Hey who tied their boat off to my Mooring Ball?

[JagsBch]

How do I deal with that one?

[sailingdog]

It really depends... on how vicious you're feeling...

If they're on board, you should ask them to remove themselves... otherwise, you're probably better off having the marine police or harbormaster move them.

If you're feeling really vicious...you could always just untie their boat... but that's very mean and likely to result in retaliation at some point.

[erps]

We had this happen to us one time. I moved the unoccupied boat to an unused mooring. I didn't sleep well for the next couple of nights though because I felt responsible for the other boat if the other mooring failed.

[hellosailor]

Private mooring ball on private bottom? Or is there a club/harbormaster in charge of the field?

If there is, contact them and ask what's up. If not, see if you can use local resources (call to the marine patrol or USCG) to get a phone number for the owner, if the boat is local.

Sometimes it was just a mistake, sometimes it is a boat with a problem that had to be secured ASAP. Sometimes it is a drunken fool...but you can't presume that too quickly.

What you have technically is "trespassing" and a couple of other issues. But once you touch that other boat--YOU may become responsible for it, so resist the temptation to just cut it free and take back your mooring.

[Robby Barlow]

If the mooring will hold, I'd probably just tie up alongside & wait for the harbor police or the owners to come and sort things out.