Wind

Dave, can your home or boat be replaced? Yes, there for in my mind its not the end of the world. Ive had plenty of incidents where people hit my boat.

So should people not operate a car in the rain because they risk a dangerous situation? I take pride in all my stuff and maintain it with great care as well. Accidents happen.

So what happens if you are driving your car on a rainy night and you get into an accident? Arent you to blame because you chose to go out in bad weather?

"Don't think you would feel this way if the boater practicing has a slip next to you. Its about personally responsibility and respect for others. Yes, listen to the weather report - be prudent. If you decide to go out and practice to see what your boat "does" and bend my anchor or scratch my hull - expect to pay for it."

Lets break this down. Did I ever say I wouldnt pay for repairs if I damaged your boat? Nope. Absolutely I would cover repairs. Heres the thing though. I never said I go out in windy weather and practice docking next to other boats. I go to an empty part of the marina. People need to learn how to dock. If my boat gets damaged due to someone learning so be it. It will get fixed. The biggest part, is hopefully they learned what they did wrong or hopefully they figured out how to approach it if they were faced with the same situation again.

You cant really blame someone for learning to dock in foul weather. You know how quickly the weather can change? So let me pose this question. If you are out on a beautiful day, the weather turns, it starts raining, the wind picks up. Would you rather attempt docking in foul weather 1. knowing you have had some practice in this environment, or 2. go into the docking without knowing how the boat is going to react in that situation?
 
Gotta love how some seem to feel they know what's best for others and deciding they should not take their boats out.
 
So when my kid wants to learn how to handle her car in the snow, I'll send her to your driveway. Just make sure you leave your best car out. No big deal, it's only metal and can be replaced.

John- it's got nothing to do about what's best for others. Can you honestly say if a boater who was next to your new boat and he decided to take it out to practice in the wind and rammed his anchor into your new boat, you would be ok with this? I would not.
 
How quickly things get ugly ..... One has to know their ability's...Then try to stay with in those wotking parameters ... Sometimes things just don't work out ....

The ITS only a boat thing... Not a good choice of words.

Rob
 
Common sense has to prevail. Yes, we should know how to handle our boats in foul weather, particularly when docking. No, we should not be first learning in a crowded marina or right next to slipped boats. Yes, a boat's only a boat; but, it's also "my second home, my baby, my dream, my extravagance." No one wants to have his/her boat damaged by someone learning to dock. I taught driver education for over 25 years. I, and my fellow teachers, made sure no other cars, drivers, pedestrians, or property were damaged or injuired. Boaters have the same responsibilities. Before we accepted our 33' Cruisers from our daughter and son-in-law, I hired a captain to work with me for a day, teaching me how to handle a twin-screw inboard, particularly when docking and leaving a slip. After spending six hours with him, I felt confident that I could move up from our 24' Chaparral. Boy, was I surprised when i found that the slip at our marina was 3' narrower than the slip at the marina at which the Cruisers had been previously kept, the marina slip in which I had 'learned' to handle the boat! Another afternoon practicing by empty slips helped me learn what to do, especially when the wind kicked up from the southwest. Personal responsibility, planning, and common sense are needed. Hy
 
"So when my kid wants to learn how to handle her car in the snow, I'll send her to your driveway. Just make sure you leave your best car out. No big deal, it's only metal and can be replaced."

Exactly. Not a problem. Send them on over. Im not sure why you are getting all worked up over this.

Rob, why is its only a boat not a good choice of words? We are all furtunate enough to have the funds that allow us to boat. Getting damage to a boat isnt the end of the world. Youre the perfect example. You just had a ton of work done due to a storm. Damage can and will get fixed.

If you guys are like this with your boats i would hate to see how you are with your houses. Do younguys shoot the bird that craps on your roof?? Btw that was a joke. Figured id clarify that with this group, as im not looking for a typing fight.
 
quote:
Originally posted by Anchor Management

John- it's got nothing to do about what's best for others. Can you honestly say if a boater who was next to your new boat and he decided to take it out to practice in the wind and rammed his anchor into your new boat, you would be ok with this? I would not.

Click to expand...


I never said I was OK with it but it doesn't give me the right to tell someone they can't take their boat out if I feel the conditions are above their abilities.
 
Whenever I changed boats I would go over to Cedar Beach Marina ....on WEEK DAYS...and spends hours banging between poles until I got it right. The windy days where the best for practice. It was a great place to practice/learn how to handle your boat.

Now I use traffic cones and BIG empty parking lots to practice :)
 
"Can you honestly say if a boater who was next to your new boat and he decided to take it out to practice in the wind and rammed his anchor into your new boat, you would be ok with this? I would not."

Well lets relate this to your car. You have a brand new car and you and the Mrs decide to go out for dinner. You come back after dinner and there is a nice scratch in the side of your new car. What are you going to do? Complain that people should'nt be parking next to your new car who do not know how to park?? Are you going to call the cops over it? Its a car, its metal, it can be fixed.

See what a lot of you are missing is that these little bang ups could be worse. Did anyone get hurt? Did anyone die? Did anyone lose a limb? Dont tell me ALMOST because ALMOST isnt yes. Be grateful for that, be grateful that no one was hurt, and you still have your life. The boat, the car, the plane, the train, whatever strikes your fancy, can be fixed and if not replaced.
 
BC

I think you are the one missing the point here.

