Mooring Etiquette : Questions

[Barra]

Originally Posted by Scout 30

We got so tired of people anchoring & then ending up on top of our anchor or rode that we started attaching a float to the anchor. It seems to help although there are some that are just oblivious.

Can you please explain exactly what is the problem of another boat floating above your anchor?

I just dont get it

At all

If you are going to up anchor before them its cool they can move out of your way.

Unless you have very very different scopes you cant come into contact.

Peeps that put down anchor buoys in crowded anchorages are just a mystery to me as to their motivations.

What am I missing?

The only thing to really worry about is whether the boat upwind of you has anchored effectively and wont drag right?

[barboak]

Originally Posted by Barra

Can you please explain exactly what is the problem of another boat floating above your anchor?

I just dont get it

At all

If you are going to up anchor before them its cool they can move out of your way.

Unless you have very very different scopes you cant come into contact.

Peeps that put down anchor buoys in crowded anchorages are just a mystery to me as to their motivations.

What am I missing?

The only thing to really worry about is whether the boat upwind of you has anchored effectively and wont drag right?

Good point about anchor buoys, which may be appropriate in a few situations but are inappropriate in a crowded anchorage. I figure the boat deploying one is either a jerk or inexperienced!

[Jim Cate]

Originally Posted by Dockhead

Been there, done that. And more than once.

.......

It was a rough night. Amazingly, there seem to have been no collisions, no damage, no losses.

And that statement is the crux of the original discussion: even under horrific conditions, no damage occurred. So, all the worry and angst about folks anchoring a boat length away or whatever are really unnecessary.

I surely don't enjoy crowded anchorages, but sometimes close spacing is simply the only viable option. It isn't a death sentence, and not something to get all aggro about.

Jim

[sck5]

About somebody's boat floating over my anchor - There really isnt a problem until I want to leave. Then I have to get their attention (a problem at, e.g. dawn) if I want them to move. Usually this isn't a problem but once I was anchored off Martinique in an anchorage that would easily have fit 100 boats (Ste. Anne). It was pretty empty that day but where does the next guy put his boat? Right over my anchor! Why do that when there are literally acres of possible places that arent right on top of me? Not only that, but then I get to smell his cooking, listen to his drunken party and have to get in my dink to go wake him up in the morning when I want to leave.

So, though it is clearly something that can be dealt with, why do it if there is no need to?

But I am with Jim C above. Though irritating it is nothing to get aggro about.

[Scout 30]

Here's the problem with lying over someone's anchor. You have to move your boat for them to be able to leave. I wasn't actually talking about a crowded anchorage but it applies there too. If someone is on the boat it's a pain in the ass but doable. But, a lot of the time people get in their dinghies & head off, sometimes for hours, & then you are stuck there till they get back. You might be OK with that but I'm not.

[Dockhead]

Originally Posted by Scout 30

Here's the problem with lying over someone's anchor. You have to move your boat for them to be able to leave. I wasn't actually talking about a crowded anchorage but it applies there too. If someone is on the boat it's a pain in the ass but doable. But, a lot of the time people get in their dinghies & head off, sometimes for hours, & then you are stuck there till they get back. You might be OK with that but I'm not.

Just put a fender out and gently push the other boat aside, when you reach your anchor. No big deal in reasonable weather.

[Dockhead]

Originally Posted by Jim Cate

And that statement is the crux of the original discussion: even under horrific conditions, no damage occurred. So, all the worry and angst about folks anchoring a boat length away or whatever are really unnecessary.

I surely don't enjoy crowded anchorages, but sometimes close spacing is simply the only viable option. It isn't a death sentence, and not something to get all aggro about.

Jim

Yes, as we've heard a few times here, and generally from the more experienced contingent.

[a64pilot]

There is a definite herd mentality and one of "this is the anchorage" don't anchor somewhere else.
Last fri night we leave to anchor out in the Bay, we motor on by half dozen boats in the anchorage just barely off the beach, this with miles of shoreline and the spot that is the "anchorage" is a lee shore, with forecasted 30 Kt winds. I tucked up to the opposite shore all by myself and enjoyed no waves and light winds all night.

