To help or not to help? - boaters assisting other boaters - basic docking tips are common sense

      Are you required to help other boaters?        

No, not really, but if you believe in paying it forward or karma. Take heed!

In the San Juans, you will either  #1, already be at the dock with your boat, or  #2, coming at the dock with your boat.  #3, Leaving the dock with a job well done smile.

  The runabout or daysailer or forty footer all have windage and current issues, and when it is crunch time, things happen fast.

        The driver of the smallest vessel may have decades of experience, and the person with the largest yacht may be a newbie over his head in bells and whistles.   In all cases, the considerate proper boater will get out there and be helpful when a fellow boater is coming in.

Here are some basic tips some of us use when docking:

1. Explain to your crew ahead of time exactly what you are doing and what you expect them to do.
2. Prepare your fenders, dock lines, and boat hook ahead of time.
3. Sometimes it is wise to drive up and make a full stop out a ways to judge the wind and current.
4. Put on PFDs - at the dock is where most drownings occur.
5. Having a plan also includes an abort action should things go awry.
6. If someone is on the dock offering to help --- hand them a rope.
7. When the next boat arrives, get out there and be helpful.

       

Nice boat gramps, need a hand?

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