Sorry mate my anchor dragged!

[Ilenart]

over the long weekend I was anchored at Rottnest Island and watched a procession of boats dragging their anchors. Think there were 5 the first night, 2 the second night and only 1 the last night (as it was so windy all the smart buggers had left ).

On the first night a 35ft converted fishing boat dragged his anchor and collided with a 37ft yacht anchored right next to me. They stayed stuck together for about 10 minutes then the yacht's anchor gave way and off they both went. Luckily they both missed the 2-3 boats further downwind.

What I was wondering is what you say to someone you have just collided with, especially if you manage to trip their anchor in the process?

[sander06]

Good ol' Rottnest Island. I went to the U of Western Australia back in the early 70's and went to Rottnest on ocassion to snorkel. Beautiful! Last place I lived was at Cottesloe Beach. I've heard things have change a lot since then (including me!). Good onya, mate.

[pelicanl]

$$$$$ "WHAT DO YOU SAY" $$$$$

It's not my fault and will you take a CHECK?

[sailingdog]

Umm... Good question. I"ve been lucky enough not to have to come up with answer to that yet...

PelicanL- In most countries... saying it's not my fault and then offering to pay for repairs is admitting fault... If it wasn't your fault, why are you paying??? If your boat drags, it is by default your fault—either for not properly setting the anchor, not using a large enough anchor for the conditions or for picking bad piece of bottom to try and set the anchor into.

[Banshi]

I would disagree. Fault assumes neglect in this case. This is not necessarily the case. While you are responsible for any damages done to another boat if you drag and collide with it, a well and correctly set anchor is no guarantee it will hold until you are ready to leave. Mother nature will be the final determination if it will hold and unless you take a dive to see exactly what your anchored to(and do a geological analysis of the area costing several million dollars and years to complete) you can only do your best to know the area and how to correctly anchor given the location and hope it will hold.

It just depends on what the definition of the word "is" is.

[T34C]

I was anchored at Rotto about 15 years ago after a race when a gail came thru. Same thing happened, boats dragging anchors all around us. The 32 footer I was on had some "modifications" to the bow in the form of SS angle welded in a V on deck. The 45 foot boat that drug down onto us, T-bone fashion, got a nice big hole punched in her side. Two more holes followed after we tried to fend her off only to have waves push her back again. The other boats crew never did even wake-up. (It had been a long night at the pub!)

[buckeyesailor]

would "excuse me" be appropriate?

[trantor12020]

"...uh excuse me but its your boat that drifted upwind and collided with mine while I was trawling my anchor"

[Ilenart]

PelicanI / Sailindog / Banshee, there was no damage in the case. Afterwards I went and helped the yacht tie up to a mooring and checked his hull. There were a couple of scratches that would probably polish out. The yacht was pretty quick to put out fenders.

I would agree that legally the boat that dragged would be a fault. But what I am more interested in is what do you say?

(In this case I think I heard the powerboat skipper "ah sh#t" when he could'nt get his engine started).

[T34C]

I've always liked, "Excuse me but do you have any Grey Poupon?"