Another Dinghy disaster

[Emmalina]

I am getting board trying to save peoples dinghies around here. Especially when this guy was advised of the danger the day before. Its normally the charter boats but more and more often it seems to be "cruisers" as they keep telling me. I would recommend staying in the marina..... nuf said

[Talbot]

Advise / help them once - if they repeat the idiocy then thats their problem.

[DennisM]

Never one to be shy about displaying my ignorance, I must ask how that keeps happening? Are they breaking loose from moorings? Falling off davits? Or what?

[Cotemar]

Old age seems to get the best of some cruisers. Where is my dingy again

[Blue Stocking]

I always chuckle at the observance of Northeast cruisers, who come from huge tidal changes, can't seem to figure out the 3 1/2 ft change in my island.

[s/v 'Faith']

Originally Posted by DennisM

Never one to be shy about displaying my ignorance, I must ask how that keeps happening? Are they breaking loose from moorings? Falling off davits? Or what?

Looks like a dingy was tied up somewhere where the tide went out and the dingy got under a part of the dock. Tide came up, and dingy gets trapped under the cross brace of the dock and gets stuck.

Probably either tie up somewhere else, or use a stern anchor to prevent it happening.

[JPA Cate]

People new to cruising are not used to considering tidal fluctuations. Dinghies getting trapped under docks is common and IMO due to carelessness.

[DennisM]

Originally Posted by Ann T. Cate

People new to cruising are not used to considering tidal fluctuations. Dinghies getting trapped under docks is common and IMO due to carelessness.

Ahhh...now I get it. Thanks, Ann.

[zboss]

Originally Posted by Talbot

Advise / help them once - if they repeat the idiocy then thats their problem.

Unfortunately, I don't think that is a productive answer. If a dinghy full of gas and oil sinks and spills out, its gonna hurt us all.

Better to help with the understanding/educate and leave a clean wake than risk destroying our waters. It sucks but hey - you could always claim salvage

[David M]

+1, except you can't claim salvage on someone else's property so easily.

[Rakuflames]

Originally Posted by Emmalina

I am getting board trying to save peoples dinghies around here. Especially when this guy was advised of the danger the day before. Its normally the charter boats but more and more often it seems to be "cruisers" as they keep telling me. I would recommend staying in the marina..... nuf said

Anyone can make a mistake. I have a friend who is an expert sailor in every sense of the word, but we had an abnormally high tide one day, and the bow of his dinghy was caught under the dock and he was starting to ship water. I called him and he came and saved it. If he can make the mistake, anyone can.

[Stu Jackson]

Experienced sailors who don't understand tides?

[JPA Cate]

Nope, just didn't check the tide tables.

[Travelnik]

Originally Posted by Cotemar

Old age seems to get the best of some cruisers. Where is my dingy again

You could try that as a pick-up line in a singles bar, but I don't think you'll get too far!

[SVNeko]

That's not much of a "disaster". If you are constantly saving them, maybe you can give us a better example - a flip in the surf or something. Heck, in SF Bay I could have taken pics of painters under tension going straight down into the water from the back of the boat.