Curmudgeon ????? - Being prepared before leaving the dock

[JohnEasley]

Our routine is to start at the forward cabin and walk through the boat latching drawers and doors, laying down free-standing photo frames, laying down my wife's makeup mirror, etc. All this is done before going to the bridge to start the main engines.

 

[Alaskan Sea-Duction]

Like others, the Admiral secures certain things. The big one is going around the hook. Astoria (Columbia River Bar) to Neah Bay, everything get strapped down like sundeck furniture, TV, nav books etc. Also making sure all windows and ports are close and locked down.

 

[RickyD]

I usually get focused on preparing the boat to physically leave the dock. I rely on my bride to secure below. She does a great job. All of our drawers need to be lifted to pull out. Our refrigerators have latches. She does a great job of making odds and ends on counters are placed safely, usually in sinks, drawers, or cupboards. Thankfully she also checks windows and portlights.

 

[Northern Spy]

I dislike clutter, The boat is always ready to go in that regard.

In my submarine days, one of the first things we would do is "angles and dangles" when we went out to sea for an op. Putting the ship in all sorts of extreme up and down angles (classified) to check if the boat was stowed for sea. A loud bang could give away our position on an op, or move enough to create a sound short to transmit noise to the hull.

Angles and dangles were always a good time to get a photo of people standing on bulkheads or extreme forward leans. Sometimes we'd slide up and down the passageways on wool blankets, until someone got hurt.

Pictures from the internet.

 

[dhays]

We always secure the boat for the conditions we expect. Sometimes we run into the unexpected. Sometimes the expected just was a lot worse than expected. Once, the expected was just as bad as expected but the effects on secured gear were worse than expected.

 

[Group9]

I think the times we have gotten it the worst, have been on the ICW, when passing somebody pushing a four foot wake. I admit to having been unready for that in the cabin more than once or twice.

 

[rsn48]

When I'm crossing the Strait of Georgia the waves are usually on my beam as well as the wind. The only accident "so far" is when I had a guest on new to boating and he decided to pour himself coffee from his insulated thermos when we got hit good sideways from a wave. Needless to say his coffee went flying.

Usually when I am leaving on a cruise overnight or more, leaving the dock everything is secured. Its more when you leave an anchor or jetty the next following days where something can not be stowed efficiently. If I'm in a rush which is rare but does happen, I'll throw the offending article(s) in the sink(s). Then I will secure the offending items while underway.

Because my boat can plane, things that go bang are much more noticeable, especially in slammy wave conditions. Usually in my first and last hour of an extended cruise, I'll boot it fairly quickly to get over to Powell River, then slow down to 7 - 9 knots when hanging a left to head towards Desolation.

 

[Southern Boater]

Never leave a ripe avocado on a paper plate when going out the inlet!

Made that mistake once. It launched and made a god-awful mess.

Loose stuff goes in drawers, the sink or on the deck when rough offshore. We've gotten better at prepping since the avocado incident.

Dealing with ripe avocado under normal conditions can be challenging enough, sort of like applying adhesive/sealant without getting it on your fingers, let alone flying around out of control

After reading the responses generally, thank goodness for deep sinks to quickly store things.....

 

[menzies]

BTW, if anyone ever tells you that Melamine doesn't break, they are dead wrong!

 

[OldDan1943]

BTW, if anyone ever tells you that Melamine doesn't break, they are dead wrong!

LOL
Did it knock a hole in the hull below the water line?

 

[Wayfarer]

We always secure the boat for the conditions we expect. Sometimes we run into the unexpected. Sometimes the expected just was a lot worse than expected. Once, the expected was just as bad as expected but the effects on secured gear were worse than expected.

Lol, yeah. That.

I tend to keep things fairly clutter free and ready to go. A few loose items get tossed into the sink before departure, and I might make the promenade deck chairs fast if I expect weather.

So far I’ve only broken one coffee making device, but I expect it’ll happen again. I’m a scatterbrained idiot, and no amount of checklisting will completely cure me. I’m that boob who will spend half an hour painstakingly crafting a grocery list, only to leave it sitting on the counter when I go to the store.

 

[slowgoesit]

We maintain a 15 minute rule- we keep the boat ready to leave the dock within 15 minutes of an impromptu decision to leave port. So, this means that we keep things stowed/put away and the boat remains uncluttered of gear adrift.

Decorative items are secured using museum putty or "Joe's Sticky Stuff"

https://www.amazon.com/Set-Shop-Joes-Sticky-Stuff/dp/B00EECHMC4

Works for us!

Looks interesting, but WOW, $13.00 shipping on an $18.00 item is pretty steep. Try:

https://www.ebay.com/i/114221445909?chn=ps

and save about $12.00!

