ben2go
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I only beach a boat if the boat can sit on it's bottom without tipping or damaging the running gear.
See ya on the two, whose two?
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I only beach a boat if the boat can sit on it's bottom without tipping or damaging the running gear.
Pineapple Girl
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In my marina, the berths are covered and it is hard to see traffic so the marina staff have asked everyone to toot their horn as when leaving the slip and entering and exiting the fairways. Most everyone does honk.
When we came in Sunday, our honk alerted some folks to get their dog out of the water. We had to stop our boat and wait for them to get him--ultimately a young boy jumped in after the dog and got him out of the main fairway.
One marina on the sacremento has a restaurant at the entrance and the bartender honks a very loud horn whenever anyone enters or exits that marina. the berthers there must love that.
When we came in Sunday, our honk alerted some folks to get their dog out of the water. We had to stop our boat and wait for them to get him--ultimately a young boy jumped in after the dog and got him out of the main fairway.
One marina on the sacremento has a restaurant at the entrance and the bartender honks a very loud horn whenever anyone enters or exits that marina. the berthers there must love that.
Moonstruck
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A mixture caused this debacle. It was a mixture of an auto pilot with a party. They hit the beach at about 18 knots. I knew the boat, and I took the picture.
psneeld
Guru
It's a crazy world...on one hand the rules really aren't much for the small rec boater...yet they are the only rules we have and the authorities make a big desl about us following them if an accident happens yet the boating licensing issue and enforcement of existing rules is almost non-existent.
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It's a world in which a person who has never operated a boat in his life can plunk down the money for a 60 foot diesel cruiser and drive away from the dock with no more training than the handwriting skills required to sign the check. So the notion that boaters should be all up to date on the horn regulations and practice them seems a little ludicrous, don't you think?
Particularly in an age of electronic communications. Knowing horn signals seems somewhat tantamount to knowing how to bank a fire properly on a steam locomotive. Interesting but not very useful anymore. Like I said, nobody uses horns around here, recreational or commercial, and it doesn't seem to make one whit of difference.
Having a VHF radio and knowing what and who uses each channel, now that's important I think.
Particularly in an age of electronic communications. Knowing horn signals seems somewhat tantamount to knowing how to bank a fire properly on a steam locomotive. Interesting but not very useful anymore. Like I said, nobody uses horns around here, recreational or commercial, and it doesn't seem to make one whit of difference.
Having a VHF radio and knowing what and who uses each channel, now that's important I think.
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psneeld
Guru
he/she can't drive that 60 footer in New Jersy unless they can show some proof of boater education....and if you live in NJ...you hve to take an 8 hr course and pass what has become a not so easy exam. The course material is still way out there..but at lest it is something.
The requirement to carry three cheap, but less than three year old flares isn't far behind.
I believe they just recently changed the regulations to allow an electronic simulation of a bell rather than requiring an actual metal bell with a certain diameter.
Yes, but I assume it's the same course and exam that's given to the fellow who just bought a 15-foot Bayliner runabout. There is no quickie boater course on the planet that's going to teach the fellow who just bought the 60 footer squat-all about how to maneuver or navigate or dock or whatever his big, heavy, multi-engine boat.
psneeld
Guru
Yes to the same course...heck its the same for the Jet Ski people...but no it's a classroom affair...no hands on...but after years of hands on training...some guys can drive that 60 footer after just a couple of lessons...and some guys who have been boating their whole life still can't drive their 16 RHIB let alone their 40-60 footers.
No matter what you do in life...like Dirty Harry said so well..."A man's gotta know his limitations"...
I saw it as an instructor pilot all the time...some people could do anything with the aircraft, some people could do nothing, some could fly but made bad decisions, some were brilliant but had no stick and rudder controls, some could be Blue Angels yet should never have been let into the operational environment.
same with boats...some of the posters on here scare me to death!
...some of the posters on here scare me to death!
