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Finesse or Power???

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Discussion starter · #1 ·
There are times when I handle the boat with finesse and there are times when I handle the boat with power....

Yesterday was very windy on the bay. And we tied up at Red Eyes Dock Bar for an hour of so yesterday. Went we went to leave there was a very strong current blowing us right into the dock.

I had a situation yesterday where I had to handle the boat with power ....big time power...within inches of another boat.....

We made it out alive. My heart was in my throat for about 2 seconds and the guysin the other boat is was probably sitting about 2 inches higher in his shorts after we made it past him...

I'll let karen tell the story.... I'm still a little a rattled... (oh yes, and the boat is fine and continues to be flawless).

- jeff
 
Discussion starter · #3 ·
oh well....since Karen is going to be "tied up" all day long, I'll tell the story.

we pulled into Red Eye's Dock Bar about 1 pm yesterday.

It was slack tide with wind out of the east. I figured I'd tie up on the west (channel) side of the dock since I figured the wind would blow me away from the dock when we left. After an hour of enjoying the sun we figured it was time to leave and head home. In that hour the tide started coming in and there was a real strong aft current (we were facing north). If you know Kent Island Narrows you know the current can run as much as 10 knots perhaps stronger. There was a guy in a big scarab (Eagles Nest) tied up about 30 feet in front of me, but where I docked was at the end of the straight section of dock and right ahead of me there was about a 30 degree bend in the dock to the left......which is the way the current was going. The current was directly at my rear.

I figured if my boat got a really good shove on the rear away from the dock, I could put it in reverse and back away with a little help from the wind to push me away.....wrong!!!!

I got a good shove but the current pushed me right back into the dock.

Fortunately I had the guy at the dock leave a big bumper of mine on the rear of the boat facing the dock because it cushioned our movement back into the dock from the current and Karen was on the bow protecting the front of the boat.

Never ask non boating people to give you a good shove off the dock, because they truly are clueless.

okay....time to rethink the current situation because the last formula didn't work.


The dock hand that was helping up is a hefty young guy and I told him to give me a BIG shove on the bow to get my nose pointed out and away from the guy in front of me. I knew as soon as we let go of the dock we'd drift right into the guy in front me so I had to move fast and deciseively.

SO.....

the dock hand gives the bow a big shove. We start to move and the I feel the current taking over once again. It was time time for big gonads at the throttles. I look back and see no one has messed with my rear bumper and I cut the wheel hard left and gun the throttles. I've got the nose angled past the guy in front of me, but our present trajectory will bring the rear of my boat right into this. BIGGER slam on the throttles and this time I cut the wheel hard right and even bigger blast on the throttles and the back on swings around. We go sailing past his guy by about 18 inches at about 15 mph....

phew...

my heart slowly drops back down into my chest and out of my throat. Karen's eyes are about as big as Dave Letterman bank account and I am thanksful to be out of there. I hear the studder in her voice as she's trying to regain her composure since she was unaware of what had to happen in that instant....

...never a dull moment on American Beauty....

oh...here's the truly ironic part... As we're out in the narrows about 100 yards away putting the lines and bumpers away, I see the guy in scarab pull out.... grrrrrrrr!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
 
#4 ·
There are times when power and a quick turn of the wheel saves the day.
Would've like to have been on the docks watching all this. I'll bet you made it look like you knew exactly what you were doing and all the moves were planned, but deep inside you didn't know how it was going to turn out and every jab of throttle and spin of the wheel was done in desperation.
Good job. Similar conditions won't surprise you again, you'll know exactly what to do and how to do it.
 
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#6 · (Edited)
Well, Jeff as usual did a great job telling the story, but I must tell it from MY perspective.

It all happened so fast... Jeff got the nose away from the dock, but the current immediately sent the back end of the boat back toward a piling! :eek: I jumped to the rear and managed to push us away from it, but when I turned to give Jeff a big "PHEW, that was close!", I see our back end headed straight for the Scarab!!!!! :shocked:

I heard Jeff gun the engines and I thought "What the heck is he doing - does he want to crash harder????". The Scarab guy heard the noise and turned just in time to see Jeff take a hard right, right toward his boat!!! I'm still leaning over the back end of the Cig and for a split second I actually considered throwing my body between the 2 boats to lesson the damage! Just then the back end of Jeff's boat cut left and we slid by the Scarab perfectly parallel and got away unscathed! :confused1

I was so shocked at what just happened that when I stood up, my legs were actually shaking and I couldn't speak. I NEVER want to come that close to disaster again!!!!!

I say Power AND Finesse saved the day!!! :winker:
 
#7 ·
Yikes...
did you ever think to speak to the owner of the scarab prior? (Those damn scarab owners!)
Probably never thought you would get near him though.

Probably a crowd around to make it real fun !!!

Glad there was no contact!!!

