So, this happened!

[Rick Kane]

Haven't posted in a long time, hello everyone!
Mothers' Day, sailing around until my wife was to arrive at the dock. Windy day; I decided to head to the dock early to leave the tender & wait. Another boat was there, and given the wind and the transient nature of business at the dock we were on the same side, bows to the dock. To leave pretty much means pulling the stern to the dock, freeing the bow while holding the stern, and stepping aboard. I was aboard readying to clear his way by pulling my stern to dock, when I heard shouting. Looked up and his bow was 5 feet from my rail! Bigger boat under main, no way for me to stop it.
Hull-deck joint needs attention, plus rubrail, bent stanchion and pad. NOT pleased!
 

[Spot]

Ouch! Sorry to hear about his Rick. Is the loft able to help you sort this?

[Captain Kidd]

Oh no! Does that mean the other boat was responsible? Was the owner cooperative?

I was making a landing at a dock once and I gave my crew the tiller and I was going to jump off and secure the boat. Crew accidentally gunned the motor. Nothing I could do. Just ahead was a huge yacht. Dwarfed my 18.5. I knew a crash was imminent. All I could envision was a scuffed up yacht, me losing my rigging, and huge repair bills! Somehow, to my amazement and relief, even with contact, nothing happened to either craft!

PS: don't forget to hit "insert" on your pics.

[Riley Smith]

Ouch! That's more than a ding! Not a fun day after that huh?

[rfrance0718]

That's a shame. Sounds like he was coming in next to you , at 90 degrees to the dock, and was surprised that you had pulled your stern over? Even if this was the case he must have been moving pretty fast! Not enough time to stop in the 7 feet represented by your beam, even if you weren't there. Did he have crew? How was he planning on securing his boat to the dock, once he did get there?


I t-boned a boat during the pre-start while racing in Florida a couple of months ago. 100 % my fault. The other skipper isn't going to pursue repair until the season is over. My insurance guy said that I would be covered since I had notified him about it. I've been racing for 45 years and this was the first time I'dd ever done something like that.

[Norm L.]

An aggravated barging incident or bad timing?

In an ocean race rounding a buoy I should have given way but didn't. The other guy dodged me and lost a lot of distance. I assumed he would protest me, so we sailed more leisurely the rest of the day as it was a perfect day to enjoy a sail. He didn't make a protest.

[Norm L.]

Sorry, that happened Rick. But it is nice for me to see your name back.

[Noemi - Ensenada 20]

Hi Rick!

Ow.....

[Rick Kane]

(So, I'm a newbie, eh? )

Let me explain better. Our dock is a tee, extending west from shore, with a N-S tee. Winds from the NNW. I came in and tied the bow to the dock to return the tender I'd towed in. About a tender width east of the tee, bow NNW, and a couple boat lengths from him. He may have been tied alongside the dock (bow W) since he had dropped/picked up passengers.
I was prepping to bring the stern in so he'd have ample room to depart (though there was room to pass anyway; you have to bear well off to clear the tee). Looked up too late to stop it (as if I could!).
He was cooperative, and has insurance. Says as he was untying, a passenger sheeted the main and the boat took off.
Will have to take a closer look at re-sealing the hull/deck joint, but for now I'm sailing without starboard lifeline, and avoiding burying the rail .
I'm not sure what the boat is; about 25 ft and heavy looking. Pic zoomed in from an earlier video.
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[rfrance0718]

  Very different from what I was thinking, and a little similar to my  incudent. Trying to bear away with the mainsail drawing is always bad. In my case the main was all the way out and the jib was over sheeted, as I was trying to oass behind. The boat turned hard and seemed like it was cooperating, until it wasn't. Bang.

I'm glad that there is no doubt about fault, in either case. I'd rather be sure that I was wrong than be playing a mind game about maybe being wronged.

I hope repairs go well.

