You may have noticed in the last post there was a picture of our boat in the “bullseye” slip. So here’s how the second boat came to hit us…
The forecast high winds arrived Monday night Dec 26th, with big swell causing surge in the first 4 rows of docks at the marina. T dock took the brunt of it and we were the next dock in line.
As usually happens, it was about 3 am when the wind gusts went over 50 knots. Todd and I had been taking turns checking our lines and the boats around us. Fortunately there was a double gap between us and another US flagged Catamaran called Amelie. This would become pivotal!
We heard a big “crack” sound about this time, and Todd dashed up on deck, soon yelling for me to join him. It was horrifying to see that a large 60,000 pound green steel ketch and a 40 foot Benateau, had broken cleats off the back side of T dock and were bobbing off our, and Amelia’s bows. There wasn’t much we could do other than move fenders to the starboard side and drop our bowsprit so they wouldn’t tangle in it and damage our rig or anchoring gear. We tried calling the marina and then the port but nobody answered. The only thing holding the boats off us, were their bow lines which were still attached to the chain on the sea floor and pulled tight in the other direction.
Fellow cruisers on our dock were getting organized and coming up with a plan, so by the time a couple of port guys showed up an hour or so later, they were ready to go. We caught lines from a port guy, who had gotten onto the ketch and then over to the Beneteau. We passed it back to the dock, and no sooner was this done when the Beneteau disconnected from the ketch and spun in our direction, striking our starboard bow and bouncing down our fenders until it’s bow hit the dock. It rode up and down there until the guys were able to take a spare bow line from the dock and connect it to the stern. Over the next hour everyone worked to get the boat properly secured.
Meanwhile Amilie was trying to fend the big green boat off their bow. Friends of the owner of this boat showed up and got aboard and worked with our team of cruisers to slowly get the ketch stern too the dock and tied off, and by 7 am the boats were tenuously secured and out of immediate danger.
Infront of us, T dock was undulating as the dock itself was starting to break in places. The drug boat had bashed a hole in it’s stern and was mashing the dock. It’s head sail had unfurled and was getting shredded, adding to the ruckus. Someone else on T dock was taking on water but the port guys were too busy with other emergencies, and other cruisers showed up to assist.
It was a bad night for the boats in the anchorage too. Throughout the night we saw boats dragging, boats moving and coming into the marina, and boats getting towed by the port safety boats. It was a proverbial “Shipshow”!
The next day it was still windy but down to 20-30 knots. On our dock one of the cleats the Beneteau was tied too had loosened, and the section of dock behind the big ketch was separating. Again, it was the cruisers who took care of it. We had donated our old main halyard to use to help tie the loose boats up, and it was now deployed tying 2 sections of dock together. The marina had divers in the water sorting out the chains and lay lines, but it was another day before anyone came to fix the cleats or dock.
The upside of a municipal marina is that it’s usually in a good location and is darn cheap compared to private marinas. The downsides though, are not enough staff, shorter hours of operation, and no incentive to improve facilities or even maintain them properly. The staff were certainly pleasant and helped everyone during working hours when we had arrived, but the marina had nobody on staff during the high winds, and they were completely overwhelmed in the aftermath.
That whole next day we were still alternating naps and watches, as we had a real concern that the green boat upwind of us would break loose again and we’d end up on the rocks…it was not what you would wish for while preparing for an ocean crossing. We were very lucky all around! By 8pm that night the wind finally came down below 20 knots and by 9pm it was a gentle breeze, and everyone finally got some solid sleep!
YIKES!!!! As Todd has said, “well that was an experience, and experience is what you get when you don’t get what you want in life!”