Don't you do towing? If so, then aren't we all potential future customers?
psneeld
Guru
From the USCG Navcen On Line rules...
The bell or gong or both may be replaced by other equipment having the same respective sound characteristics, provided that manual sounding of the prescribed signals shall always be possible.
Please note that the bell is no longer required on a vessel 12 meters or more but less than 20 meters in length].
i) A vessel of 12 meters or more but less than 20 meters in length shall not be obliged to give the bell signals prescribed in paragraphs (g) and (h) of this Rule. However, if she does not, she shall make some other efficient sound signal at intervals of not more than 2 minutes.
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psneeld
Guru
Absolutley. And my example was just to reinforce your "it's a crazy world" statement. One would like to think--- and would probably be correct almost all of the time--- that a person buying a new 60 foot boat would either have garnered a lot of boating experience along the way or if not, was smart enough to hire a crew.
Perhaps a better example would be the Joe Sixpacks who plunk down the money for 21 foot runabout or sportfish and then roar off into the sunset without a care in the world believing that, "Hey, driving a boat's just like driving a car, right?" These are the guys who, until the last mill on Lake Washington finally closed, seemed to regularly slam into the log booms along the shore at night at full speed and kill people, either themselves or their passengers.
psneeld
Guru
My experience....whether the guy buys a 60 footer or a 18 footer...it's all about personality....whether its 60 or 10 feet the A-hole is gonna hurt people or equipment no matter what....the good operator could buy a used nuclear aircraft carrier and be a great boater.
As I pointed out with the pilot issues...some people are operators and the rest "whatevers"....the people who love boating but are anything but operators should go slowly and surely and boat with friends that are....
A year or two ago I was heading north on a narrow portion of the AICW and another trawler was heading south, both of us at a breakneck 7 knots or so. We had room to pass each other, port to port safely, but not much more.
At exactly the point where we were side by side, a boater in a 20' or so CC who appeared to be a professional crabber passed me between the two of us.
Now, I suspect he had far more hours on the water than either of us, and should have known better, but he lacked the good sense to wait until passing was safe.
Mind you, I don't really care what stupid things others do until they endanger me or my family (or boat).
If you've ever been to driving school, a big deal is made of "defensive driving". It's something we should carry over to our boating.
At exactly the point where we were side by side, a boater in a 20' or so CC who appeared to be a professional crabber passed me between the two of us.
Now, I suspect he had far more hours on the water than either of us, and should have known better, but he lacked the good sense to wait until passing was safe.
Mind you, I don't really care what stupid things others do until they endanger me or my family (or boat).
If you've ever been to driving school, a big deal is made of "defensive driving". It's something we should carry over to our boating.
Good point. We do, particularly in meeting situations. Even if we are the stand-on vessel we always give way to commercial vessels and we do it early and obviously enough so that they understand our intentions to go behind them or their tow if they have one.
Same thing with meeting situations with other recreational boats. We've seen and heard about enough near misses to not take anything for granted anymore so we always assume a give-way vessel won't. If they do, great, but we're more than prepared to let them blunder blindly along on the course they are so intent on following. It's no big deal to vary our course a bit.
And we always pass a sailboat under sail on their downwind side. One, it doesn't affect their wind and two, a sailboat-- particulary a larger one--- is much more likely to tack suddenly than it is to jibe.
Steve
Guru
Marin posted
"Good point. We do, particularly in meeting situations. Even if we are the stand-on vessel we always give way to commercial vessels and we do it early and obviously enough so that they understand our intentions to go behind them or their tow if they have one."
Very important, especially making your intentions obvious early on
Steve W
"Good point. We do, particularly in meeting situations. Even if we are the stand-on vessel we always give way to commercial vessels and we do it early and obviously enough so that they understand our intentions to go behind them or their tow if they have one."