[GlenG]

Another way to depart downwind...  luff all sails and let the boat slide backwards until you are clear, then bear off.  I've done it a few times but it makes me nervous, especially if the wind is shifting or swirling.  My outboard motor is barely adequate.  It is one of those spin 180 degrees for reverse with no neutral.  So I generally try to dock and depart under sail alone.
I was crew on an E-Scow (Spinnaker man) in competitive racing Regattas for many years.  The Skipper was a master at this technique.  Very valuable skill at crowded Regatta docks.

[Krusen]

Captain Kidd said,
"I was making a landing at a dock once and I gave my crew the tiller and I was going to jump off and secure the boat. Crew accidentally gunned the motor. Nothing I could do. Just ahead was a huge yacht. Dwarfed my 18.5. I knew a crash was imminent. All I could envision was a scuffed up yacht, me losing my rigging, and huge repair bills! Somehow, to my amazement and relief, even with contact, nothing happened to either craft!"

Krusen was his crew, shifted position to take the tiller while holding the twist grip of the motor.  A wave rocked the boat, I twisted the grip, and voila, acceleration!  Back to idle, hit reverse, and the impact was minimal.

Contact was mostly Dale's forestay with the stainless steel anchor, a huge one, and we backed off immediately, with no visible damage for either vessel.  The anchor's contact was about 10 feet up Dale's forestay. That was a huge vessel.

Many thanks, Dale, for not naming the crew, giving me the option of remaining anonymous.  We had a truly epic cruise on the ICW in spite of the motor's persistent starting problems, never knew if it would restart if we shut it down.

My favorite memory was when we were dead into the wind, and tide running strongly against us.  Motor would not start, so we just beat into the wind, shallow water to shallow water, until we finally reached the bend to port, cleared the point, and you shouted "WE BE SAILORS" as I trimmed sails for a reach.  Failing to make that bend would have set us back a full tidal cycle, at least half a day.

Your little yacht has great sailing capabilities,  and several times, with suitable wind strength and direction, we "stemmed the tide", and added a half day's progress to your plan.

In desperate times, we did get the motor to start by pouring raw gas into the carb intake, and powered off the muddy shore with a falling tide.

What year was that?  A couple of years after my knee replacement, and I still had my cane.

No daytime rain, decent wind from useful direction much of the time, made a fine voyage, and arrival at the finish well ahead of expectations.

Krusen, the un named crew

[Captain Kidd]

Many thanks, Dale, for not naming the crew, giving me the option of remaining anonymous. 

Krusen, the un named crew

Norm, I wouldn't want to cast you in a negative light for anything. You were great crew and company. If I began to list my foibles (including the ones I made on this trip), we'd be here all day!!! Frankly, that trip is literally the highlight of my 25 years of sailing.

We just passed the 5th anniversary of that trip: 4/25-5/1/2019. If you're in the mood to reminisce, here's the link to my photo album of that trip: https://photos.app.goo.gl/JqREZKbEX4JTaodx5

and a link to my blog post describing the trip: https://captnkid.blogspot.com/2021/01/icw-trip-april-2019.html

Here's the pic of you at the helm (yep, that's your head/hat) as we rounded the buoy that marked the southern entrance to "hell gate" on the last sailing day of the trip.

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Here's to great crew and hoping you have a blessed 91st year!!!

[noelH]

Bit of a bummer. So far, my hits have just resulted in scuffs and a minor (gelcoat)crack on the gunwale that required me gooping some fast set crack filler.

Vela has been hit twice while tied up at the boat ramp pier waiting to load on the trailer. Once by a jerk of a sport fisherman who cut ahead and tried to squeeze in. 2nd was an accident by another fishing boat trying to leave the pier. He tried hand fending off but sort of missed. Just a love tap.

I now have the boat hook sitting in the cockpit when departing or returning to the marina. Must be working. No close encounters. 

[Rick Kane]

GlenG, the method your describe would be ok (especially with a scow!), but the Minneapolis Sailing Center has docks of their own south of the main dock, and the mooring balls start right south of that. This does squeeze the slot for getting out, and of course there's side slippage before you make headway. Usually requires a tack just as you get enough speed (again, not a problem with an E scow!), but after you can clear the tee coming back!