Green.. I know you wouldn't but dont ever put your body between the boats! I cringe at the thought of you between the hullsides saying " OK NOW WHAT!!"
 
#8 ·
Thanks jb... 'course I wouldn't actually sacrifice my body for the boat (don't tell Jeff!), but as the resident Rope Monkey/Bumper Maid, I feel responsible for any contact... I try to do whatever I can, and I have the bruises to prove it!

As we left The Narrows Jeff told me that he could've checked with the Scarab guy... and as it happened, the guy DID leave right after us!

I always get nervous at Red Eye's dock... it's always tricky to get in and out of because of wind, current and other boats. Jeff's a great captain and I'm improving my anticipatory skills (not a mind-reader yet, though), but after Sunday I know I still have a LOT to learn! :D
 
#9 ·
I have a great article around here somewhere, on the use of spring lines for those situations. I think there is a chapter in the Chapman's book about using spring lines.

Or just do like I do......avoid tricky docking places!:)

Actually, saturday night, we went to dinner by boat, and they directed me into a very narrow slip, next to the seawall. I worried the whole time at dinner about getting out without taking out a dock, or another boat. At least I knew I had enough hands on board to avoid disaster. I backed it out like a seasoned captain, with probably 100 people looking on. It was all pure luck!:)
 
#10 ·
Also, no one should ever, ever get between a boat and a dock or another boat.

I don't remember if I posted our experience earlier with this, so here it is. Happened Sept 2nd. Remember, fiberglass can be replaced and repaired more easily than skin and bones.









Deb and I went out to Passage Key and anchored up for a little sun.
An elderly couple anchored near us. He was in at least his late 60's
if not 70, and she had a breathing machine with her. Deb and I took a
walk down the sandbar, and when we came back, we saw that a 30 foot
cruiser was trying to anchor between us. The tide was running pretty
strong, and there was a pretty good chop. The cruiser was was
drifting down on the elderly man and his 20 foot deck boat. One guy
in the cruiser was trying to push off from his boat, and the old man
was in the water BETWEEN the boats trying to keep the cruiser off.
Deb and I sloshed our way as quickly as we could to help out. I was
screaming at the old man to get out from between the boats, all I
could picture was a crushed skull. Finally one of the idiots in the
cruiser got in the water, and he, Deb and I were able to push the
stern around. About then the idiot captain fires up the engine and
puts it in reverse with all three of us at the stern. At that point,
he was on his own. Deb and I headed away from him, and I couldn't see
his buddy on the other side of the stern, then I heard him
scream "You're about to back over me!!!!!" I was waiting to see
pieces of him come floating by, but I guess he got on the platform.
We went to check on the old man. He had gotten his hand crunched
between the two boats. It was cut and smashed. Might have had broken
bones. He was not a happy camper! It looked like the idiot was going
to make another attempt to anchor, so we pulled up and got the f#%k
out of there. I guess he thought better of it, and took off across
the bay.
 
Discussion starter · #11 ·
cuda...excellent thoughts and observations.

I know the spring line trick from chapmans....

It works real well on floating docks. however these were fixed docks with pylons. I used one of my big inflatable bumpers and swim platform as leverage and it worked pretty well. I told karen never take bumpers off until after we leave the dock.....you never know when you might need them and it takes too long to put'em back in in a crisis...

:) - jeff
 
#12 ·
Jeff there has been plenty of times the current over there has been so strong I aborted mission trying to tie up or raft up and went to the inside and rafted up on the wall in front of Annies. That has to be one of the strongest currents that i have seen locally.
 
#13 ·
It was time time for big gonads at the throttles.
Click to expand...

Sounds like skill to me, unless your driving a Bayliner! I squeezed into a tight place once, then the wind kicked up so I decided to move the neighboring boats one cleat out and away, I came back and found a cigarette burn on my deck, where is a gun when you need one!:gunner:
 
#14 ·
MXZ800 said:
... That has to be one of the strongest currents that i have seen locally.
Click to expand...
I agree! It's funny that when we docked the wind was strong, but the current wasn't. Jeff picked that side of the dock because the wind would keep us off of the dock, which it did. When we went to leave an hour later, the wind was still a factor, but the current now had us pinned against the pilings... thank goodness for big bumpers and the extra spring lines we'd tied on!

Cuda,
Glad to know you made it out of a tight spot, too! I agree that luck is involved, but there's no substitute for a good [fearless] captain! :)
 
#16 ·
OK, so the captain should APPEAR fearless to those on the boat and on-lookers, but inside he may be sweating buckets and soiling his undies... I never did get a good look at Jeff since I was looking at the dock and the other boat! :)
 
#17 ·
GEB, ageed the captain must not show fear. I remember once coming in from the gulf in a hellacious thunderstorm, I was scared to death, but I didn't want my passengers to know, so I pretended it was an everday event. I think I just threw my drawers away when I got home.:eek:
 
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cuda
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