Pinball - Mooring field style

[sbman]

On Saturday morning I was out on deck doing some maintenance and fussing with things when I noticed a sail boat approaching the mooring field at one knot or less. It was dead calm, flat water. The captain was towing an dinghy on a 20' or so painter. All sails up. He appeared to have at least some amount of steerage, maybe.

I thought to myself, this is not going to end well. He entered the mooring field between two rows and I figured he had steerage enough to choose his entry point. As he proceeded into the field, his dinghy chose to drift to starboard and caught an unoccupied ball, and then the ball spun around a few times and the dinghy drifted towards the sail boat. He then pulled himself to his dinghy and started trying to free himself from the ball. He didn't have much luck.

Another sailor on a boat a few balls down offered to help unstick him, which he gladly accepted. He got back on his boat and stood there on deck while the volunteer freed his dinghy and painter from the ball.

Once free, he started drifting again, now with no steerage whatsoever.

He drifted into the next boat down the line and him and the volunteer did their best to fend off. The volunteer returned to his own boat. The captain then jumped into his dinghy and pulled on his outboard to no avail while he drifted into the next boat, an occupied boat. This one was fended by off by a long pole by it's occupant, and possibly some strong words. After this one, he drifted into yet another and did another round frantically pulling on the outboard before jumping back into his boat and attempting to fend off. He had side-tied his dinghy by now so it wasn't getting caught up in each boat as he collided with them.

So, the question is, in this situation what would be appropriate with respect to the owners of the boats that were collided into?

It's hard to have sympathy for the drifting boat, as the captain chose to sail with no wind and no viable means of backup propulsion and steered his way right into the field. I don't know if any of the boats collided with were damaged or not. Thoughts?

 

[Lollygag1]

Not a big fan of folks sailing in a mooring field w/o back up propulsion. Too much can go wrong. Last year watched some folks from a local race team t-bone a moored boat at a decent rate of speed. They just smacked it and kept going.

Years ago i saw Dennis Connor come into Newport harbor under full sail and spinnaker on a 12meter. Big no-no but don't think anyone had the stones to question him.

 

[psneeld]

Lots'a maybe's here...without hearing the captain's side of the story I would not be so bold as to offer an opinion other than yes the sailboat should make any reparations necessary.

 

[Comodave]

I would take photos of the boat as it hit the other boats. Then give them to the owners of the boats he hit. Hopefully with some registration numbers or boat name in the photos. Then if there are damages they can pursue the subject boat owner for repairs. Can’t stop idiots from boating…

 

[sbman]

Lots'a maybe's here...without hearing the captain's side of the story I would not be so bold as to offer an opinion other than yes the sailboat should make any reparations necessary.

No maybes. I certainly can't represent the captains side of the story. I saw what I saw, a captain choosing to sail with little to no wind. He had all the time in the world to throw the hook down prior to entering the field and chose not to do so.

 

[Mr. Ed]

If the sailboat and the dinghy both had no mechanical propulsion, I'd drop the hook just outside the mooring field. But if the dink's outboard ran, I'd have used it to tow the sailboat to a mooring ball.

 

[Benthic2]

What kind of sailboat was it ? Pretty much everything over 20 feet ( unless its a pure raceboat or some sort of classic/replica ) comes with propulsion.

Lots of questions/variables: Was there a reasonable place to anchor before he got into the mooring area ? Where did he finally end up ? Was there a reasonable route around the mooring field if he was passing through ? Was bad weather (for his boat type) imminent ?

Since you know more about this than the rest of us, would you care to speculate what you would have done if you were at the helm 30 minutes before he entered the mooring area ? Is this a municipal mooring area or part of a yacht club? If think if I was a member of the same club as the "captain" and his victims, I'd probably try to establish contact by leaving a note on the boats that said " Fellow Club Member, you should check your starboard side hull about midships as I saw an older Pearson 26 make contact with your boat last Saturday. I believe it is the boat moored on ball #123 about 200 yards sw of our location. I am your neighbor that just downsized from the Nordhavn 62 to the new Hinckley Picnic Boat. Cheers.

 

[dhays]

Lots'a maybe's here...without hearing the captain's side of the story I would not be so bold as to offer an opinion other than yes the sailboat should make any reparations necessary.

Agreed. We don't have enough information to make an comment on the actions of the sailboat in question.



Also, regardless of the how and why of how he found himself in that situation, it is up to him to cover the cost of any damage he may have caused.

 

[psneeld]

No maybes. I certainly can't represent the captains side of the story. I saw what I saw, a captain choosing to sail with little to no wind. He had all the time in the world to throw the hook down prior to entering the field and chose not to do so.

I am happy for you that you are so smart...and that just what meets the eye and is interpreted by a bystander must be correct...

A bunch of the maybe's I was referring to are due to the vast lack of info in the OP setting the scenario.... sorry that my accident investigation background haunts me to ask a lot of "whys".


