Enjoyed an afternoon in Poulsbo. My daughter “shopped” for a time while I entertained my 22 month old grandson. We then came back to the boat around 4:30 when the real entertainment began.
There was an old guy (as in at least 10 years older than my 61 years) who was coming into the marina in an old sailing catamaran. The wind had picked up a bit blowing maybe 15kts. The guy was single-handing and first tried going down a fairway between D and E dock and didn’t find a slip. He was able to turn around in the wide fairway (barely) and then came out and down between E and F dock where we are. This is a much narrower fairway as the slips on either side are only 30’. The marina will allow longer boats such as ours to use them any.
The guy didn’t find a slip as many were showing they were reserved. He tried to turn around but he has a single engine with some type of outdrive. Every time he tried to reverse the outdrive would pop up making it ineffective in reverse. The wind was blowing from F dock to E dock and we are on E dock facing F. He didn’t get turned around completely and ended up colliding with both pilings at the end of a couple fingers. We tried to fend him off and ask him what his intention was. He just said to shove his bow out and he would go out and try the other fairway again. Well, the wind was blowing him hard against the pilings and although we got his bow off the piling, it just meant that he was pointed at the side of the bow in the slip on the other side of that piling.
It took both my son-in-law (6’4” 250lbs) and myself sitting on my bow pushing off his boat with our feet to get him so clear our bow. He now has at least two badly bent stanchions.
He got out of the fairway and then decided to try the same thing again. Once more he failed and tried to turn around. We had to fend him off our bow once moor but about 5 of us were able to get him stern in to the double slip next to us. Three of us told him to let us just tie up there and go ask the harbormaster where he could go (or if he could just stay there despite there being reserved signs on that slip.
The guy mumbled something and took off out of the slip and out of the fairway and once again when between D and E dock and after some more pinball moves off the pilings he got into a reserved 40’ double slip. This time, he did decide to go talk to the harbormaster. Not sure what he was told be before long he left that slip and once more returned to terrorize everyone between E and F dock. He barely missed us and almost hit two other boats, bouncing off a couple more pilings in the process. Eventually the folks on F dock were able to get him into a slip.
My wife thinks that he is impaired in some way. Kind of an odd affect and he didn’t seem to be concerned at all that everyone in the marina were frantically trying to keep him from wreaking our boats and damaging his. At one point he made the comment that the current was really strong and giving him problems. There was no current, it was just the very obvious wind creating the problem. Possibly some type of dementia as I didn’t get the impression it was drugs or alcohol.
I’m wondering if he is new to this older cat. He kept trying to have the cat makes turns that a catamaran simply can’t make. They don’t turn like monohull sailboats with a spade rudder.
Anyway, once were were sure that he wasn’t going to try and move again, we finally went off to diner.
