Sleeping at the Marina

I sleep deeply when we’re tied to the dock, no need to worry about so many things. Especially not needing to worry about dragging anchor. So I was quite asleep when it happened.

Crash

I woke up to a crash, and then the sound of people on our boat! It took a second or three to figure out what was going on and I was up and on deck. Shaking the sleep out of my eyes and the confusion out of my head, I realized someone had crashed into us at 3:45 am.

To make matters even more confusing, someone had tried to come into the marina in the absolute dark at the max ebb tide. So they would have had three knots of current running downriver, sweeping them at the same speed to their left as they came through a tight entrance to the marina, then to try to navigate a tight fairway at a marina that was fully booked and full, with the only spot at the fuel dock.

It was at this point that I learned later they had their dinghy tow line wrap around their propeller and they lost power.

Caught in a 3-knot current, they were swept downriver and right into us.

CRASH !

We were tied parallel to the river so we had the three knots pushing us onto the dock, and they had the three knots pushing them into us. I’m so grateful they didn’t do any damage, but we had an issue. There was no way to push them off against such a current.

We were close enough to the corner of the fuel dock that I was able to get a bow line tied from their bow to the dock, then run a line from their midship to the dock, and we pulled them 90 degrees onto the fuel dock.

Against the current and the growing wind, it was impossible to make much progress, but eventually they were able to pull hard enough to have enough line on their boat to wrap their winch. Finally secured (kinda) and no longer pressed onto our boat, we had time for them to slowly winch themselves all the way to the fuel dock.

During this effort, their bowsprit ended up ripping one of the power pedestals off the dock, and I realized how lucky we were that they hadn’t hit us head-on with that thing.

They were all tied up by 4:15 am and we all went to bed again. Well, I went to the galley and made myself a pot of tea since there was no way I was going to get any sleep after that.

Upset Dockmaster

Needless to say the dockmaster was a bit upset later in the morning when he arrived at the marina. We had missed the 7am slack tide, and the current was once again building, this time in the opposite direction and now opposing the wind, which was building.

Insurance information was given, and everyone was as polite as I think they were able to be given the circumstances.

Departure

Once the sun was all the way up and our new neighbors had rested and recovered, the work started to lift their dinghy and free their propeller. Since they had a 15-horsepower outboard on a lift for their 12 Ton boat, I realized what part of the problem was. But a few hacks with a machete and we could get it off.

The engine was tested, and the dockmaster was very anxious to get them off the dock and on their way.

I told them about the anchorage we preferred and why, given the conditions, I thought it would be the best spot for them.

Then it was time. We walked them back off the fuel dock and tried to swing their bow along the dock so they would have an easier time getting out. But the outboard was difficult to control. He didn’t have remote throttle control, so to adjust the speed, he had to lean out over the transom of the boat and then down to the motor’s tiller handle. And that would shift the alignment of the motor so he was steering with both the boat’s rudder and the outboard.

At one point, with a revving engine, he was heading not toward the exit of the fairway but to two rather large and expensive Fountaine Pajot Catamarans. Luckily, I don’t think they saw, but I was there to be sick to my stomach with worry for them. I had to turn away; at this point, all of the lines were tossed, and there was nothing any of us could do. “I’m turning this way to throw up,” I said, and the dockmaster gave a groan that seemed to say that he wished he could do the same.

Somehow, the boat made it out into the river and away from the marina without any more damage or crashing. An hour or so later, I remembered my advice about the anchorage with this wind and peered over the water to see if they had gone there. Not sure where they had gone, but they hadn’t chosen that anchorage.