Despite my background dealing with vessels in unusual predicaments and accident investigation, I will bow to your wisdom and hope you have fun with all the rest guessing why this happened.

 

[SteveK]

PS, you are correct, not enough info. Sails were up but no wind? That suggests that the auxiliary power would not come on, and a good sailor with wind can park the boat at will. The sailboat had momentum, there must have been a breeze. No wind, well enough said, the man needed help, not offered except by one.
The occupied boat could have offered to side tie until matters were sorted out.

 

[ksanders]

The good thing is that boats are not like automobiles.

One boat drifting into another is generally not going to cause any real damage especially if someone is able to fend of the drifting boat to make the boats touching a non event.

Yes if damage was done the boat should make reparations but chances are there was not any real damage. Boats are pretty tough.

 

[BruceK]

I shorten the dinghy painter right up when approaching a mooring buoy. He might have been ok if he had, it`s the hooked up painter that starts the chain of events.
Sailing onto a mooring buoy requires a planned approach. Way easier under power, but perhaps he had none. You want to go head to wind on the bow reaching the mooring, picking it up immediately. We don`t know his intentions.
I hope it works out ok for all involved.

 

[RedRascal]

The person on the occupied boat could have let him raft up until the sailor got his boat sorted out and motor going. If I saw him struggling and bouncing around the mooring field ahead of time I probably would have gone that route with him. If I saw him at the last minute I probably would have fended him off.

Sometimes folks need a minute to collect themselves.

 

[Bob Cofer]

Too bad so quick to judge and not so quick to offer a hand.

 

[Benthic2]

Too bad so quick to judge and not so quick to offer a hand.

.....says the guy judging the OP...

 

[sbman]

What kind of sailboat was it ? Pretty much everything over 20 feet ( unless its a pure raceboat or some sort of classic/replica ) comes with propulsion.

Lots of questions/variables: Was there a reasonable place to anchor before he got into the mooring area ? Where did he finally end up ? Was there a reasonable route around the mooring field if he was passing through ? Was bad weather (for his boat type) imminent ?

Since you know more about this than the rest of us, would you care to speculate what you would have done if you were at the helm 30 minutes before he entered the mooring area ? Is this a municipal mooring area or part of a yacht club? If think if I was a member of the same club as the "captain" and his victims, I'd probably try to establish contact by leaving a note on the boats that said " Fellow Club Member, you should check your starboard side hull about midships as I saw an older Pearson 26 make contact with your boat last Saturday. I believe it is the boat moored on ball #123 about 200 yards sw of our location. I am your neighbor that just downsized from the Nordhavn 62 to the new Hinckley Picnic Boat. Cheers.

This was a 28-30 foot sailboat. It may or may not have had onboard propulsion, if it did, no attempt was made to use it. The captain left a designated anchorage in calm weather with no forecast for any inclement weather to follow within the next few days. Winds would go from calm to 8-10 mph later in the day (sailable conditions later in the day). The entry path that was used is a designated day anchorage.

There is a reasonable route around the anchorage, a bit farther from shore. The captain eventually exited the other end of the mooring field and continued drifting/sailing into San Diego bay. This is a municipal mooring field.

I'm not passing judgement as some seem to have indicated. I'm asking what might be reasonable to do as an observer of this situation. If he had been close enough to help him fend off boats around me, I would have done so. As it was, the entanglements started off a good distance from me.

To answer your question, if I had been the captain in this same situation, would not have entered the field in the first place unless I had business in the field. It is not a zone for transit. I would have chosen to anchor short of the field until a viable means of propulsion was available (wind predicted later in the day, dinghy motor to tow/push) and avoided the field with that navigation. But that's just my opinion and I'm not really concerned about how he got there or why he was there or what he should have done.

I am happy for you that you are so smart...and that just what meets the eye and is interpreted by a bystander must be correct...

A bunch of the maybe's I was referring to are due to the vast lack of info in the OP setting the scenario.... sorry that my accident investigation background haunts me to ask a lot of "whys".


Despite my background dealing with vessels in unusual predicaments and accident investigation, I will bow to your wisdom and hope you have fun with all the rest guessing why this happened.

Why the confrontational reply? Having been present I am familiar with the surroundings, the weather, the location, suitable anchorages. Questions like Benthic2 asked are more productive maybe?

I did not ask for opinions on the captains actions, how he got into the situation, or what he should have done. Some may wish to discuss that, that's fine. My opinion is that the captain chose to enter into this situation unprepared, and it's just that, my opinion based on my observations. That may not be the case and that's why I didn't ask for opinions on what he should have done or the merits of the situation for the captain involved.

The question I asked is as a spectator of this situation, what would be reasonable in response (if any) if there is damage to some of the boats that were collided with.

If a captain collides with an unoccupied boat, is he/she obligated to notify the owner of the boat? What if there is no damage are you still obligated to make such contact? What rules apply in this case? Local port/harbor rules?

