Crowded anchorages, neophytes with light ground tackle, and a bit of breeze can lead to getting up close and personal.
What you do not want to do in this situation is use your body to fend off. The forces involved are higher than most body parts are engineered to withstand. Better the odd ding in the paint than a crushed foot or broken hand.
Posted by Steve Dashew (October 27, 2010)
October 27th, 2010 at 2:00 pm
If it’s bigger than a dinghy, your arm or your leg isn’t going to stop it.
I don’t know why people do this. You don’t try to muscle a beer truck into a parking space by pushing and kicking it, so why would you think pushing and kicking will work on a boat of the same size and weight? I’m sure everyone reading this has dealt with a compulsive dock-grabber at some point. That one crew who will hang on to the first thing within reach and yell “I’ve got it” before the boat is actually stopped and alongside. On occasion, I’ll turn the boat around and approach from a different direction, if a dock-grabber must be kept on the seaward side. As you say, Steve: better to damage the paint than the limb.
Fenders are cheap. Anchoring instructions, for what it’s worth, are even cheaper (free). Boat damage is pricey. Injuries are vastly worse.
October 28th, 2010 at 3:36 pm
Hi J ustin:
No rafting. The monohull sloop dragged down on the cat (very light ground tackle).