It's not that I'm cheap, it just that I don't like to spend more than I have to for the item I want! . . . . and I'm 1/4 Scottish . . . .

 

[slowgoesit]

We always secure the boat for the conditions we expect. Sometimes we run into the unexpected. Sometimes the expected just was a lot worse than expected. Once, the expected was just as bad as expected but the effects on secured gear were worse than expected.

Dave, you should have EXPECTED that!

 

[Shrew]

What drives me nuts is when we overlook the small stuff. The things that can fall or slam (doors) are always secured. It's the stuff that slides just a little and leaves wear marks, or the stuff that 'clinks' and 'ticks' that drive me nuts. What is really annoying is that my wife NEVER hears it.

Me: What is that noise?
Admiral: what noise?
ME: That knocking.
Admiral: What knocking?
Me: Something is knocking, can you please go find it and secure it?
Admiral: I don't hear anything
Me: I don't understand how you can't hear that, it's driving me crazy!!
Admiral: I don't know what you're talking about.
Me: Can you please take the wheel while I go find it??!!

I swear she does it on purpose so she doesn't need to leave the bridge.

 

[koliver]

Looks interesting, but WOW, $13.00 shipping on an $18.00 item is pretty steep. Try:

https://www.ebay.com/i/114221445909?chn=ps

and save about $12.00!

It's not that I'm cheap, it just that I don't like to spend more than I have to for the item I want! . . . . and I'm 1/4 Scottish . . . .

"Strong enough to lift a phone book,"
What is a "Phone Book"?

 

[rgano]

I was XO on DDG46, one of the most tender ships the Navy ever had. One night westbound in mid-Atlantic in way less than pleasant weather, I was trying to get some sleep but kept hearing a metallic click-click, click-click above all the sound and fury on the weather deck outside my stateroom. It coming from the missile firecontrol workshop on the 01-level above me. So because this shop had no interior access, I suited up and had to go outside the skin of the ship in the wild darkness, not too brilliant, to get in there. There I found two C-cell batteries in the lower drawer of a workbench rolling merrily back and forth. Kind of like the story in Mr Roberts where Ensign Pulver put marbles in the captain's overhead. It was still too rough to sleep, but at least that darned click was gone.

 

[rgano]

What drives me nuts is when we overlook the small stuff. The things that can fall or slam (doors) are always secured. It's the stuff that slides just a little and leaves wear marks, or the stuff that 'clinks' and 'ticks' that drive me nuts. What is really annoying is that my wife NEVER hears it.

Me: What is that noise?
Admiral: what noise?
ME: That knocking.
Admiral: What knocking?
Me: Something is knocking, can you please go find it and secure it?
Admiral: I don't hear anything
Me: I don't understand how you can't hear that, it's driving me crazy!!
Admiral: I don't know what you're talking about.
Me: Can you please take the wheel while I go find it??!!

I swear she does it on purpose so she doesn't need to leave the bridge.

Lucky you. I only get that request after I am comfy in bed.

 

[PJHoffnet]

Stow for sea. When in port take it out, use it, put it back.

 

[AusCan]

I'm thinking it somewhat depends where you boat. I can't imagine having bar stools or any non-fixed furniture on a boat in unprotected water. I secure everything before leaving the dock. Blue tape or non-slip surfaces might be ok for the occasional wake but aren't up to the job in rough seas.
Still I occasionally get caught out. The hot water heater broke free from its mounts. The portable chest freezer tipped over the 3"fiddle rail onto the floor during a >45deg roll.

 

[OldDan1943]

I was XO on DDG46, one of the most tender ships the Navy ever had. One night westbound in mid-Atlantic in way less than pleasant weather, I was trying to get some sleep but kept hearing a metallic click-click, click-click above all the sound and fury on the weather deck outside my stateroom. It coming from the missile firecontrol workshop on the 01-level above me. So because this shop had no interior access, I suited up and had to go outside the skin of the ship in the wild darkness, not too brilliant, to get in there. There I found two C-cell batteries in the lower drawer of a workbench rolling merrily back and forth. Kind of like the story in Mr Roberts where Ensign Pulver put marbles in the captain's overhead. It was still too rough to sleep, but at least that darned click was gone.

LOL, I guess you spoke to the men the next day? Blamed the total lack of sleep on them?

 

[Leatherneck]

I have a pickup truck mesh cargo net that I can use to hold down items such as lamps that I place on the aft queen size bed to prevent them from rolling/bouncing off.

 

[amapola]

Yes, we always secure anything that may go flying as part of our pre-leaving the dock check list.

 

[x2y3z4]

Yes, without any exception for 30+y.

On fast boats, slow vessels, multihulls.It makes life easier not having notebooks, dishes, tablets, food searching the way of momentum.

