Short Dinghy painters

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sadlerbob

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I have always wondered why some people tie their dinghies close to the pontoon or steps.
It's a nuisance and can be quite dangerous for fellow boaters to get ashore.
Would signs help to educate this malpractice and help all to get ashore safely?
 
sadlerbob said:
I have always wondered why some people tie their dinghies close to the pontoon or steps.
It's a nuisance and can be quite dangerous for fellow boaters to get ashore.
Would signs help to educate this malpractice and help all to get ashore safely?
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Many of the culprits seem to be sailors of long experience, so sadly I doubt it.
 
I'm told that the reason some tenders have very short painters is so that if they were to fall in the water they don't foul the outboard on the back. Personally I have a long one as I row everywhere....:)
 
I have a long painter and a short one on my dinghy. Short for boarding and tying up where there is plenty of room; long for towing behind and for crowded places.
 
The very worst example of this I've ever seen is the pontoon at Bucklers Hard where all the tenders are tied; selfish bastards tie up with tiny painters, others come along with medium ones, and visitors are left on the outside, requiring a hop from dinghy to dinghy to dinghy just to get to the pontoon cleat with one's own ( very long ) painter.

A feat which would have got max points in ' It's a Knockout' ! :rolleyes:
 
Nae etiquette!

Bit like folk who tie up alongside short-stay pontoons and hog the middle area of two spaces, the nautical equivalent of manspreading.
 
Sgeir said:
Nae etiquette!

Bit like folk who tie up alongside short-stay pontoons and hog the middle area of two spaces, the nautical equivalent of manspreading.
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From the ' How To Be A Wally ' guide to car parking;

' When presented with a space for 2 cars, go for the middle; if you go to one end it looks messy and asymmetrical ' :)
 
...Many of the culprits seem to be sailors of long experience, so sadly I doubt it...

A regular one we saw in the Caribbean - predominantly, but not only, American dinghies - was to tie the bow to the dinghy dock with a short painter and then lock the cable-lock/chain from the stern, effectively taking an alongside berth; this was a particularly popular and particularly annoying practice in those harbours/bays where you needed to climb a ladder to get onto the dock; with one securing point either side of the few available ladders, it meant the owner wouldn't have to worry about getting back onto his dink when he returned; sod everyone else of course. I recall the dock at St Pierre in Martinique particularly as one offender there had the gall to bitch at us for 'walking across his dinghy to get ashore!
 
BobnLesley said:
...Many of the culprits seem to be sailors of long experience, so sadly I doubt it...

A regular one we saw in the Caribbean - predominantly, but not only, American dinghies - was to tie the bow to the dinghy dock with a short painter and then lock the cable-lock/chain from the stern, effectively taking an alongside berth; this was a particularly popular and particularly annoying practice in those harbours/bays where you needed to climb a ladder to get onto the dock; with one securing point either side of the few available ladders, it meant the owner wouldn't have to worry about getting back onto his dink when he returned; sod everyone else of course. I recall the dock at St Pierre in Martinique particularly as one offender there had the gall to bitch at us for 'walking across his dinghy to get ashore!
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Simple answer to that; add your own expendable padlock to his ! :)
 
Seajet said:
Simple answer to that; add your own expendable padlock to his ! :)
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And then cast off the bow painter to gain access to the ladder :)

I have to say, in my limited sampling of West Country dinghy landings so far this summer, the mooring has been exemplary. Even where the boats were clustered two deep all the way along, they were all on sensible length painters and we could nudge our way through to get ashore then push the boat back out to the outer rank.

Pete
 
now is the time to mention dipping the noose...or whatever. As well as the short line problem there's inevitably a Gordian knot on the cleat, so tough titty if you were first on.
We've fitted 'granny bars' on the club pontoons for the grannies and grandpas who use them most of the time, and it really is bad form to block them with a short line on a upwind cleat as people of that age are certainly not going to dinghy-hop -probably the most dangerous marina activity on offer.
 
BobnLesley said:
Now that's a really tempting idea, particularly if there's a suitable shady bar nearby to wait and watch from.
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Someone once chained his bicycle across the stairs leading to the shared garden of a flat I lived in in Edinburgh. I found a nice D-lock in the street and used that alongside his. The frame was finally removed two years later, all other parts having been stripped. He obviously hadn't heard of angle grinders. Nice bike, too.
 
Surely it wouldn't be too difficult, or costly, for harbourmasters to put up signs saying something like:

'NOTICE

FOR THE GUIDANCE OF F______G SELFISH IDIOTS

Please secure your dinghy with a single long painter attached to the bow only.

This will allow the maximum number of dinghies to use the pontoon and also enable you to get to yours without having to climb over others.

The Harbourmaster'
 
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parsifal said:
Surely it wouldn't be too difficult, or costly, for harbourmasters to put up signs ...
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The idiots know already. They just don't care.

And a big shout out to the people at Coll two years ago who thrashed the guts out of their outboard to overtake at the last moment a small child rowing to the steps, pushed in ahead and tied their dinghy up so tight that the small child couldn't get in. Thanks, guys. Hope you felt really good about that.
 
JumbleDuck said:
The idiots know already. They just don't care.
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I would not assume that at all. The idea of a long painter is not obvious until pointed out, I didn't know until I read about it here.

Tying a dinghy cross-wise against a ladder is different, it only takes a moment's thought to realise that that's inconsiderate.

Pete
 
JumbleDuck said:
I have a long painter and a short one on my dinghy. Short for boarding and tying up where there is plenty of room; long for towing behind and for crowded places.
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I have a long painter with a permanent loop in it in the middle, at the right length for attaching to a cleat on the mother boat.
 
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