Collision at anchor

[J36ZT]

Yes...another "who is at fault"...

SHORT VERSION: Two boat collide, both anchored, neither drag anchor...last boat to anchor at fault?

Additional info:

On July 5th, at about 0320 in the morning, my boat and a 40+ foot cutter named "Kharis" kissed. (Romantic night, boats apparently developed a love affair for one another...) Luckily, I could find no damage on either boat.

So, what caused the "accident"?...Tidal current shift in opposite direction of very light winds..."Kharis" on all chain rode (scope unknown), my boat on nylon rode at 5:1 scope.

Other factors:

"Kharis" never asked about my anchor/rode/scope when they set their anchor (I was already anchored for 12+ hours before they arrived). My boat is a J/36 with a light hull which means she moves around quite a bit at anchor.
Could my boat have dragged anchor?...NO! GPS and visual reference points confirmed I remained within rode distance of my anchor. This was the second night at the same anchor location, without raising the anchor, and wind/current were lighter than at any other time. Neither boat had anyone on deck at the time of the "kiss."

So, what is your opinion? Is "Kharis" at fault for anchoring too close to me? Am I possibly at fault for having out too much scope at an anchorage that historically becomes crowded on 4th of July? Am I possibly at fault because my boat moves around within its rode distance while anchored? Is nobody at fault and I would have had no recourse if my boat would have been damaged?

Luckily, the impact was so light that the people on "Kharis" weren't even woken up. But, knocking on their hull didn't wake them...air horn blasts a few minutes after the impact didn't either. It wasn't until I fended off what would have been the second collision and knocked on their cabin windows that they got up to see what was going on. The second collision would have had their bow pulpit hit the front of my mast and rake across my shrouds. (Yep, I grabbed their pulpit while I was standing in the middle of my foredeck. Yep, just spent $10,000+ on mast refurbishment and $5,000 for rod rigging.)

And, if you're the owner of a small sloop with a red sail cover, anchored at Aquatic Park in San Francisco Bay the night of July 4th, named "Tonic"...you should know you dance around at anchor more than a J/36. I should add that you also anchored too close to me and you almost hit me several times as well. Likely, both boats would have been moving and nobody at the anchorage would have been able to sleep through this collision.

So, if you're the owner of "Kharis," my boat wants to know why your boat hasn't called. After all, she danced with you all night...and even "kissed" on the first date.

Thanks for the input,

Skipper, J/36 "Zero Tolerance"

[chucklesR]

If you were first, you, by maritime standards and traditions had right of way.
You also have an obligation to say you think they are too close, i.e., do what you can too avoid a collision (that is a bit of a stretch, but realistic).
If you know you dance at anchor it just adds to your responsibility a tad, get a sail on the back of your boom to steady out or do like I do and drop a stern anchor.

[westerly33]

Originally Posted by J36ZT

Yes...another "who is at fault"...

SHORT VERSION: Two boat collide, both anchored, neither drag anchor...last boat to anchor at fault?

Thanks for the input,

Skipper, J/36 "Zero Tolerance"

I have had the same accident and would be interested to know your opinions.

[Plumper]

I would guess that in a Maritime (Admiralty) Court the blame would be split (it always is). Both boats should have had a watch on deck if there was a risk of collision, even at anchor.

[hellosailor]

J-
Some years ago we were anchored on a P32 off Pier25 (?) on the Hudson, just above Battery Park City and below the first pier, which was a private club at the time. This was on July 3rd, settling in for the festivities on the 4th. In NYC, all underwater bottomland inside "the bulkhead line" is private property, you can't anchor there without express permission from the owner--which we had paid for. And since the bottom drops a bit suddenly at the bulkhead line (there's no bulkhead per se, that's just the limit of where you can build out to) we needed adequate scope to swing on, and paid it out.

No problem until near sunset on the fourth, when some yahoos on a powerboat dropped anchor practically ON our anchor, not having any concept that a sailboat SWINGS. They fouled on us, wouldn't get clear, and now we had the problem that we might drift--with the area getting filled with small craft that did not having anchoring rights there.

I made a quiet hail to a USCG runabout that was coming around, explained what was up, and in no time flat the boarding party was strip searching the power boat--and moving it out.

