www.iFourWinns.com

+1 Couldnt' have said it better myself!

OK, a brief run down of what happened on Saturday: My wife and I and three friends decided to go tubing for the afternoon, after about 3 hours of fun in the sun and some growing winds we decided it was time to head back to the marina. As I am aproaching the marina I can tell the wind has shifted and is having some large gusts so I prompt one of the friends (who has experience as an amatuer deckhand) the rules of engagement. As I come up to the dock and start to turn my stern into the slip, a large gust comes across the boat and starts to turn me sideways a bit, my deckhand jumps off the boat but is unable to pull me in, so I calmly pull myself back out of the slip and turn around to try again. Once again I start to make my approach and before I can start to make my reverse turn, three jet skis come around my starboard side so I have to stop and quickly "goose the throttle" to keep the wind from again blowing me into the dock. Now the jet skis could have really pissed me off but what was more frustrating was the fact that two slips over was a boat with about 5 people on it watching me, not attempting in anyway to help me. luckily a boats crew another dock away said they would be over to help, they had to sprint back down their dock to shore, across the shore to my dock and run up my dock to get to me. A transient who had docked just minutes ago saw me, rushed to tie his boat up and ran down to help (he had the same trouble as I did). Again, the whole time while the boat just two slips away sat there and watched never once asking or offering to help. Now, on my third aproach, with my friend on the dock and three helpers, of course I back it in perfectly, but my blood was boiling about that boat full of people. Now let me tell you they werent all dressed up, entertaining or in the middle of dinner, they were in their bathing suites livin it up. Now by this time my heart was racing from the difficult docking but it took all restraint, and an offering from wife to have a cold one and sit down, to not walk over there and tell them the courtousy to help a boater in and out of a dock, especially when they are having issues or when it is windy. For someone a whole dock away (and our docks arent close to each other ) and a transient who barely had time to tie up his own boat to help before them drives me crazy. As you can tell by this long and mumbling thread I am still a little upset. Am I wrong to expect this from other boaters? Am I too nice that I am always on the look out for boaters on my dock coming in when I am docked, or for helping every time someone pulls in regardless of weather conditions. Should I still say something?