expletives flew out of my mouth. Unfortunately, loud enough for this guy to hear it. Apparently, just as he crossed my path, he let off the throttles so that his guests could watch the carnage that he caused.
I was back on 'Treat" and sailing back in the opposite direction. And this guy decides to come after me. One of those, "What did you say? You wanna say that to my face?" kind of guys. Great, pissed off drunk at the wheel of a 40-foot cruiser and I've got nothing. No VHF to call for help. Not even a way to write down his hull numbers (I knew I couldn't remember them by the time I got to shore anyway). No way to defend myself or outrun him.
But I did have two red bandanas on my bows and that made me think of Doc. It made me think of him blasting away at a rattlesnake with his .45 A couple of ACP rounds across his bow would probably make him change his mind. Unfortunately, I don't carry firearms on my cat, maybe I should start though. But it also made me think about where I was and what I could use in my defense. The lake itself!
So this guys comes right up along side of me and gives me the, "What did you call me?" His friends are all telling him to leave me alone and drop it, but he won't hear of it. His girlfriend really laces into the guy, calling him a jerk and that what he did to me was really sh*tty. He tells her to shut up. Another girl says that if he doesn't apologize, she'll call the cops and tell them what he did to me. He simply tells her to f*ck off and returns his attention to me.
I apologize for calling him the names and say that since I wasn't hurt and my boat wasn't damaged, no harm's been done. I say that it was my fault, that I should have fallen off and let him pass because he was bigger. "You're damn right!" he agrees. There's just no reasoning with a drunk in a situation like this. Your best bet is to simply agree with him, defuse the situation, calm him down, make him feel proud of himself, raise your centerboards while you're talking, head off to the south about ten degrees, and keep him occupied until you ask:
"By the way, what kind of draft does that thing have?" "Huh? What? What the hell are you talking about?" "We're about to go over the Davidson shoals. See the sign right there?"
"Oh sh*t!" he screams. Well I guess I should have said, 'I' was about to go over Davidson shoals, instead of 'we are'. Oops! My mistake. I'm always getting my grammar mixed up. Well I went over, and he, well... didn't. With a loud metallic crunching sound, his stern drive hit the rocks, his hull drove up onto the sand, and he came to a wrenching hault. No getting off that spot! This is a dam-controlled lake. No tide. You either wait for Duke Energy to raise the level of the lake (unlikely) or call for a tow which is usually accomponied by one of those sherriffs I was talking about. Apparently, they like to know why someone would ground themselves on rocks when all the shoals are clearly marked with huge signs! Or should I say, how much someone was drinking, so that they couldn't read the signs.
I jybed and started to head back to my marina. I didn't want to take any chances that maybe he might be armed. As I sailed away, I heard him cursing and his friends laughing. I guess they would provide a decent enough buffer and calm him down after he sobered up. He probably won't even remember what my boat looks like, so I doubt revenge will be foremost on his mind.
As it turns out, it wasn't even necessary. As I approached the docks another powerboat came up to me and the girl at the helm said, "I saw what that guy did to you. I already called the cops on my cell phone.... "
------------------
I wonder if Doug's middle name is Hornblower by any chance?
mikefield@woodenboatfittings.com
Doug sails a small cat, fast. But not as fast as a stinkpot....
-------
Posted By: Doug, P-18.2, Lk Norman, NC
Date: 7/7/2001 7:28p.m.
-------
Most of my powerboat encounters today were good ones. One came close and slowed down so the people could watch. There's something about someone suspended on a trapeze out over the water that makes everybody want to come for a look-see. They were nice, said hello, asked if it was hard or uncomfortable. I said no and offered rides, but got no takers. A couple of boats knew to cross my stern and were clearly being nice about it. Kids being pulled on tubes, jet skis, all courteous and friendly. One powerboat was up on plane so high, he couldn't see directly in front of himself, a quick blast on the airhorn let him knew that he was heading at me. He slowed down and veered off.