Bottom line? When you are anchored, anyone who drops on top of you, anyone who approaches and maneuvers in such a way as to cause damage or danger to your properly anchored boat--is responsible for the results of their actions. One could argue that if you were aware of the danger, you had a duty to mitigate the damages by warning them or otherwise. But he's still the fellow who created the problem. Mediation or arbitration on that might suffice--I'm sure there are specific standards that would apply.

Next time? Put up "Exclusion Zone" buoys, and mine the perimeter. (A fine nautical tradition, too often ignored these days.)

[FarCry]

My boat likes to sail around a lot at anchor/mooring. If there is nobody around I have set a stern anchor with good success but am hesitant when other boats are closer by. I know this seems illogical. My concern is that if everybody has similar scope and the wind shifts greatly then my boat will not move, more or less, with the others and will in effect be the problem one. Who would be at fault then?

My boat got hit on the 2nd of July while on a mooring in Trellis Bay, Tortola. The POS little green sailboat that hit it was on a beach about 100 yds south of the mooring field and managed to dislodge itself and find my boat whilst my wife and I were on shore. A very nice charter captain came over to tell me what had happened and said that he used his dinghy to guide it through the mooring field and attach it to an open mooring so that it did not hit anyone else. He apologized for not seeing it sooner and preventing the collision. The POS green sailboat owner was in England and has some distant affiliation with the Last Resort. Needless to say I was not happy about the collision but bought the charter boat captain a cocktail and thanked him for bringing the collision to my attention. The POS green sailboat is about 20' long and lists to port avoid being down wind if in Trellis Bay. The line from the bow cleat is approximately 1/4" diameter that was fastened to the mooring ball. I suspect it will break free and hit another boat.

[nolatom]

My own opinion is that whoever drags is responsible. If neither drags (or if both do), then the first-anchored is in the right.

I'm not sure the court opinions agree with this, nor disagree. But they're decided by judges who have a whole lot of different entrees on their plates....

[bubb2]

Originally Posted by hellosailor

J-

Next time? Put up "Exclusion Zone" buoys, and mine the perimeter. (A fine nautical tradition, too often ignored these days.)

Such a simple and eloquent solution, I like it!

[J36ZT]

hellosailor,

I like the idea of the "Exclusion Zone" and mining the perimeter. Another good idea would be to mount a "BAG" on the foredeck...(Big As* Gun...50-caliber or larger...20mm would be prefered...105 Howitzer would be perfect but might cause weight/windage problems). Firing the "BAG" as other boats approach to anchor would be advisable. If you think they're too close, pointing the "Bag" at them shouldn't be considered bad form.

I've thought of marking my anchor with a bouy in the past. This would let other boaters know what my rode swing is so they could anchor appropriately.

Anyway, I did think "Kharis" was anchored a bit close to me when they dropped their hook. With a chain rode, I couldn't really tell their scope and assumed they knew what they were doing. All seemed to be in order when we turned in as the winds had kept all boats basically pointed in the same direction during the day. After the "kiss," I stayed up to see what was going on. That's when I noticed "Tonic" moving in a half-circle. I don't mean within a half-circle, I mean at the end of her rode for half the circle and then cutting across the middle. I guessed she was doing a good knot or more. Part of her half-circle was within my rode travel and we almost collided three times during the 30-minutes between the impact with "Kharis" and the catching of her bow pulpit over my foredeck.

After the "kiss," I put out fenders hoping this might help. Fenders would have helped during the impact, but fenders would have done nothing during a collision with "Tonic" or should the second contact with "Kharis" have occured.

In the future, I'll trust my instincts more. If you're anchoring near me, please don't take offense when I tell you where my anchor is and how long my rode is. I'm not trying to be mean, I'm just trying to protect both our boats.

PS After I caught the bow pulpit, I figured I'd had enough and re-anchored at the other end of the park. "Tonic" never knew what had happened or that she was having continual near-misses with me.

Thanks all for the input and putting up with me ranting.

Skipper, J/36 "Zero Tolerance"

[sailingdog]

One thing I am aware of is that my boat tends to swing very differently from monohulls. Being a multihull, my boat is affected less by current and more by wind, due to the shallow draft and greater windage of the wide beam. In many anchorages, I'll be sitting in a very different orientation from other boats. If I think this is going to be a problem, I will take advantage of my extremely shallow draft and anchor in water the monohulls can't.