 

[Bellakins]

We lived on our sailboat in the Caribbean for 6 months a year for 3 years. We always secured everything before leaving the dock. Now that we're on a trawler, however, we'd gotten lazy about it because it's almost always a smooth ride. However, after getting waked badly and getting a dent in our galley floor from a sink cover that was on the countertop instead of the sink, we now are much better about securing everything. The only furniture that is loose are a couple of folding captains' chairs that never seem to move. We make sure there isn't anything else lying around to bounce around. Coffeepot goes in the sink with the sink cover on the sink!

 

[tozz]

Our departure checklist includes “securing the interior”. The few times we’ve broken an interior item were when we left on an easy, short cruise only to be tossed by a tanker wake.

Same here. Made the mistake only once that it was just a “short trip” from Seattle to bainbridge island. We have various levels for securing the boat but even short trips on calm days involve some level of securing items.

-tozz

 

[tekdiver]

Yes to the secure loose items. Venture past the inner harbor and the wakes will find any item you missed. Once we're offshore habit kicks in and things are put back in the right place after use. Glass on the boat is verboten to the maximum extent possible.

Been out of boating for 12 years just got back to it. We went through the boat made sure all plates cups bowels etc. We're plastic we keep everything tight because we trailer as well!

 

[mvweebles]

My very first large-ish boat 30+ years ago was a Uniflite 42 ACMY. Even a short jaunt in SF Bay ran the risk of being tossed due to wind-driven chop, especially in the infamously windy Candlestick Park area where I was berthed. I was pretty green and I purchased the boat to liveaboard as my GF at the time had taken a job in SF.

Getting the boat underway was, as expected, converting a house into a boat. One of our pre-departure gigs was to put lamps down on the bunks. Apparently I disconnected the shore power before the lamp was secured in bedding. Soooo......when we turned-on the generator later in the day, it of course energized the lamp and dang near caught fire - thank goodness someone went aft to use the head and saw the smouldering.

Not my only lesson in boat-prep: I bought that Uniflite in Newport Beach and hired a friend-of-a-friend delivery skipper for the run to SF. Nice guy, lousy captain - a sailing instructor with a license who had near zero offshore experience and suffered from extreme seasickness. He didn't give prep a moment's thought. So I learned the hard way about securing an anchor (hinged anchor platform broke-free in headseas and swung wildly into the bow - which was awful to retrieve and secure).

But wait.....there's more: on the same trip north, the dinghy was secured on the foredeck and shifted aftward with the OB prop blowing-out the center windshield window. Expensive lesson (tuition?) in prepping a boat and hiring a delivery captain, but it sure made me a much, much better delivery skipper when I got my license years later.

I now have virtually nothing aboard that needs to be secured before getting underway. Our Willard 36 is a small boat so clutter needs to be strictly managed which means that nothing comes aboard that doesn't have a secure home. I don't buy a pair of jeans unless I throw out a pair.

Peter

 

[Juggerknot]

Is it me or are there too many people who get “surprised” once away from the dock and end up with stuff thrown all over their salons and galleys because of . . .

I’ve recently seen far too many videos of people, some apparently experienced with a decent on line following, who suddenly find themselves With lamps, canned goods, dishes, and other bits and bobs all over the place when “surprised” by weather, wakes, rip tides, etc.

Do most of you try to secure loose items before or right after shoving off? How can anyone not expect to have stuff thrown around while cruising even on calm sunny days?

So tell me, does your formal or informal check list include securing loose items, furniture, etc and checking to see that all locking cabinets and drawers are secured? In the past 3-4 days I’ve been amazed at what I’ve seen so called experienced boaters experience. Yes, we miss the occasional item, etc....

Rant off, but the question still stands - do you secure loose stuff and doors/drawers before or as you are undocking more or less without exception?

I prescribe to the "shipshape" theory whereby, I stow everything and secure the boat before shoving off. I see far too many fellow boaters with unsecured lamps, artwork, golf bags, fuel cans, folding bikes etc etc. just waiting to be launched in the event of, well, an event. Maybe I'm just obsessive compulsive but, when you are in a vehicle, things need to be stashed, lashed or stowed.

 

[Salish Nomad]

Worst thing we've had fall over was a tall stack of anchor chain in the locker. Made a lot of noise, and took some effort to deploy that evening.

 

[Beaverlake]

So you all are sort of confirming what set off my original semi-rant post. Why a YouTube poster would expect sympathy for flying objects is beyond me. A newbie video? Empathy. But these “experienced” YouTubers who are surprised and amazed and seemingly starting a pity party? No empathy, no sympathy, just curmudgeonly amazement. Entertaining stories being shared here! Thanks!