Watch Out for This Guy in the B.V.I.'s

[pteron]

I'm told that you are at liberty to arrest a boat flying the Jolly Roger under (at least) UK maritime law. Could be fun

[Bash]

Originally Posted by hummingway

It occurred to me it may have happened this way; they were under power but snagged the anchor bouy and so killed the engine, then put up the sails in an attempt to pull loose.

another reason to despise anchor buoys. My guess would be that he was sailing through the anchorage to gawk at sunbathers, and when he saw the woman in the turquoise bikini was so stupefied he forgot to watch for anchor buoys.

Makes for a better story, anyway.

[SaltyMonkey]

Bash's answer is closest!...

My first thought was they were trying to impress everyone they were experienced sailors - by not using their engine to either enter port or leave. Or maybe sail away/to so they wouldn't disturb any neighbors with engine noise.

[markpierce]

Originally Posted by Blue Stocking

Any of you that haven't yet had "your 15 minutes of fame", are just lucky.

Maybe we'll be fortunate not to have our embarrassing moments recorded and then posted on the Internet for all the world to see.

[markpierce]

Originally Posted by CSY Man

Guess I was chicken when I was learning: I stayed far away from other boats and never hit anybody. Not rocket science, just a tiny bit of common sense.

That's the strategy I adopted.

[foggysail]

Yeah-- lost count of the number of times I witnessed a Captain Horatio I_SAIL_BETTER_THAN_YOU horn_blowing through an anchorage! People who do this are IMHO in the same category as drunk drivers!

It really ticks me off. Many times there are kids in the water, people in small dinghies enjoying the excitement of being on a moored/anchored boat only to find some idiot putting their safety in jeopardy.

Sailboats do not have brakes especially when sails are up. There was only one enjoyable scene in that video---------AAHhhhh, THE perfectly fitted BIKINI!

Foggy

[markpierce]

Originally Posted by Bash

is it just me, or does there seem to be an inverse correlation between sailing ability and the propernsity to fly the jolly roger?

No, it's not just you. I've noted a similar correlation with sailors wearing captain's hats such as worn by movie stars like Robert Mitchum and John Wayne in those schooner-in-the-South-Pacific-islands films of the 1950s.

[Pete7]

"Believe me, there is nothing - absolutely nothing - half so much worth doing as simply messing about in boats." — Kenneth Grahame (The Wind in the Willows)



Pete

[Jon4399]

Apart from the turquoise bikini, I was impressed with the graciousness of those that got tagged, and of those in the dinghies trying to get them sorted. I might have used stronger language to ask him to get his anchor up or to get some fenders out. But seriously, 30000lbs "gently" scraping your hull is more than a little bump.

[Steve W]

A crewed charterboat captain shot the video and among his comments was that the boat entered the Anegada anchorage motorsailing, snagged an anchor bouy after hitting a trimaran and that is when the camera came out capturing the charter boat playing ping pong with the other boats. Engine never failed. It amazed me how calm everyone stayed and got everything sorted out...maybe the yelling was over by the time Captain Rick got close enough to pick up their voices. Details at www.traveltalkonline.com in the BVI forum. I bet Conch Charters was thrilled to see the video.

[hummingway]

That just makes you go "huh?".

[sailorboy1]

On another note: that was a tough boat! After all those collisons I didn't even see any scratches on it.

[Sailagain]

I am amazed the responders to this incident are so calm. If this yahoo would have hit my boat I would have been far more aggravated (vocally). My admiration to them for them calmness!!!!!

[Sabbatical II]

Reminds me of a couple of months ago as I'm finishing of my Yachtmaster practical. I normally sail on Lake Macquarie where there is no commercial traffic and I often go sailing and can't see another vessel underway insight. The Yachtmaster exam was on a Sunday arvo on Pittwater which is wall to wall boats and of course mostly weekenders. The instructor marked me "not yet competent" becuase I prefered to drop sail and turn on the engine when enterring a tight but not overly crowded anchorage. I left under sail thinking this would keep him happy, but no. So there are some out there who think it's cool (and demonstrates our competance) to glide through an anchorage under sail, but not me.

Greg

[cwyckham]

Originally Posted by foggysail

Yeah-- lost count of the number of times I witnessed a Captain Horatio I_SAIL_BETTER_THAN_YOU horn_blowing through an anchorage! People who do this are IMHO in the same category as drunk drivers!

It really ticks me off. Many times there are kids in the water, people in small dinghies enjoying the excitement of being on a moored/anchored boat only to find some idiot putting their safety in jeopardy.

Sailboats do not have brakes especially when sails are up. There was only one enjoyable scene in that video---------AAHhhhh, THE perfectly fitted BIKINI!

Foggy

We agree on the bikini, but I strongly disagree with the rest of your statement. I take great pleasure and pride in sailing on or off the anchor when conditions are right for my boat and my skill level (which is moderate at best). I have never put another person or vessel in any danger. Likening my actions to drunk driving is absurd.