Storm Coming? Please Stow Your Anchor...

[Joe Montana]

Great post. Once seen, it cannot be forgotten! Have you thought of offering (or selling) your photos to a magazine? Harbormasters will thank you, too.

[The Patriot]

... if it was me, I would go aboard and change it myself ...

If a vessel is improperly secured (and this phrase needs a definition) and not damaging other property or persons, then under normal circumstances the suggested action constitutes trespass. In general there is no provision in law that allows breaking one law merely on suspicion that an individual or object may cause harm (i.e., "prior restraint"). Although there is nothing that physically prevents you from taking such actions, there is also nothing that prevents a returning owner from also taking action against a trespasser, physical or otherwise.

... I consider it my responsibility if I see boats in a marina inproperly tied causing them to rub docks/pilings, to adjust their lines for them. If I see a boat in an anchorage dragging anchor with no one aboard, I go aboard and reset their anchor ... I have many times in bad storms gone aboard and retied other peoples poorly tended to boats ... dont feel like you are overstepping any bounds by changing his mooring setup ...

This is separate from the above case. Adjusting lines in the face of evident danger or harm would probably fall under the "good samaritan" exception to the law of trespass, were it to come before some authority for evaluation. The same comments apply to a boat that is obviously dragging anchor, and the inclusion of "bad storms" (not defined) also makes this example different from the one where you suggest going aboard to "fix things" prior to an actual problem.

I'd bet that your attorney would caution you against the suggested actions, however tempting it may be to take things into one's own hands. Believe me, I've encountered many situations like this in which lack of skill or knowledge was alarmingly clear. It's common, it's annoying, and it doesn't make for good neighbors, but the solution does not lie in breaking the law.

[winthrop fisher]

use garden hose with your dock lines.

[Maine Sail]

use garden hose with your dock lines.

While garden hose or plastic hose sounds good in theory it is probably not the best solution. Heat is a major killer of pendants. MIT, yes that MIT, has studied this extensively and found pendant failure even with minimal chafe have failed due to internal heat build up resulting in hardening and then fracture.

Plastic or rubber hoses can keep heat in and will not allow cooling water at the line nearly ass effectively as a woven textile. Water has been shown to be very beneficial in keeping pendants cool to prevent melting and moisture is exactly what happens in storm conditions. If you cover them in a water proof hose they can't get wet and can't let the built up heat escape.

Textile chafe protection allows the line to get wet, breathes and cools better and has excellent abrasion resistance especially if you are using a polyester woven chafe sleeve, or Cordura. Taylor Made makes some very heavy duty polyester chafe sleeves in both tube style and removable versions. In storm conditions I use two of these Taylor made chafe sleeves installed over the Yale Cordura factory installed chafe sleeves on my Yale Polydyne pendants. I have never even worn through one of the Taylor Made chafe sleeves and my pendants still get wet so they can stay cool. I have also used Chafe Pro sleeves. Chafe Pro also makes an excellent product and is the chafe protection chosen by the USCG, Navy and many others. Their pleasure grade protection is a dual layer polyester outre and nylon inner. Very good stuff. My Taylor Made sleeves are now retired and they will be replaced by Chafe-Pro..

http://fjordinc.com/index.php/products/ ... rade-units

I have seen PVC hose wear through and have seen a pendant fail inside the hose from what I suspect to be heat this is why I will only use textile based chafe protection to keep the line cool and allow it to get wet. In the 80's I used fire hose turned inside out but it still did not allow for much cooling water so I went back to leather which did not last long. The fire hose prevented chafe better than leather but I would get hard spots in the pendant after a good storm and the pendants would need replacement.

After any storm it is a good idea to feel your pendants between your fingers looking for lumps and hard spots. They will feel like bits of rock candy inside the line. This is much easier said than done on three strand but then again you could not pay me to use three strand mooring pendants. With double braid it is much easier to feel if you relax the jacket. If you have any "lumps" retire the pendant asap as this is an indication of internal line melt.

[Neil Gordon]

I think that it is really illustrative because it isn't that rough in the pictures, I have seen many New England harbor get rougher.

Seas/waves always photograph smaller and calmer than they really are. Not sure why that is... for sure waves look smaller in the pictures than they do when you're out in them.

[Klem]

I think that it is really illustrative because it isn't that rough in the pictures, I have seen many New England harbor get rougher.

Seas/waves always photograph smaller and calmer than they really are. Not sure why that is... for sure waves look smaller in the pictures than they do when you're out in them.

Neil,

I agree completely that waves look a lot smaller in pictures. I guess what I was really trying to say is that since it really isn't that rough in the pictures and the boat is already pitching quite badly and chafing through pendants, that really highlights how important this is. Imagine if it were blowing 60 knots and how much worse it would be. Working on commercial boats for 9 years, I could not believe how many recreational boats actually survived some of the storms that we observed them in. Then again many did not and went drifting past us with chafed pendants or worn through chain.

Keep up the great work Maine Sail.

[Maine Sail]

I think that it is really illustrative because it isn't that rough in the pictures, I have seen many New England harbor get rougher.

Seas/waves always photograph smaller and calmer than they really are. Not sure why that is... for sure waves look smaller in the pictures than they do when you're out in them.

It was not that rough of a storm but the 3-4 foot waves had wave periods of about 2.2-2.7 seconds peak to peak. Imagine how bad it gets in Falmouth in 50+... This storm had peak gusts to 45 but steady winds below 40 and none of my pics show winds much over 30.

This video was taken later in the morning as the storm wound down. It was only about 25-28 knots in this video. This video is only 16 seconds now imagine it for 8+ hours doing the same thing..

Oh and it's a Cape Dory, just for you guys...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ApCRxFZuYcA

[sfreihofer]

Mainsail...

I would like to personally thank you for educating me on this issue. You have added enormous value to this forum by raising awareness... particularly mine. This is the kind of information that makes this forum so uniquely helpful.

I salute you!

Stan Freihofer
1981 CD 25 #794
Ft. Lauderdale

[Maine Sail]

Mainsail...

I would like to personally thank you for educating me on this issue. You have added enormous value to this forum by raising awareness... particularly mine. This is the kind of information that makes this forum so uniquely helpful.

I salute you!

Stan Freihofer
1981 CD 25 #794
Ft. Lauderdale

Always glad to help! You can do your part too and spread the word to folks who moor around you..