I can appreciate as well as anyone that there simply isn't enough room below-decks for everything that one might want to take along on an extended trip, but most other sailboats we run into seem to have their decks a lot more cluttered than ours. I've done everything possible to avoid having to lash stuff to the rails or safety lines, both for performance (less disorganized windage and weight) and safety (nothing for lines to catch on, nothing extra to trip on). So what's the deal? Am I paranoid or does no one else care about such things?
Another oddity I have noticed is how people tie up to floats here. Most floats we are familiar with back in the States have cleats installed, and it's pretty well-defined how you properly secure a line to a cleat (although what one does with the tail of that line is another matter subject to great personal variance). Here, though, most floats simply have rails along them, and the methods which are used to secure lines to them are inconsistent at best. I had been using a straightforward clove hitch but that's a pain in the ass if you have a long dockline because you have to pass the end around the rail so often. I gave it up after securing someone else's boat last week and watching them re-tie it. Now, I will typically re-tie my own mooring lines if I'm going to be somewhere for any length of time anyway, simply so I know it's done the way I want, but I have to admit I was a little hurt. It was a perfectly good clove hitch, it wasn't going anywhere!
So partly because of that and partly because it's a pain to tie, I switched to a simple slipped bowline. A bowline, I figured, no one could argue with; it's the most secure, and most common, of knots and the one which just about every boater should know and recognize.
So yesterday I helped a guy tie up his fifty foot motor yacht, and that's what I used. Again, good solid knot, it's not going anywhere. But afterward, I saw him untie it, and then re-secure the line with what amounted to a bunch of simple overhand knots! And it occurred to me that is frequently what I see; a lot of ugly, messy overhand knots tied around the dock rails.
Now, I had always understood that this was undesirable, or at least less desirable, than a good bowline or hitch for a number of reasons. One, it isn't as strong. Two, it's more difficult to untie. While in most circumstances this is just a matter of convenience, it's also a safety issue: marina fires are not unknown or even infrequent. I think in the last five years in Seattle alone there have been three or four significant fires. We just saw one in Tacoma earlier this year. So there are times you want to be able to get loose quickly, without wasting any time messing about with ungainly shoelace-style knots. I think my slipped bowline fits the bill without being difficult to tie or insecure. But again, am I just being paranoid and is everyone else doing it right?
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Scott, You've pushed my button. After a life time of boating and five years in the Coast Guard Auxiliary, I've learned most people on the water know less about Seamanship then sixth graders. You don't need a license to buy and operate a $500,000, 100 ton vessel. The new laws only require a simple boating/water safety course, which many ignore because they already know everything. Thank the boating manufacturing lobby for that one. The unforgivable part is these people never pursue training until an accident or they get the shit scared out of them. You're seeing the result of these dumb asses at sea when you describe the cluttered decks, worn or rusted running gear and rat's nests of line on the floats. Each "Captain" demonstrates to other seafarers, his training by how their ship presents at sea and in port. Notice the fishing vessels. Some are pristine while others are garbage dumps. I think it also reflects the intelligence of the Skipper. When I was in the Navy, the wharf side of the ship always got the fresh coat of paint at sea, before returning home. Being prepared and squared away counts. The same holds true in port. Present well and you will be more respected by those who know what they are doing. Dressing the lines on the float and using a knot that holds fast at the rail will say allot about the Skipper. Enough preaching. We check for your blogs everyday. Sometimes twice or thrice. I can almost feel the elements and wish I were there. I can't remember if it's the Northern or southern waters of the Queen Charlotte Straights that are shallowest and consequently rougher in a blow. You might want to check. Be safe. Scott
Probably at least 50% of my motivation is not to look like an idiot to people who know what they are doing. My biggest problem now is that I don't yet know which of the people we meet fall into that category and which are the ones who just have money to burn and like to pretend.
You're spot on about the fishing boats. I expected that most of those folks would know what they are doing, but sometimes they seem to be the most careless of the bunch--some of the fish boats moored near us look like they should be up on blocks in Irondale serving as someone's cheap apartment. It certainly makes you wonder when one sinks how much of a factor neglect was.
I'll check my charts for average depths in Queen Charlotte... I hadn't heard that before. In any event, we'll island hop along the north shore of Vancouver Island to God's Pocket or nearby and wait for a weather window before we make the jump up north.
You are lucky you're not feeling the elements right now--it's all wind and rain at the moment and will be until this low moves on out of here. More gales are forecast tonight; fortunately, the system is supposed to move through around the time Mandy arrives and we should be able to get out of here then.
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