Marina Problems

[Sailormann]

I just started mooring at a local marina and some problems have developed. A week after I was on the buoy, my jib came loose during a storm and was left flapping for two days with significant damage to the sail. The marina was notified. Nobody tried to tie down the sail and I was never notified. After I spoke with the marina, they seem disinterested and didn't even offer an apology. Since I have little experience with marina behavior, could you all comment on this?

I think that the behaviour of the marina staff was typical, perhaps a bit more negligent than some other facilities but not out of the ordinary.

Without wanting to sound harsh, it is your responsibility to check on your boat after a blow - nobody else's. As you have learnt, problems can occur even when all precautions are taken.

If a boat next to me, whose owner was known to me, needed attention I would waste no time in doing whatever needed to be done to make it right. If I saw a problem on a boat that I was not familiar with, I would not board the boat unless I thought that the vessel was in danger of sinking, or of damaging other boats unless I acted quickly.

I would ensure that the marina or club staff contacted the vessel's custodian, but there are just too many liability issues involved with my boarding a stranger's boat to perform a task that the marina personnel did not deem an emergency. Who knows whether or not my efforts would be welcome, or if they would be deemed appropriate by the owner. God forbid I tied the sail up and the boat sank from an unrelated cause the next day.

All anybody else would know, was that I was the last person on the boat.

Conversely, there are very few people that I would like to have on my boat in my absence. If my jib blows loose and flogs itself to death because I was negligent and didn't check on her after a blow, then it's nobody's fault but my own and I am prepared to accept the consequences. God forbid some idiot decides to get on her and lash everything to everything else in the name of goodneighbourliness.

[SVDistantStar]

This is one of the reasons that anytime i meet a new person in the anchorage where i am i advise that the person put their name and number in a window on each side of the boat. Ive got my numbers on my boat and they have saved my ass a few times.

Ive helped out a few boats out there. Ive had a bunch of boats drag anchor and end up into me. Ive pulled a boat off the bridge at 3am in a storm and reanchored it. Ive saved 3 boats from sinking so far. I will say that im a handy person to know in our anchorage.

[MIKEMCKEE]

I must be really lucky, my marina's owner is always walking around the dock's looking for problems ahead of time. It always surprises me the number of boat owners that never come to see if their boat's in good shape. There are a few at my marina that I have never laid eye's on and I've been there for over 4 years. All & all everyone at this marina are sailboaters and they tend to look after one another, at least on my pier they all do.

Chief
s/v Blue Bayou