There is no question that dings can be fixed and the lack of injury is the important thing. However, it is reckless for an inexperienced boater to purposefully take a boat out on a windy day let alone to practice docking in adverse conditions with other boats around. Just because nobody was hurt does not mean that it could not have happened. Inexperienced boaters tend to have inexperienced passengers. Those are the people who end up with broken bones and crushed fingers trying to stop a 20,000# boat from banging into something.
 
Mark, I am not missing anything.

Read what I have written from my first post. I am not missing ANYTHING here. If someone wants to go and practice docking so be it. Who are WE to tell them otherwise.

Its funny how I turn the tables just a tad, and relate this same topic to cars and no one can come back with a thought...
 
...so that wind was bad.

I like the thought of going to a quiet marina on a weekday and just smashing up your boat and the poles.

It was extremely windy Sunday - my neighbor basically spun his 34 Formula trying to get back to his dock. Took him a bit, but got her in.

If I had my old boat (single screw, big bow-like-sail), I would not have gone out, but if I got caught out there, I'd do my best to get in safely with minimal damage to my boat or anyone else's.

I bet half the "new" boaters out there left and the wind wasn't terrible. It came on strong quickly, although it was moderately windy all day; OR they left and had no idea how hard wind makes docking. I bet they learned a lesson and will pay more attention in the future to forecasts and winds before they leave the dock.
 
Well, we agree on nobody has that right. What we are expressing is our opinion. And that is it is dangerous and not the best idea to practice in hazardous conditions where you are putting others at risk for personal injury or property damage. I dont care how lonmg you have been boating. To me that is common sense.

As to the car, I think it was addressed more than once already in this thread. The same common sense applies to cars. Example-You dont let you kid practice snow manuvers on the Long Island Expressway or near others property. You do it in a wide open parking lot. Again. Common sense.
 
In 2007, my wife's brand new 350Z got clipped on the front bumper in the parking lot of where she works six hours after she got the car! It had 62 miles on it. Yes, we were both upset; yes, she was crying; yes, the car was repaired; no, on one was hurt. But that didn't make it 'right'. Someone misjudged in the parking lot. I've seen boaters do that on windy days and on calm days. Yes, accidents happen; a sudden gust of wind or an engine stall can lead to a collision. But, in my mind, to take a boat out on a day with strong, gusty winds just so you can practice docking under those conditions in a slip with boats right next to it is wrong. If you want to be a better boater, you must practice; if you want to be an excellent, conscientious boater, practice where no other boat is nearby. Too many 'boaters' pluck down a large check or sign on the line and then think they can do as they wish. If a boater is new at boating, particularly in windy weather, hire a captain to teach him/her how to handle a boat. Last season, just after pulling into our slip, my wife and I witnessed an older couple (and we're in our 60s) trying to back a 20' outboard runabout into a slip at the next dock. He was banging into every boat within 5 slips in each direction of his assigned slip. There was the typical south/southwest wind, common on the south shore, blowing him all over the place. His wife kept leaning over, trying to grab a pole or an anchor of a nearby boat to pull them in. Finally, I ran over to the other dock, had him put the engine in neutral, and then directed him on how to steer and accelerate to back in. I felt sorry for this new boater and his suffering wife. Only later, while speaking to the marina manager, did I learn that this couple has been boating for over 30 years and just "never got the hang of how to dock a boat!" A teacher/captain can be a good thing. Playing pinball with other boats as you go through the learning curve is not. Hy
 
I have never understood the insistence of backing into a stall when the conditions make it difficult. Me personally, I am going now first if that is the easiest way. That is if I get caught in conditions beyond my level of experience.

But I have watched people try and try ( and seen videos) to get that boat backed in when it would have been much quicker, safer, and less stressful to just pull straight in. Sorry. I don't get that.
 
"As to the car, I think it was addressed more than once already in this thread. The same common sense applies to cars. Example-You dont let you kid practice snow manuvers on the Long Island Expressway or near others property. You do it in a wide open parking lot. Again. Common sense."

You are dancing around here. No one is talking about a kid running a boat, we are talking about a grown man and or woman running a boat. So dont throw a kid into learning how to drive in the snow. Use it the same, a grown man and or woman driving a car in the snow...

"But, in my mind, to take a boat out on a day with strong, gusty winds just so you can practice docking under those conditions in a slip with boats right next to it is wrong"

No one is saying he left his slip to practice docking in his marina at his slip.
 
Just heard a guy in my marina with a new to him Silverton 34C went out Sunday, came back and took out his entire bow rail on another guy's anchor.

Need I say more.

If you can't dock well with no wind, DON'T GO OUT IN THE WIND!!!!
 
You are dancing around here. No one is talking about a kid running a boat, we are talking about a grown man and or woman running a boat. So dont throw a kid into learning how to drive in the snow. Use it the same, a grown man and or woman driving a car in the snow...

"But, in my mind, to take a boat out on a day with strong, gusty winds just so you can practice docking under those conditions in a slip with boats right next to it is wrong"

No one is saying he left his slip to practice docking in his marina at his slip.

Go back a hundred or so responses and read how this brew ha ha got started. It was about people leaving their slip in windy conditions for the sole purpose of practicing. And if it makes you feel better. The person practicing in a parking lot instead of the LIE on how to manuver in snowy conditions is 99. :)

[/quote]
 
Hank, I am aware as to how this thread started. I also made a comment how I like going out on windy days to practice docking. From there its the na sayers who took that ran with and here we are now.

It doesnt make me feel better, but thanks for trying. All I was attempting to get across to you is how I wouldnt (if I had kids) take them out on a windy day and let them have at it with docking, the same way I wouldnt take them on the LIE in the snow...
 
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