Public dock protocol

[Dave R]

Originally Posted by Rayhunt

I would avoid touching anyone elses boat or lines at all costs.. However there are certain situations where it is unavoidable.. Ive been blocked in by larger boats at the Weirs docks a couple times and had enough manpower on board to move it so we could leave ..And it got tied up better than it was

I have never had to move another boat, but if it were blocking me for an extended period and the repsonsible party was no where to be found, it would get moved and re-tied securely. If it was just an inconvenience due to restricted space (but not completely blocking me) I'd leave it alone.

I would hope that those with beamy boats would not dock adjacent to another beamy boat and block the escape path for other boats. Happilly,I have never seen it happen.

The most common mistakes I see are boats taking up more than a reasonable amount of linear dock space and boats with stern lines too loose and bow lines too tight such that the stern juts out into the channel at an angle. I usaully tie the stern from the cleat opposite the dock side to prevent this yet still allow enough slack to rock and roll without putting major shock loads on the cleats and lines. The bow spring line then controls the fore and aft movement.