Throw it Overboard

[Mule]

Did you know a VW switchblade key and alarm door locker set up cost $385. To my son-in-law that got out of bed at 1130pm to see his mother-in-law and father-in-law sitting on a parking lot in the middle of the night back to back on a 48 qt ice chest.....priceless.

[zippy]

Make that 20 Volvos. In 1969 a ship carrying Volvos from Sweden to Halifax Nova Scotia ran into a storm that damaged some of the vehicles. When they got to Halifax they decided that the cars were not worth repairing so they shoved 20 of them over the side into Bedford Basin. They are still there, not far from shore. Low mileage, as is where is.

[GeoPowers]

Damn it!!! Just dropped my Garmin 60csx handheld into the drink after coming back from a crab run! Even donned my wetsuit, fins, and my 3-year old's goggles since I couldn't find my mask, but free-diving in dark water (night time here) with an overhead environment made me wuss out. (Ok, actually spaz out just a little, but I blame it on not having scuba gear.) I'll try after work during daylight tomorrow, but it isn't looking good.

[unbusted67]

Ahah I spazzed out the other day while trying to get kelp off the prop I'm such a chicken.

[roverhi]

Maui may not be the same as Kona but I'll give you the skinny for Kailua Bay on the Kona Coast. You can anchor here but the State issues mooring permits as well. Don't know how long they will let you stay at anchor before they try and get you on a mooring. You have to put the mooring down at your expense and remove when you give it up. It's a fairly good row to shore, a bit rolly and, of course, no amenities other than a public bathroom on the pier. The pier gives you a place to tie up your dinghy and relatively easy access to shore. Kona has very few beaches so a landing at the pier in Kailua Town or Keauhou Bay are the only two reasonably safe shore accesses. Living aboard is very much a cruising type of lifestyle. No power, running water, sanitation, showers, etc. The anchorage, though one of the best in the islands, is quite rolly even when the ocean is relatively flat. Found it the rolliest anchorage, ever, after a year cruising in French Polynesia.

The Ka'anpali Coast on Maui is a lot more hospitable to dinghys with long stretches of beach. Have seen a couple of dinghies pulled up on the beach while strolling there. Lahaina Harbor has a bathroom but doubt much more. There are always a few boats anchored offshore. Some have obviously been there a long time. Don't know whether the state enforces any anchoring restrictions or mooring requirements but would assume they do.

Both the Ka'anapali and Kona Coast are open roadsteds. They are reasonably comfortable for most of the summer but can get very rolly when the occasional South Swell happen. In the winter, the waves that make Hawaii surfing famous come rolling in. Even though both coasts are facing away from these swells, things can get extremely interesting. We typically lose a boat and sometimes 2 or 3 a year that are on the moorings. You cannot safely leave a boat unattended as we get 10' and even larger rollers in the anchorage/mooring area. The motion of the boats can chew through mooring lines in a very short time. We had one spell of bad weather when we first got here. Had to swim out to the boat, cause it was too rough to row a dinghy, and change/adjust the lines on a twice daily basis. The lines were showing significant wear after a few hours and regularly wore through the chafing gear. We moved the boat to the AlaWai boat harbor as soon as the weather calmed down. Fortunately our name came up for a slip there at the same time. Don't know what we would have done if that hadn't happened cause it was so nerve wracking to have the boat sitting in the bay. Now you can haul the boat and leave it in dry storage at Honokohau Harbor. That ends any chance of liveaboard, however.

AFAIK, know all the State Harbors in Hawaii are full and have long waiting lists. You are allowed to stay in a harbor for a month as a transient. You'd have to be on the boat and ready to move the boat on short notice as you'd be bouncing from slip to slip as boats go in and out. Lahaina Harbor probably has no hope of even getting a temp. space. Too small and too commercial. Ma'alaea Harbor is extremely windy, 15-30 mph winds most of the time, and a rundown, inhospitable place catering to the dive boats that go out to Molokini Island. It's also a bit far away from anything so a good bicycle, at minimum, or a car would be a necessity.

Living aboard in Hawaii is a challenge. It took me 7 years to get a liveaboard slip in the AlaWai many years ago. Got a slip in Honokohau Harbor cause we were here when they doubled the size of the harbor. Unfortunately, gave both slips up as we were boatless and into shoreside things like raising our kids. The waiting list for a slip is probably approaching a decade now. Keehi Lagoon on Oahu has moorings and may have some slips if the State ever fixes them. It's a miserable place to live, however, as it's under the flight path for the main runway at the airport and in the middle of an industrial area. Drugs, theft and assault are reported to be very prevalent. La Mariana boat club is an exception in the area but reported to have a waiting list and may not allow liveaboards. Kaneohe Bay on the windward side of Oahu may have some possibilities for long term anchoring and slip availability. Ko'olina in Leeward Oahu is a lovely marina but tres cher. Slip fees were approaching $20 a foot/month when I last checked.