 

[sbman]

Too bad so quick to judge and not so quick to offer a hand.

Please enlighten me on how I could have offered a hand.

 

[sbman]

I shorten the dinghy painter right up when approaching a mooring buoy. He might have been ok if he had, it`s the hooked up painter that starts the chain of events.
Sailing onto a mooring buoy requires a planned approach. Way easier under power, but perhaps he had none. You want to go head to wind on the bow reaching the mooring, picking it up immediately. We don`t know his intentions.
I hope it works out ok for all involved.

He did side tie his dinghy later, but his attentions were divided between dealing with his dinghy and drifting into moored boats. His intention was not to catch a ball, the captain doesn't have a ball in this field.

 

[sbman]

Sounds like a challenging reply to me, plus judgement on the captain.

Have fun.

It's a factual statement, not a challenge or judgement. The run up to this area from the direction he was coming is a mile long, all suitable anchorage, in fact it's a designated 'day use' anchorage that no one was using at the time. It took a long time to cover this distance and the captain remained at his helm position during the entire time I observed his entry path. He made no attempt to shorten his dinghy line, enable propulsion or make any preparations during his approach the mooring field.

 

[BruceK]

There is more to learn from what went wrong for the sailboat than from some of the comments. Most important is shortening the dinghy painter in close quarters. That done, there might not be a thread.

 

[sbman]

There is more to learn from what went wrong for the sailboat than from some of the comments. Most important is shortening the dinghy painter in close quarters. That done, there might not be a thread.

I'm sure the sailboat captain felt he had plenty of steerage and no need for concern. I seriously doubt he meant to get tangled up with a bunch of boats. A variety of actions would have prevented it, true.

What are the rules related to collisions of boats occupied, not occupied, etc... and who is the authority that would enforce such rules?

If this had been cars in a parking lot, it would be pretty obvious if a car was damaged and the offender drove away, you could leave a note on the car with your name and number and any details you observed, if you wanted to help out. I suppose a boat situation is similar.

 

[SteveK]

In hindsight I am wondering why he did not tie up on the empty float he tangled with, even temporarily until he got things under control.

 

[Comodave]

In hindsight I am wondering why he did not tie up on the empty float he tangled with, even temporarily until he got things under control.

Loss of situational awareness. He was probably too focused on what his original goal was, whatever that was. To make an assessment of the situation and figure a way out. When a plan doesn’t work out you need to stop and reassess your plan.

 

[SteveK]

Loss of situational awareness. He was probably too focused on what his original goal was, whatever that was. To make an assessment of the situation and figure a way out. When a plan doesn’t work out you need to stop and reassess your plan.

That would explain why the helper left.

 

[Brooksie]

In conjunction with this discussion, I wish to ask if anyone read the letter in the previous issue of Woodenboat written by someone anchoring b/4 a storm outside Hadley's Harbor (near Woods Hole MA). Then, as I recall, he dragged into another anchored boat and they both dragged into a moored boat. At that point, if I read correctly, he cut both the other anchored boat and the moored boat free to save himself. Only later he dragged ashore as well.


I know this is not the same as the incident in question. But not only were there no consequences to this person for cutting free a moored boat; but he had the nerve to recount the story in a national magazine letter AND the magazine published it AND they published none of the letters of protest the following edition.



There are no consequences.

 

[RickyD]

If the sailboat and the dinghy both had no mechanical propulsion, I'd drop the hook just outside the mooring field. But if the dink's outboard ran, I'd have used it to tow the sailboat to a mooring ball.

+1

 

[JRO]

Why waste time thinking about it? People are stupid. **** happens. Sailors are not all experienced old salts doing everything perfect and blather about how great they are all the time regardless of the fact that you asked them what time it was…

 

[Nautica]

It seems there are not many sailors on here. Given "no wind" or not enough for steerage (That means no wind for a competent sailor) there is almost certainly no damage from boats "touching". However clearly if there was damage, a note should be left morally even if not legally. Drifting conditions takes a little skill to steer well in, and not a little planning. As others said, once dinghy caught the ball, the necessary concentration & monitoring are gone.

 

[firstbase]

I'm completely in psneeld's corner on this one. OP, please, your post has quite a few assumptions/maybes and while you saw what you saw, in many if not most investigations that is not the full story. You use 300 words in "Pinball - Mooring field style", a thinly veiled sailboats/boaters suck thread, to surround the question of "What's the right thing to do when you see a boat hit another boat?".

What do you do when you witness something happen to another boat, a vehicle, someone's yard? Do you have some integrity, do you follow the Golden Rule, or are you in the "I don't want to get involved" camp? Don't really need local law or mooring field, yacht club, customs to dictate your actions. Pretty simple to me.

I'm a sailor at heart who has gone to the dark side....

 

[reeltime]

I agree .you never no the circumstances aboard