[Scout 30]

Originally Posted by Dockhead

Yes, as we've heard a few times here, and generally from the more experienced contingent.

Yeah, you're real experienced. You actually think it would be a good idea for me to throw a fender over the side & push your 54' Moody out of the way. First of all I'd be pushing with my bow & second, there's is a good probability that there'd be some contact. But then you're experienced so you wouldn't mind if I damage your boat a little.

[Barra]

It would be the other way round ie it would be them motoring forward a boat length if you want to leave right?

If so a pain in the ass is a bit of a stretch. Just have a conversation when they drop or if you weren't there when you get back and sort out when they need to move. Simple.

In a crowded anchorage all the anchor buoy does is restrict otherwise safe anchoring options. It's plain selfish. Maybe those skippers you think are oblivious aren't really. They just think your having a buoy out is unnecessary.

In an uncrowded anchorage it's of course a different story as with many more options there is no need to be so close upwind so why do it so I'm with you there. That's poor etiquette for sure. But so is tieing up space with unnecessary buoys when things are tighter.

[Dockhead]

Originally Posted by Scout 30

Yeah, you're real experienced. You actually think it would be a good idea for me to throw a fender over the side & push your 54' Moody out of the way. First of all I'd be pushing with my bow & second, there's is a good probability that there'd be some contact. But then you're experienced so you wouldn't mind if I damage your boat a little.

Ignoring the sarcasm, which is unnecessary

. . . your point of course is valid: if the offending vessel is much larger than yours, then this trick won't work.

But it's unlikely that you'll find yourself in that situation with me. I only shared an anchorage with even one other boat once, in four months of cruising this summer. Go North, young man! , away from the madding crowd . . .

[Scout 30]

Originally Posted by Barra

It would be the other way round ie it would be them motoring forward a boat length if you want to leave right?

If so a pain in the ass is a bit of a stretch. Just have a conversation when they drop or if you weren't there when you get back and sort out when they need to move. Simple.

In a crowded anchorage all the anchor buoy does is restrict otherwise safe anchoring options. It's plain selfish. Maybe those skippers you think are oblivious aren't really. They just think your having a buoy out is unnecessary.

In an uncrowded anchorage it's of course a different story as with many more options there is no need to be so close upwind so why do it so I'm with you there. That's poor etiquette for sure. But so is tieing up space with unnecessary buoys when things are tighter.

Like I said before I wasn't talking about a crowded anchorage. Where we're at on the West coast of Florida there's always plenty of room. The herd just tends to follow sometimes.

[Dockhead]

As to experienced vs inexperienced --

That was not intended to be a slight to anyone. It is just an observation, that as a rule, really experienced people like Jim don't get freaked out by people anchoring nearby. That is because experience has taught him (and many others who have posted in this thread) that boats almost never swing into each other, even when anchored very close to each other.


Not that I would ever anchor close to another boat when it wasn't absolutely necessary. But I have another reason for that -- I have nearly half a ton of ground tackle on board and I believe that chain doesn't do anything useful while lying in the anchor locker. I don't like to coordinate my scope with other boats if I don't have to, and really prefer it when I can let it all out without worrying about other boats. This often means, for me, anchoring in deeper water than the crowd prefers anchoring in.

[kmacdonald]

I prefer to stow my fenders when not at the dock or rafted up. If you feel the need for bumpers, that's fine by me. May be a set of training wheels to go with it?

[Barra]

Well I hear that - only one thing worse than the clown that comes into the otherwise empty anchorage your in and drops ontop of you.

The one thing worse was the German stinkboat we came across in Croatia with a buoy on 50m chain pick. In 2.5m of water. In an anchorage of 70 odd boats they had close to 1/3 of the space and yelled much German at anyone daring to drop in their arc.

All the Admiral really had to do was get naked and sit on the bow.