We had dinner Monday night with trawler friends in Clearwater. They went to
the Bahamas this spring and this was our first chance to catch up. They
related a tale of mutual acquaintance's problem with their dinghy, which was
carried on the swim platform of their 36' trawler.
They were crossing the Stream to West End in tandem with the other trawler.
The breeze was behind them, with a quartering, following sea estimated at
3'-4'. When they were about 15 miles out, they got a call from their
buddy-boat that their dinghy was coming loose. It was stored on the swim
platform, on some kind of a bracket or davit. Its been too long since I've
seen the boat and don't remember what it was, except to know that it is not a
Weaver. Our friends turned back to render assistance or moral support.
Anyway, the long & short of it was that the dinghy, with motor attached, came
partially loose and was half in the water and half still attached to the
platform and davit/bracket. The dinghy was torqued over, half on its side and
half upright. This made it all but impossible to free up from its dangerous
position. The owner had to go down onto the swim platform (it's a
sundeck-style boat) and wrestle with the darn thing, while his wife tried to
hold the boat head to the wind and seas and the boat pounded up and down.
Certainly she couldn't see him and he couldn't see or communicate with her, at
least not very easily. It was too rough for our friends to do anything except
hang on, offer moral support and stand by to pick up a swimmer if the other
guy fell over. In the end, there was nothing to do but cut a cable or other
part and let the dinghy slide back. They were then able to tow their dinghy
in to West End.
There are sooo many lessons in this story including ones about life jackets
and safety harnesses, but it has certainly firmed my resolve to not carry my
dinghy on the swim platform.
As they said in the cowboy movies, "Hang 'Em High"!
Regards,
Randy Pickelmann
hard aground in Clearwater (for one more day)
MORNING STAR
lying in Solomon's, MD (I hope!)
We had dinner Monday night with trawler friends in Clearwater. They went to
the Bahamas this spring and this was our first chance to catch up. They
related a tale of mutual acquaintance's problem with their dinghy, which was
carried on the swim platform of their 36' trawler.
They were crossing the Stream to West End in tandem with the other trawler.
The breeze was behind them, with a quartering, following sea estimated at
3'-4'. When they were about 15 miles out, they got a call from their
buddy-boat that their dinghy was coming loose. It was stored on the swim
platform, on some kind of a bracket or davit. Its been too long since I've
seen the boat and don't remember what it was, except to know that it is not a
Weaver. Our friends turned back to render assistance or moral support.
Anyway, the long & short of it was that the dinghy, with motor attached, came
partially loose and was half in the water and half still attached to the
platform and davit/bracket. The dinghy was torqued over, half on its side and
half upright. This made it all but impossible to free up from its dangerous
position. The owner had to go down onto the swim platform (it's a
sundeck-style boat) and wrestle with the darn thing, while his wife tried to
hold the boat head to the wind and seas and the boat pounded up and down.
Certainly she couldn't see him and he couldn't see or communicate with her, at
least not very easily. It was too rough for our friends to do anything except
hang on, offer moral support and stand by to pick up a swimmer if the other
guy fell over. In the end, there was nothing to do but cut a cable or other
part and let the dinghy slide back. They were then able to tow their dinghy
in to West End.
There are sooo many lessons in this story including ones about life jackets
and safety harnesses, but it has certainly firmed my resolve to not carry my
dinghy on the swim platform.
As they said in the cowboy movies, "Hang 'Em High"!
Regards,
Randy Pickelmann
hard aground in Clearwater (for one more day)
MORNING STAR
lying in Solomon's, MD (I hope!)