Now the bad news for the day. A big 40-footer, loaded with people came hauling a** in my direction. I was out on the wire, on a broad reach, doing about 15-knots, flying the windward hull at about 20-degrees. He was coming in off the port bow on the windward side. He wasn't turning, so I hit the airhorn. Oh he saw me all right and turned, RIGHT INTO MY PATH! He was barelling down on me on purpose! I've been involved in this game before. Big powerboat skipper drinks several beers and wants to impress the girls on board by how close he can come to the little sailboat and give it a real good rocking! Or they're too drunk to judge distance and speed and just hit you.
I had about three seconds to do a quick mental judge of where I was on the lake and whether I would bail and jump or cling to the boat if he hit me. No time to come in off the wire. Sure enough, he turned off about a boat length ahead of my bows at top speed.
I had just enough time to crank on the hiking stick to get the bows turned into his (what seemed to be a 5-foot) wake. True to form and design, at 12-knots, the bows didn't dig in and I didn't pitch-pole. The launched! The wind caught under the trampoline and the boat turned and did a stern stand in the water. I hung on and she came down forward instead of backflipping. I'm ok.
Where oh where are those 8 local county sherriff boats when you need them? A string of loud, horrible (NY-accent) expletives flew out of my mouth. Unfortunately, loud enough for this guy to hear it. Apparently, just as he crossed my path, he let off the throttles so that his guests could watch the carnage that he caused.
I was back on 'Treat" and sailing back in the opposite direction. And this guy decides to come after me. One of those, "What did you say? You wanna say that to my face?" kind of guys. Great, pissed off drunk at the wheel of a 40-foot cruiser and I've got nothing. No VHF to call for help. Not even a way to write down his hull numbers (I knew I couldn't remember them by the time I got to shore anyway). No way to defend myself or outrun him.
But I did have two red bandanas on my bows and that made me think of Doc. It made me think of him blasting away at a rattlesnake with his .45 A couple of ACP rounds across his bow would probably make him change his mind. Unfortunately, I don't carry firearms on my cat, maybe I should start though. But it also made me think about where I was and what I could use in my defense. The lake itself!
So this guys comes right up along side of me and gives me the, "What did you call me?" His friends are all telling him to leave me alone and drop it, but he won't hear of it. His girlfriend really laces into the guy, calling him a jerk and that what he did to me was really sh*tty. He tells her to shut up. Another girl says that if he doesn't apologize, she'll call the cops and tell them what he did to me. He simply tells her to f*ck off and returns his attention to me.
I apologize for calling him the names and say that since I wasn't hurt and my boat wasn't damaged, no harm's been done. I say that it was my fault, that I should have fallen off and let him pass because he was bigger. "You're damn right!" he agrees. There's just no reasoning with a drunk in a situation like this. Your best bet is to simply agree with him, defuse the situation, calm him down, make him feel proud of himself, raise your centerboards while you're talking, head off to the south about ten degrees, and keep him occupied until you ask:
"By the way, what kind of draft does that thing have?" "Huh? What? What the hell are you talking about?" "We're about to go over the Davidson shoals. See the sign right there?"
"Oh sh*t!" he screams. Well I guess I should have said, 'I' was about to go over Davidson shoals, instead of 'we are'. Oops! My mistake. I'm always getting my grammar mixed up. Well I went over, and he, well... didn't. With a loud metallic crunching sound, his stern drive hit the rocks, his hull drove up onto the sand, and he came to a wrenching hault. No getting off that spot! This is a dam-controlled lake. No tide. You either wait for Duke Energy to raise the level of the lake (unlikely) or call for a tow which is usually accomponied by one of those sherriffs I was talking about. Apparently, they like to know why someone would ground themselves on rocks when all the shoals are clearly marked with huge signs! Or should I say, how much someone was drinking, so that they couldn't read the signs.
I jybed and started to head back to my marina. I didn't want to take any chances that maybe he might be armed. As I sailed away, I heard him cursing and his friends laughing. I guess they would provide a decent enough buffer and calm him down after he sobered up. He probably won't even remember what my boat looks like, so I doubt revenge will be foremost on his mind.
As it turns out, it wasn't even necessary. As I approached the docks another powerboat came up to me and the girl at the helm said, "I saw what that guy did to you. I already called the cops on my cell phone.... "
------------------
I wonder if Doug's middle name is Hornblower by any chance?
mikefield@woodenboatfittings.com
