Typical Port Fiasco

[GigiDi]

i haven't been on the forum long enough to have read all threads, but this is one of those things i will NEVER overlook again.

there were 4 of us as delivery crew on a 68' Little Harbor going between Newport RI & Palm Beach FL. only several hours after leaving Newport (we went inside the sound) i was coming off of watch and for some reason, i went into the stbd stateroom instead of my stateroom directly across the hall on the port. i had been mate of that boat for about 4 months already and had ran it by myself for a month or so.

anyway, i came down from watch while everyone else was either on deck or in the salon and layed down on one of the twin berths in the stbd stateroom. suddenly i heard this sloshing sound... we had been on a starboard tack since leaving newport so nothing should have shifted. more sloshing. i checked the head adjoining that cabin to see if water was coming up or something. then i slid open the door to MY cabin to find the long island sound GUSHING through the port. it was a pullman berth and the top bunk was down with my luggage all over it getting SOAKED the mattresses were floating and a huge pool of water was sloshing all over the sole.

i panicked and started screaming... totally freaked out which is exactly what you shouldnt do but i did anyway. this was because i thought the port was shut entirely as i did stow & hatch/port seal check 2 days prior... and i was experiencing a port failure (I have heard little harbor/hinckley port failure horror stories) HOWEVER luckily that ended up not being the case. someone in the Hinckley yard loosened the dogs while they were awlgripping around it only hours before we left (long story!) and never told us. the captain blamed it all on me, but HE was the captain and theoretically it was HIS boat to check, check, and recheck.... and he didn't ... and didn't instruct US to to recheck it either.... it seems so obvious and such a stupid mistake! (but we made it!)

all of my first layer gear, socks, and foulies were soaked. it was a very VERY aggrivating week.

[skipperaris]

Stranger things happen at sea!.......

[SilentOption]

I think you were very alert to hear the problem then search out the cause. You look uh I mean seem like exactly the kind of person I'd like to sail with!
Honestly. You did good. Sorry your bunk and bags got wet. I have had similar experiences when ports are left open. It could have been a lot worse.

[Ex-Calif]

Good lesson to check and recheck the boat before going out. Especially after maintenance. All kinds of things get disturbed.

Glad it ended well.

[Chief Engineer]

One of the prime rules when I am a member of the crew is that with two people standing watch....one should make a pass around the vessel every so often...time depends on you. Look, sniff, listen......pick up deckplates........you never know what has been left open, or loose hoseclamp, fitting.

It beat waking up to water around your ankles.

Luggage?????? Ahem you do mean seabag right?

[procrew4u]

silent-option and ex-cali,
GigiDi knows her stuff I have sailed with her up in Maine and came aboard to do a job My mate was supposed to do, I wanted so bad to rip her out of the clutches of Ticonderoga but the owner couldn't see the light at the end of the day, I can vouch that you will never have a cleaner, safer and well stowed boat if she was on board. The most pleasant person I have ever sailed with and thats no lie!
As for the luggage: some people eat sleep and drink boats and then there are those who rest their book next to a recliner. Sail hard and following seas to you GigiDi.

[Chief Engineer]

I did not mean the "luggage" comment to be disparaging.

On the vessel that is on my avatar, we have had DAY guests wheeling their LUGGAGE down the dock. oy vey!!!!!! The First Mate starts muttering in French when he sees that.......and the sound of the little wheels clicking on the dock

We had one guest who arrived the night before a Day trip....unannounced...... with two suitcases, sleeping bag and laptop.......YIKES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Ah yes....they sheer joy of being a paid crewmember.......at least they don't come down to the engine room uninvited. YAYYYYYYY!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Weyalan]

Bit of a digression from the original thread...

One thing that I try to emphasise and re-emphasise on my boat is that your gear stays in your sailing bag and unless you are getting something out or putting something in, your sailbag stays closed and stowed.

There was a very, very famous sailor who's name I will not mention (his surviving family are form hereabouts) who was well known for wondering around his boat and if he found any personal gear not properly stowed, tossing it over the side...

Yes; it is a pain in the ass to repack your gear all the time, but the first time you wear a big green wave down the companionway with the hatch open because someone is coming up, or someone opens the wrong hatch at the wrong time, the wisdom of that lesson is driven home. And on a boat with limited space and lots of crew, you just cannot afford to let personal gear get out of hand.

