Uncomfortable morning

Dredge in the marina 4ft off the swim platform....

That does "seem" a bit close.... but those guys that do this everyday are pretty good at it! I hope the marina gave everyone some notice about this, so you wouldn't be "trapped in" your slip?
One summer night we were tied up at Refuge Cove when a very large fuel barge was brought in. The tug was pushing the barge, then, at what seemed the last second, they disengaged and raced around to the front end and used "lots of power" to stop the barge about 10 feet from a whole dock full of visiting boats. I was glad to be on a different dock!

Four feet is WAAAY to close for my comfort level. A really small goof up could be a really huge mistake.



Just think of what could go wrong.......


Looks like a nice day for a boat ride.

Dredging begins at the private marina in Comox on Dec 1 and I hope it goes quickly. We are not allowed to take our boats in and out of the marina while the dredging is on. In theory it is only suppose to last a month but of course being the cynic that I am, I don't believe this time line.

One thing about spud barges, the dropped spud is instant brakes.


The guys I used to work with could maneuver within a foot before real discomfort set in.... if conditions weren't bad (wind, current, waves).


But, best laid plans.........

The marina I was in had a dredging and dock building business. They dredged in our marina on several occasions many times a few away from boats. Never was a problem, these guys can thread a needle. Worse problem was some splashing esp. if the wind was blowing.
Relax.

firehoser75 said:

One summer night we were tied up at Refuge Cove when a very large fuel barge was brought in. The tug was pushing the barge, then, at what seemed the last second, they disengaged and raced around to the front end and used "lots of power" to stop the barge about 10 feet from a whole dock full of visiting boats. I was glad to be on a different dock!

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Yikes!!

The video, and an interesting way to get to the dock......

https://youtu.be/QOuespL40iQ
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With the spud down they aren’t going to move so it isn’t really a problem. Just as long as they don’t hit you before or after the spud goes down.

rsn48 they said the dredging would be done in a month they just did not say which one.

Comodave said:

With the spud down they aren’t going to move so it isn’t really a problem. Just as long as they don’t hit you before or after the spud goes down.

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Quite the operation.

The (older) diesel hydraulic pump appears to take about 10 attempts with the starter over about 3 minutes to start in order to raise or lower the spuds - not exactly confidence-building.

Meanwhile, the bucket driver tries to hold the front-end steady by ramming the bucket into the mud while the pusher tries to maneuver the aft end around. This fairway has a massive 4-5ft on either side of the barge before hitting boats/pulpits. All of this in the 15kn beam winds.

Move back 20-30ft, do it again......

[sigh]

rsn48 they said the dredging would be done in a month they just did not say which one.

Welcome to the Cynics club. Those of us on the executive have been writing rules for the club for years now, but once we finally establish a defined rule, we toss it because we don't think anyone will follow it.

boathealer said:

Quite the operation.

The (older) diesel hydraulic pump appears to take about 10 attempts with the starter over about 3 minutes to start in order to raise or lower the spuds - not exactly confidence-building.

Meanwhile, the bucket driver tries to hold the front-end steady by ramming the bucket into the mud while the pusher tries to maneuver the aft end around. This fairway has a massive 4-5ft on either side of the barge before hitting boats/pulpits. All of this in the 15kn beam winds.

Move back 20-30ft, do it again......

[sigh]

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probably the most control possible with spuds and excavator. Marina should have notified you of pending dredging and offered you a slip elsewhere in the marina.... We were dredging NY cruise piers several years ago with Russian Gangsta yacht very close to where we had to dig. Security force aboard was 20 or so armed russian thugs of an 80 person crew. Accidents do happen but on a small scale operation like that, I wouldn't be too concerned.

boathealer said:

The video, and an interesting way to get to the dock......

https://youtu.be/QOuespL40iQ
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No hardhat,workvest or safety glasses...Never mind "riding the bucket"....SMH
What location is this? I know southeast us, probably NE Fl or southern Ga because Mobro barge (Moody Brothers,Green cove springs ,Fl crane and barge rentals)

Sailor of Fortune said:

No hardhat,workvest or safety glasses...Never mind "riding the bucket"....SMH
What location is this? I know southeast us, probably NE Fl or southern Ga because Mobro barge (Moody Brothers,Green cove springs ,Fl crane and barge rentals)

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St. Aug

Keep a careful watch of the spoils . . . probably 30 or 40 winch handles in there! Plus enough hand tools to fill a couple of tool boxes. . . . At a minimum!

slowgoesit said:

Keep a careful watch of the spoils . . . probably 30 or 40 winch handles in there! Plus enough hand tools to fill a couple of tool boxes. . . . At a minimum!

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LOL! Good point!

I left a lot of them myself up in New Bern (check out my Active Captain "Hazard/shoaling" marker in slip B4 at the New Bern Grand).

Lollygag1 said:

rsn48 they said the dredging would be done in a month they just did not say which one.

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It can’t be worse than the Golden Ray operation... or could it?