Our Dinghy "Flo" Saved the Mothership Today!

[Kenomac]

Boy I wish I had this on video....

Returning to the anchorage from my bike ride today aboard "Flo" our Highfield dinghy with our old Mercury 15hp two stroke, I rounded the corner to see an eighty foot powerboat dragging anchor and heading directly towards the mothership Orinoco. Right about the time I reached both boats, the powerboat T-boned itself on our bow roller which opened up a 12 inch hole in it's side where it became stuck (what an ugly sounding crunch that was). The owners who didn't know how to operate their boat (the captain was in town) were frantically attempting to fend off their boat using ballon type fenders while holding onto our pulpit.

First I came around and tried to push their 50 ton boat away using our tender, but that wasn't going to happen. So using full throttle I force wedged Flo between the two boats to keep them apart. &*%#, I couldn't believe this was happening.... picture our Oyster 53 stuck into the side of an 80ft Princess with me on the dinghy wedged in between as the two boats drifted somewhat side to side, and our single anchor now holding both boats in place.

The captain soon arrived via dinghy after the owner called him... seemed like 20 minutes, but it was probably more like ten. He used both side thrusters against the wind without much luck but was able to extract himself and raise his anchor, which then became entanged in ours.... situation bad to worse, while I'm still wedged inbetween going forward and back to keep the two boats apart. Sometimes I swear I had both boats each touching my opposite shoulders with the owner's family above me with fenders... definitely an adrenalin rush. Eventually, I worked my way forward and was able to untangle their anchor from our chain which then allowed them to drift into my boom and Flopper Stopper, which the family fended off, but because Flo had gone forward to untangle the anchor, their boat drifted sideways and broadsided Orinoco and bent a stanchion.

When it was all over, the folks on the other boat were very apologetic and came over with a bottle of wine and attemped to repair the bent stanchion without success. We shook hands... stuff happens.

Flo saved the day. Without a dinghy large enough and with enough horse power to pull of the maneuver, I believe both of us would be looking at upwards of $10k-$20k in damage. And kudos to the Ultra anchor which held firmly in place.

What a day.... Makes you wonder what goes on when we're not around?

[maxingout]

We were once hit by a 120 foot power yacht - charter - that had a substitute captain who pulled up anchor during a squall and proceeded to hit our port bow. It destroyed our bow pulpit and eventually they paid for the damage about a week later.

Our seventy pound beugle anchor held when they hit us.

Bad seamanship on their part.

Moral of the story is that when someone anchors too close, they obviously don't know what they are doing, and the smart thing is to pull up our anchor and move away from a disaster that is getting ready to happen.

[MV Wanderlust]

That's quite a story! Must have been heart-pounding. Guess in the end, you're lucky you weren't hurt and your boat only had a bent stanchion.

[Kenomac]

Originally Posted by JohnEasley

That's quite a story! Must have been heart-pounding. Guess in the end, you're lucky you weren't hurt and your boat only had a bent stanchion.

I still have to tell my wife the story. Being between the two boats was very.... uncomfortable.

[MV Wanderlust]

Originally Posted by Kenomac

I still have to tell my wife the story. Being between the two boats was very.... uncomfortable.

Don't event you the part about telling your wife. A story like that (there have been too many stories of me being in harm's way) wouldn't go over very well in our house. Good luck.

[Tayana42]

Goodness, Ken, that's an adventure none of us want. Good work on your part with your dinghy to minimize the damage to both boats. I've used our low power air floor dinghy as a fender between us and a dragging boat a few times but never anything as big as what you dealt with. Glad it worked out as it did without any greater pain. Let us know how Mrs Kenomac reacts when you tell her.

[Kenomac]

Apparently it was an 85ft boat, this is a picture of a sistership of the boat which drifted into us.

[Tayana42]

It is somewhat surprising that something that big dragging down directly onto your bow roller with enough force to punch a hole in their hull didn't do more damage to your boat, bow roller, pulpit and rig. I'd say you came off really lucky.

[Kenomac]

Originally Posted by Tayana42

It is somewhat surprising that something that big dragging down directly onto your bow roller with enough force to punch a hole in their hull didn't do more damage to your boat, bow roller, pulpit and rig. I'd say you came off really lucky.

I still don't understand how our pulpit was undamaged. When their boat hit, the owner was reaching down and holding onto our pulpit when I heard the loud crunch. He then wedged a large ballon fender under our pulpit and above our anchor roller, not wanting it to happen again. Then their boat drifted sideways with me and Flo stuck between their back half and the owner grabbing onto our pulpit. Their anchor was probably stuck on our chain in some way below the surface to hold the two boats together, because there's no way he'd have enough strength to hold the boats in place. He was just fending off.

The hull material on their boat is apparently very thin that high up above the waterline. I'm assuming it was a Princess, it looks exactly like the one pictured but might be a different brand.

Very surreal.

Our boat is apparently a tank, it's the second time in two months our bow roller has damaged another boat while minding it's own business. My neighbor in the marina in San Giorgio look out three of his stanchions when he hit it last month.

[Jolly Roger]

When you read a story like that it makes you wonder what would have happened to your own boat? My seven foot bowsprit would have punctured their hull like a spear. Trouble is, it would have put so much tension on the forestay, unless something parted it might have brought the foremast down. Frightening!

[Kenomac]

I told Mrs. Mac the entire story, she handled it well. We were lucky this time, if I'd returned just a few minutes later....

[Tayana42]

Warning to others...jousting with a Moody 53 is apparently not a wise move.

[Kenomac]

Originally Posted by maxingout

We were once hit by a 120 foot power yacht - charter - that had a substitute captain who pulled up anchor during a squall and proceeded to hit our port bow. It destroyed our bow pulpit and eventually they paid for the damage about a week later.

Our seventy pound beugle anchor held when they hit us.

Bad seamanship on their part.

Moral of the story is that when someone anchors too close, they obviously don't know what they are doing, and the smart thing is to pull up our anchor and move away from a disaster that is getting ready to happen.

These folks were actually anchored quite far from me. They dropped anchor around 10am near the shore, and the collision happened around 4pm maybe 300 meters from that point. They weren't even on my radar of boats to watch out for.

The surprising thing was that the owner had plenty of time to react, but didn't know how to start his own engine. He'd been relying on the hired help to do everything for ten years.

[Jim Cate]

The surprising thing was that the owner had plenty of time to react, but didn't know how to start his own engine. He'd been relying on the hired help to do everything for ten years.

GAdzooks!! This means that there should be a term more condemning than "WAFI" in the maritime lexicon.

Jim

[Wotname]

Originally Posted by Kenomac

These folks were actually anchored quite far from me. They dropped anchor around 10am near the shore, and the collision happened around 4pm maybe 300 meters from that point. They weren't even on my radar of boats to watch out for.

The surprising thing was that the owner had plenty of time to react, but didn't know how to start his own engine. He'd been relying on the hired help to do everything for ten years.

Yikes!

Curious, was it a rising tide between 10 am and 4 pm?