The reality is that sailboats sometimes get wet on the inside, but your gear doesn't have to.

[GigiDi]

Originally Posted by Chief Engineer

One of the prime rules when I am a member of the crew is that with two people standing watch....one should make a pass around the vessel every so often...time depends on you. Look, sniff, listen......pick up deckplates........you never know what has been left open, or loose hoseclamp, fitting.

It beat waking up to water around your ankles.

Luggage?????? Ahem you do mean seabag right?

no, i mean luggage. i basically dump all of my wordly posessions into an old Northsails 12-metre spinnaker bag and keep it in whatever condo we are in (in racing you dont bring anything on a boat 'cept yourself) i don't like reassigning names to things, or going out of my way to use nautical terminology. and as a rule, if it's not part of the boat, i call it whatever the heck i want lol. bear in mind i live in newport... where people use the "head" in their office building. ::yawn:: also, sadly for me not just the bag became soaked.... its entire contents were sopping. even when cell phones don't go into the piss, the piss goes into the cell phone. it's destiny.

yes, on watch we do make passes... it's all part of being on watch. however this occurred about 10 minutes after i came off of watch, filled out the log, and retired to a bunk.... which was lucky because everybody else was hanging either aft or on deck. this was nearly a 70 foot little harbor with 4 total staterooms, 4 heads, 3 showers and only 4 people... space was not at a premium. for me, this was years ago... but i was very surprised with this captain because he's had tons and tons of pacific & atlantic crossings under his belt & we had worked together since the previous year. nowadays he's having trouble finding delivery crew. this wasn't the first fiasco he's had this particular boat in.

[skipperaris]

Originally Posted by procrew4u

I can vouch that you will never have a cleaner, safer and well stowed boat if she was on board.

I have no reason to doubt what you say is true but no way will I accept "stowing" something on top of a bunk - especially a top bunk.

As a boat person you don't have to have a lot between your ears to foresee that boats roll and gravity takes over.

Having said that let me confess that I instruct day sailing clients to place their "things" on top of the V-berth forward well in. There, they may roll around and no harm comes. The exception is when ladies leave their handbags open.
I chuckle when I see them collecting what has poured out.
I leave it to your imagination...

[GigiDi]

regardless of the circumstance, i'm sure that everyone likes to be right"est" and what have you... i can respect that. everytime i do something in the yard, no less than three men walk over offering two cents, so i'm used to being "in the wrong" lol....

the moral of the story isn't where you stow your stuff... there is nothing wrong with keeping my bag in this particular berth because of the way it was situated. it never moved, or was able to even FIT out because the berth was partially drawn... it was like its own leecloth...... in other words, it wasn't a functioning bunk. maybe i should have made that clear. in fact, the captain and myself on Ti stow our things in that exact fashion... he's ran that boat for 22 years.... if it works, it's right. if it doesn't, it's wrong. we see all kinds of conditions on Ti... believe it or not she's been rolling & pitching since '36... much of the stowing kinks have been worked out

[Chief Engineer]

GigiDi...You sound like someone I would enjoy sailing with.

I got a call this summer from a woman on her boat...she had a starting problem....when I got there, she and her friend described the problem
in no time the boat was up and running. I spent the next two hours having lunch with them and listening to "their" sea-stories.....A couple of which made my hair (what little I have) stand up.

The were two of the most self-deprecating, funny sailors I have met in a while.

[skipperaris]

Originally Posted by GigiDi

everytime i do something in the yard, no less than three men walk over offering two cents, so i'm used to being "in the wrong" lol....

I don't think the men are interested in what you do.
They are more interested in who is doing it and want to impress you.

[Ex-Calif]

Somehow GigiDi doesn't stike me as a sailor who needs rescuing or defending - and that's a good thing in my book!

We tend to stow everything on the floor. Saves listening to all the banging about as it all falls off the bunks.

[David M]

Its really everyone's responsibility to look for stuff like that. It's never a good idea to start pointing the blame finger at someone else...especially on a boat where you have to live in close proximity to other people that you need to get along with. The most honorable people are the ones who accept the blame themselves.