searaycruisn
New Member
I was at Old Harbor (Block Island, RI) last Thursday night when the winds began to pick up. I arrived at about 8:30 the previous evening, and since I was alone on the boat with my sister (a non boater) I decided the safest thing to do was to pick up a mooring.
The winds started howling at around 4:00PM on Thursday. The boat was swinging pretty hard off the mooring, and I decided to put out my anchor (bow and stern anchor). At 2:30AM, my sister woke me up because she feld the boat swing. Turns out that the mooring ball pulled off the chain. Luckily, I had put my anchor out as backup, but the boat swung towards another moored boat, which was now on my starboard bow. My rub rail was up against his bow rail (a 32 foot bridge boat).
I put on a life jacket and headed out to the bow to put fenders between the boats (the other boat was not occupied). As I am struggling with the fenders, I look down at the dinghy. It had gotten so full of water (from the rain) that it started tipping backwards towards the outboard engine. Next thing I know, the dingy bow comes up and the wind catches it and lifts the dinghy straight up in the air. It twists, and lands upside down in the water, with the engine still on it, and the fuel tank floating in the water.
I had to think fast. The fenders were out now, and adjusted, so I decided to make one small effort to save the dinghy. I grabbed the line attached to the bow of the dingy, and pulled up on it. Sure enough, the dinghy went up in the air again and landed right side up! Next day, I took the engine to a marine shop, and they were able to salvage it.
We heard many mayday calls on the radio that night....it was pretty scary.
I guess I learned a little lesson about the "safety" of a mooring. Had I not had my anchor down as backup, I would have been up on the sea wall.
The winds started howling at around 4:00PM on Thursday. The boat was swinging pretty hard off the mooring, and I decided to put out my anchor (bow and stern anchor). At 2:30AM, my sister woke me up because she feld the boat swing. Turns out that the mooring ball pulled off the chain. Luckily, I had put my anchor out as backup, but the boat swung towards another moored boat, which was now on my starboard bow. My rub rail was up against his bow rail (a 32 foot bridge boat).
I put on a life jacket and headed out to the bow to put fenders between the boats (the other boat was not occupied). As I am struggling with the fenders, I look down at the dinghy. It had gotten so full of water (from the rain) that it started tipping backwards towards the outboard engine. Next thing I know, the dingy bow comes up and the wind catches it and lifts the dinghy straight up in the air. It twists, and lands upside down in the water, with the engine still on it, and the fuel tank floating in the water.
I had to think fast. The fenders were out now, and adjusted, so I decided to make one small effort to save the dinghy. I grabbed the line attached to the bow of the dingy, and pulled up on it. Sure enough, the dinghy went up in the air again and landed right side up! Next day, I took the engine to a marine shop, and they were able to salvage it.
We heard many mayday calls on the radio that night....it was pretty scary.
I guess I learned a little lesson about the "safety" of a mooring. Had I not had my anchor down as backup, I would have been up on the sea wall.