Do I Look Pretty? Or Are You Lonely?

[Dockhead]

Originally Posted by Shrew

Ya, I kind of tend to agree. 'Close' is a relative concept. I've seen people anchor with PLENTY of room, only to have a neighbor start squawking. If you tend to anchor in tight anchorages frequently, you become a victim of perception. Nothing looks that close anymore.

When someone anchors very close, I look at the scope out. Either you're in each others swing radius or not. Your'e either going to hit or your not. Close only counts in horseshoes and hand grenades.

If you swing oddly, it will be a gentle bump. Now comes the 'I'm afraid if we turn and then he drags into me'. Dragging is a slow motion affair not requiring panic. If it happens at night, throw out some fenders, raft him up to you, then go back to bed and deal with it in the morning.

This does not really look like a big to me. Let's not get territorial over the free water we've 'staked out'.

Amen!

Very astute comment about perception . . . the eyeball is not a very good instrument in this case.

I have long since learned to stop trusting my eyeball judgement about spacing in anchorages. Don't laugh, but I use radar to get a realistic picture of it . . .


Furthermore, has anyone actually had another boat swing into them? I have never experienced this, nor seen it. Boats tend to swing together, and even boats which swing differently and which have different scope out, tend to swing ENOUGH alike, that there seems to never be a problem. . . .

[a64pilot]

Laugh, but I brought my Laser rangefinder aboard thinking that the anchoring set backs would take effect.
I wanted to be able to take it out and say yes Officer, I am now 312.5' away from the house

[jhulmer]

Originally Posted by Outlaw7

JHULMER. Was this key's anchorage Bayside Key Largo.. If so I think I know who you meant! LOL

LOL! Can't remember if it was Marathon or Key Largo, have to look back in the log, but yeah he was/is apparently famous for claiming that chunk of water. sure worked for him!

[skipmac]

Originally Posted by Dockhead

Furthermore, has anyone actually had another boat swing into them? I have never experienced this, nor seen it. Boats tend to swing together, and even boats which swing differently and which have different scope out, tend to swing ENOUGH alike, that there seems to never be a problem. . . .

I actually did have a boat bump me once in the middle of the night. We were anchored in Charlotte Amalie harbor, very crowded, peak of the season. A French boat came in late and anchored next to us but really not that close. However during the night the winds died to nothing and all the boats started drifting around in random circles.

When we bumped it was so quiet and gentle it barely woke me up. Got up, looked, gave him a push and went back to bed.

[sailorboy1]

Being a deep draft boat I tend to anchor out far from shore. The other night here in the Bahamas I was anchored 1/4 mile from shore in the deep 9' water when a cat anchored 100' feet away (we were the only boats here). It cracked me up as he could have gone way into better protection and still been in 6' of deep water for him.

I let it go as I understood he just wanted to be near because yes, we are pretty!

[jhulmer]

Originally Posted by sailorboy1

Being a deep draft boat I tend to anchor out far from shore. The other night here in the Bahamas I was anchored 1/4 mile from shore in the deep 9' water when a cat anchored 100' feet away (we were the only boats here). It cracked me up as he could have gone way into better protection and still been in 6' of deep water for him.

I let it go as I understood he just wanted to be near because yes, we are pretty!

LOL! Sometimes they just need a friend!

[jhulmer]

also, I'm guilty of this too, you see a boat anchored and think okay that's an anchorage and I don't have to do the research to find an acceptable place. it's a cheat but we all are lazy in our own kind of way!

[bwells79]

Could be a good use for a drone! A real noisy one. Practice flying circles around him with the camera always facing the boat. While naked, taking a leak off the swim platform and blaring rap music!

[double u]

...just wondering about the reaction to two males smooching heavily on deck with each other would get...

[senormechanico]

Stare at them with binoculars while "touching" yourself.
That ought'a creep out anybody !

[0urh]

Originally Posted by senormechanico

Stare at them with binoculars while "touching" yourself.
That ought'a creep out anybody !

And if it doesn't, you may have a bigger problem!

[double u]

Originally Posted by senormechanico

Stare at them with binoculars while "touching" yourself.
That ought'a creep out anybody !

BRILLIANT!!!

[FutureStories]

all my ideas were mentioned already with the exception of covering your hull with religious and political bumper stickers... but make sure theyre contradictory and dont follow a common theme. then they know youre batshit.

and as far as music, i like bluegrass, the doors, zz top and rap. loud music sounds like a party to me, and you cant party if youre not naked!

[hamburking]

I've read some pretty funny replies here. And I've been in the exact situation the OP describes...all alone, really nice anchorage, and a guy anchors right on top of you. And starts his generator.

However, in all seriousness, I suggest trying a kind word. Maybe this guy will be your new best friend, and save your boat or your life sometime in the future. A kind word goes a long way. And you never know why he anchored there, so close. Perhaps he just finished a long passage and is exhausted. Perhaps he has no charts of the area. Perhaps there is a medical or other emergency aboard and he wants to know that other people are close at hand.

I was once on a long night watch in the middle of the atlantic. I was alone on deck, and the other 3 guys were asleep (and drunk, but thats another story). A tiny light on the horizon appeared, and after several hours it was apparent it was another sailboat, like us, headed the same way. We signalled each other with flashlights, and drew close. It was a quiet night with no chance of collision. I woke the skipper and headed to the VHF to make contact. Suddenly the skipper was furious. He started the engine and headed in the opposite direction, WOT, sails flapping. He would not allow me to use the VHF, or even leave the deck in fear that I would use the VHF to contact the other sailboat. I was confused. In my experience you use the VHF and have a GAM. There's even a special word for it...GAM. I spoke with the skipper...what if the other boat was having a medical emergency, needed medicines we have, or needed to use our sat phone for help. What if their engine was dead, they were out of drinking water, or had a mechanical failure we could help with? The skipper was not interested. He thought only of himself. He said "There is nothing they could say that I would want to hear". I remember his words to this day, clear as if he had just said them. Wow, I thought...we are in the middle of an ocean, no one around for a thousand miles, and he is either selfish or terrified. An hour later, well past COW, when the sun finally came up he allowed me to go below, to my bunk. I still wonder what the other boat would have said, or even if they would have answered our VHF call. Most likely, they would have said hello. Its kind of lonely mid-ocean. Maybe it could have been my new best friend. I'll never know.