Very important, especially making your intentions obvious early on
Steve W
psneeld
Guru
After all my time on the water...I just can't equate driving a boat like driving a car...especially going 6-8 knots....it's like walking...even riding a bike seems more harrowing.
At 6-8 knots...things are happening so slow...and most of our boats are responsive enough to do almost anything except react to something so completely sudden or unexpected (meaning I would have to be waking up at the helm).....I just can't get too excited..maybe after towing for over a decade in close quarters has jaded me too far.
The trick is to avoid most of these situations from a long way out as Marin suggested...that is really the main intent of the Colregs anyhow...to never really get into a close quarters situation.
At 6-8 knots...things are happening so slow...and most of our boats are responsive enough to do almost anything except react to something so completely sudden or unexpected (meaning I would have to be waking up at the helm).....I just can't get too excited..maybe after towing for over a decade in close quarters has jaded me too far.
The trick is to avoid most of these situations from a long way out as Marin suggested...that is really the main intent of the Colregs anyhow...to never really get into a close quarters situation.
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Moonstruck
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Nope, late afternoon. They had it on auto pilot set for the inlet running back from fishing. It landed a little east of the inlet. Good thing it did. It missed the jetty rocks. Sometimes depending on automatic equipment is not so good. I know of a charter skipper who would leave for the fishing grounds in the middle of the night. He would set his auto pilot, chart plotter arrival alarm, and radar contact alarm. Then he would go to sleep. Now, that is depending on your equipment too damn much. Failure to keep proper lookout. That's why we need to stay on our toes out there.
angus99
Guru
Amen. I wonder if you remember the small cruiser that jumped the sea wall in front of Privateer Yacht Club (in Chattanooga) several years ago . . . also in broad daylight. The way I heard it, the guy was running fast, left it on autopilot while he went below (rumors abounded as to why he went below) and the boat veered off course and jumped a wake. The bow buried itself in the bank and the entire craft stuck out 4 or 5 feet over the water . . . it made all the papers. That's my club and we were all grateful and amazed nobody was killed.
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Moonstruck
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Yeah, I think it barely missed Cecil Pierce's boat. There is some crazy stuff on the lake. Did you know the Morgan brothers and John Wesley? What about Lloyd and Molly Cox. Molly passed away about 4 years ago now.
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angus99
Guru
Know or knew them all. John was an institution and very kind to us when we were getting started. I worked with Cecil at the Times. Lloyd's still hanging in there and Molly's sadly missed. My son's a sculptor and is apprenticing with Steve Morgan, learning how to weld. Small world.
I suppose an auto pilot is convenient, but you're a first class fool and a danger to others if you don't remain at the helm and alert when running on auto pilot. Just the slightest bit of creative thought should warn you that the auto pilot won't avoid hazzards like floating logs and debris and other boats.
As far as operating in close proximity to other boats (something that's unavoidable in certain situations and areas), you need to know the rules, but assume that the other operator may not know the rules. You need a plan and an alternate plan. And an emergency plan.
A boat collision on the water is not like an auto collision on land. You can't get out and walk away from it.
As far as operating in close proximity to other boats (something that's unavoidable in certain situations and areas), you need to know the rules, but assume that the other operator may not know the rules. You need a plan and an alternate plan. And an emergency plan.
A boat collision on the water is not like an auto collision on land. You can't get out and walk away from it.
Medic
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Hi. I'm brand new to this forum, although I have several years of coastal, ocean, and inland cruising. I noticed your picture showing Harbortowne Yacht Basin. Would love to know what you think of it. I'm not really sure how this works, but I assume if I click on the Post Quick Reply button that you will get the messge.
Wayfarer
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Hi Medic, and welcome to the forum. The quick reply button will post a new reply to the thread for everyone to see. If you want to send someone a private message, just click on their name, and the option should come up for you to do so.
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Welcome aboard!!!!!
You can start a new thread and ask the general question about the Harbortowne Yacht Basin and get general replies from anyone who has local knowledge.
