How Long Will You Leave Your Boat ?

[sailorboy1]

Don't have any experience with it, but seems a lot of faith/trust in boatboys. Wonder if this would a good learning thread "boatboys". Heck I'll go ahead and start one.

[Dockhead]

I will leave my boat at anchor with no one on board just long enough to ferry people ashore on the dinghy and come back. I don't mind being on the boat alone on anchor watch while guests go out hiking, sight-seeing, etc. Get a lot done and sometimes even relax a little.

That's so far. Maybe when the new anchor comes in it will be different.

On previous boat in calm weather, with an excellent anchor (Spade), we would go ashore for drinks and dinner, leaving the boat all by herself. But now we are sailing waters with strong tides and sudden storms.

Once left a charter boat at anchor while the whole party went ashore for dinner. Fortunately, at a beachside restaurant with the boat clearly in view. Storm blew up and I could see the boat dragging off down the anchorage. Jumped in the dink and somehow managed to catch up to her before any havoc was wrought. Once like that was enough for me.

[osirissail]

I am with the "not overnight" and add in not for more than a very short time the first day. If there are "boat buddies" in nearby boats who can watch and rescue your boat if something lets loose then it becomes easier to leave for a morning or afternoon.
- - Supposedly well set (tested with the engine but not dived on) anchors have held just fine up to XX knots then at XX+1 knot they break loose. A lot of this happens with anchors where diving the anchor is not possible or desirable. Usually they break loose due to debris on the sea bottom. Especially in hurricane ravaged harbors in the Caribbean there are pieces of sunken boats, lost mooring chains, and in one instance I hooked a bowling ball. What seems like a great "grab" can break loose at the strangest time and the most inopportune time.

[svrodeorm]

Interesting thead. It seems like quite a few of you guys are literally 'imprisoned' on your boats.

It's not an easy choice, but I do not necessarily consider marinas safer... maybe with regard to criminals, if you're in such an area, but I 've seen quite a few boats damaged in marinas during gales and as far as I know, the staff didn't do anything to deal with it. (chafed lines are not THAT difficult to deal with) In fact, the staff dindn't even act when other boat-owners told them their neighbour boat was about to climb their own.

We have left the boat at anchor several times for day trips on shore and +5 weeks at anchor (sheltered place in favoured season) with fellow crusiers baby-sitting it while we were away.

We DO trust our ground tackle, sometimes people comment on a BIG hook at our bow, but we sleep well at night even if 2-3 full gales at anchor during the last winter kept us maintaining anchor watches.

Like everything else, one makes one's choices...

[Mariness]

Originally Posted by svrodeorm

It's not an easy choice, but I do not necessarily consider marinas safer... maybe with regard to criminals, if you're in such an area, but I 've seen quite a few boats damaged in marinas during gales and as far as I know, the staff didn't do anything to deal with it. ...

In all likelihood, at least in the US, the staff is required NOT to help, lest they open the marina to a lawsuit.

I agree that they are not always safer: A guy came into the office a few days ago, and was telling us about how a few months back he had some expensive stuff stolen out of his boat while he was away from it for a day. He was in a marina, in the Florida Keys.
His conclusion was that bad things happen everywhere, and next time he'll either remove everything, or lock up better, or both. (Probably wasn't as calm about it at the time though!)

Never being able to leave sight-distance of the boat seems very restrictive. There are many things I'd like to do that are more than 50 feet from a beach! But with the anchor scheme we've been designing, we could probably hold an aircraft carrier without worry. So if we dinghy over someday and ask you to keep an eye on things for a day or 2 - we'll be happy to return the favor when we get back!