Why you should check on your moorings more often

[PaulinVictoria]

Not seen this boat move in months, or indeed anyone visiting it. Had some strong winds the last couple of days and now it's moved, probably not in the way the owner intended.

[jackdale]

I had heard that it was blowing out there. I spoke with a friend in Oak Bay yesterday; he tried to convince that additional sun screen was necessary. Yeah, right!

Where is this?

[PaulinVictoria]

Cordova Bay, our racing was cancelled today as it's gusting at 50kts.

[JohnRPollard]

Ouch.

Wouldn't want to "chart" any of those logs before they made it on the beach, either.

[Faster]

With this current weather pattern we've got it's likely to blow like this for several days, esp in the mainland inlets as the arctic outflows from the interior can drop the temp by 10deg or more, and easily build to 40-50 knots lowering the windchill even more...

That boat may be a very sad sight indeed in a couple of days....

[krozet]

When does it become a wreck?

[PaulinVictoria]

Well, it's still there this morning (I'll get another photo up later) and in one piece and mostly upright. Fortunately the bay itself is quite protected so there are no big rollers crashing in on it. Unfortunately it's also quite shallow with no access to vehicles from the land side either so it's going to be quite a challenge to get her floating again.

[jaschrumpf]

Wear and tear on the lines isn't the only reason to check frequently. The last time I visited my boat I noticed two things right away: my neighbor had vacated his slip, and my boat seemed much closer to the finger dock than I remembered leaving the lines. A closer investigation showed that when he removed his line and mine (the slips share dock cleats, and my line was on top of his), he retied mine with what looked like a series of half hitches. No cleat hitch, just a loop around the cleat and a few overhand knots in the line.

Needless to say, the knots had slipped and my boat was within six inches of reaching the finger dock on the other side. I muttered a few choice words and retied the line, and there was no damage done.

Still, in all the conversations I'd had with him over the summer, I'd have sworn he was a better sailor that that, to leave my dockline in such a condition. I get nervous if I can't check on my boat once a week; I can't imagine leaving her for a month at a time.

[tager]

Would it be legal to take that boat?

[ArcherBowman]

I'm a trailer-sailor at this time, but I hope to be moving September Blue to a marina slip sometime soon. I hurt for the master of that boat.