Docklines

It's been windy. We had a storm blow through over the Holiday weekend with the usual winter pattern of southerlies. On the 26th, I went down to the boat thinking I might go sailing but instead decided to continue on my family-ization of the boat's cabin (new cushions, paint, cleaning, getting rid of clutter).

I knew that I had an hour or two of sailing before the storm was going to hit but thought that my longer term goal of getting my family out with me was more important. When the first 40 knot gust hit I knew I'd made a good decision.

I had already adjusted my docklines for the storm but when that gust hit I noticed a few odd things around me. Broken docklines on three different boats, all on the port (or southern) side. One old beaten up stinkpotter was hitting the same corner of his transom on the dock repeatedly and was forming a hole about 9 inches above the waterline. The nice kids with the Catalina 27 down the way had a dockline snapped and were rubbing against the dock but hadn't caused any damage yet. One more boat had a broken line but had a backup in place.

So, I raided my line locker and tied these guys off. Kind of like a Christmas present. I didn't have my camera but I would have loved to take a picture of the stinkpot as a warning for those that decide to neglect their boats.

My cousin and I have been watching the weather and our work schedules closely and plan on getting to enjoy the tail end of these storms tomorrow afternoon, going out on what should be a nice sunny 15-20 knot day. Kind of like a Christmas present.