So, good luck living aboard in Hawaii.

Aloha
Peter O.

[nico105]

i chucked the dalmatian overboard one time...and i was right behind him in a matter of seconds! it turns out, he can't swim!! the tide was ebbing him out and he sank out of sight a couple of times... he about drown me when i got close enough to him for him to try and climb up on me...for his saftey. he wasn't worried about the guy who threw him in. i was able to haul him back to and on the dock. i then realized i was an idiot for doing that to him... i still have this non swimming boat dog today and he has stayed dry of seawater since that day.

[osirissail]

Many years ago I was checking into the Bahamas at the Nassau Harbor Club docks when the C/I officials tripped while getting on-board and dropped his cell phone in the water. Luckily I had a very long boat pole with net on the end that I kept ready in case my cat went over the side. I fished the phone out in a few minutes and was rewarded with a "free" entry into the Bahamas - that made my day!

[Robertcateran]

I dropped a can of baked beans overboard off Saibai island in Torres strait. It was in about 5m of water and it was my last can of beans before a really monotonous diet for the next few days before I could get some more stores. I was a little nervous as there are big tiger sharks and crocodiles in the area but I went in very quickly and retrieved it.
I also dropped my four year old daughter while getting into the dinghy but she swims well and I manged to get her back in before she even got her hair wet.

[FSMike]

Some years ago three of us were delivering a 37' sloop from St. Thomas to Lauderdale. The boat needed a tad of TLC. One of the things that didn't work was the raw water intake for the galley sink, so we got into the habit of filling a bucket over the side and using that. Since the sink drain tended to leak, we also got into the habit of throwing the used soapy water overboard.

One nice day in the middle of nowhere halfway between St. Thomas and Hole In The Wall, I went up on deck after lunch to empty the bucket ------ and watched all the silverware merrily sparkle down into the depths. This faux pas left us with precisely one spoon and one knife until we stopped at Freeport.

Guess who ate last for the rest of the trip?

[Woodwind]

Seriously, I cannot understand why anybody who claims to love sailing and the sea would intentionally throw things overboard. Just because the stuff is out of sight (under the surface) does not mean it is magically gone.

The only acceptable reason for such behaviour would be if keeping the object in question aboard until the next harbour actually would pose a danger.

My $.02 - and no, I'm not a tree-hugger.

[kenny chaos]

A different perspective;
As an urchin diver off San Diego, you name it, we found it. The most peculiar was two stone rakes, two long handled, pointed shovels, and one sledge hammer. The heads were greased and wrapped in plastic like someone was coming back for them.
They were all laying within a few feet of each other in about 30' of water off Catalina.

[capngeo]

A case of Bahamian rum when customs said they were coming to visit when I called the "800" number returning to Key West.... We did get good numbers before the toss!

[zeehag]

Originally Posted by Woodwind

Seriously, I cannot understand why anybody who claims to love sailing and the sea would intentionally throw things overboard. Just because the stuff is out of sight (under the surface) does not mean it is magically gone.

The only acceptable reason for such behaviour would be if keeping the object in question aboard until the next harbour actually would pose a danger.

My $.02 - and no, I'm not a tree-hugger.

as a lover of this earth and seas, i find when the lids of cans are sent to the deep they do dissolve and recycle the minerals to the earth.

foods cut fine enough will feed fish. and birds.
i am not bp but i am not going to keep some forms of garbage that recycle easily to the beach and have the smell befoul my breathing air. maybe i wont be near shore for a few weeks.

also--many things DO fall without our given permission...i have been banned from the toolbox as i keep losing those precious items into sea--i am not able to hold them well and falling is common despite lanyards on everything....

[fstbttms]

Originally Posted by kenny chaos

They were all laying within a few feet of each other in about 30' of water off Catalina.

Umm... if it's me, I start digging.

[Randal Johnson]

We left the boatyard in China with our newly built Diesel Duck 462 and stopped in HK where I bought our fishing equipment including a beautiful extendable stainless steel gaff. The first time I had an opportunity to use it on a 3' Spanish Mackeral I found out the extendable part had not been secured and I was left holding just the handle.
It was heartbreaking seeing the remainder sink into the depths. Anyone need a gaff handle?