[Public-List] Ettiquette at anchor?--Thanks, Gordon

[Randy Katz]

Hey, Gordon,
Thanks for sharing your experiences and thoughts. Wow--you've had it worse
than we have by far. A very good story, and you obviously have some nerve
to challenge, report, and confess in those ways.

Yes, the noisemakers seem to be increasing in numbers. One imagines all
sorts of current social trends that may feed that tendency.

It was helpful to hear from you. We also move off to a new spot once in a
while. An individual tolerance (or lack) requires it sometimes and makes it
worth the hassle, knowing that in a matter of minutes, one can have peace
again.

Best Regards to All,
Randy Katz
Simple Gifts #249
Seattle, Bellingham

Message: 1
> Date: Mon, 19 Aug 2019 20:50:15 -0700
> From: Randy Katz <randy.katz50 at gmail.com>
> To: public-list at lists.alberg30.org
> Subject: [Public-List] Ettiquette at anchor?
> Message-ID:
>         <CAFqGGGgrS1mO5EJtGOx4eY_yuYH0Kwko=
> 4Y-DRkikKFhzD7LBA at mail.gmail.com>
> Content-Type: text/plain; charset="UTF-8"
>
> Greetings, 'Bergers,
>
> Gordon's story below reminded me of a concern we're always a bit unsure
> about. We seem plagued by noisy generators on nearby boats, as I'm sure
> others have experienced. Watmough Bay on south Lopez Island, WA., a couple
> of weeks ago--Nearly all sailboats, ah, nice and quiet. Until another
> sailboat-- :( --with its gen exhaust pointed right at us starts ripping
> away... for 2 hours around dinner time.
>
> I'm an adult, I can figure these things out, but I'm curious about the
> response of others. Does one dare ask to the skipper how long such an
> intrusion is expected to continue, by way of giving a hint? Is it
> preferable to pull up anchor and move? Is it best even so to adopt a zen
> attitude and endure till the end? When will modern electrical management
> systems, LEDs, etc. become pervasive enough to reduce gen use? Not in my
> lifetime, I'm afraid.
>
> And then sometimes at 7 in the morning, too!
>
> We often anchor far off from other vessels knowing this problem will come
> up. We go to the beautiful places for peace and quiet, not for listening to
> engines running on and on.
>
> Any experiences or suggestions would be welcomed.
>
> Many Thanks,
> Randy Katz
> #249 Simple Gifts
> Seattle/Bellingham, WA
>
>
> Message: 3
> Date: Tue, 20 Aug 2019 08:24:52 -0400
> From: Gordon Laco <mainstay at csolve.net>
> To: Alberg 30 Public List -- open to all
>         <public-list at lists.alberg30.org>
> Subject: Re: [Public-List] Ettiquette at anchor?
> Message-ID: <CC0AFA36-EBC6-4A16-88DD-95353810F632 at csolve.net>
> Content-Type: text/plain;       charset=utf-8
>
>
> Hello Randy - use of gen sets in otherwise quiet anchorages is a growing
> problem.   I try to ignore them unless their use is especially obnoxious,
> such as in the case of a large black hulled motor cruiser who joined us in
> a cove with us last year.  We were the only two boats there, yet they chose
> to moor themselves to the shore literally within  thirty feet of our port
> side.  They proceed to start up their generator, then their air
> conditioning then put a loud professional sports game on their TV.  Why go
> to a wilderness anchorage if they wanted to watch sports on TV?
>
> Later when they emerged on deck I engaged them in conversation and in the
> course of that, asked them how long they would be running their generator.
> Their response was foul and aggressive.  We moved when they started running
> a jet ski at high speed in the tiny cove.
>
> But perhaps there is justice in the universe.  Last winter at the Toronto
> Int?l Boat Show I was in my display with my usual neighbours, one of whom
> is an operator of marinas.  We began sharing stories of inconsiderate
> ?boaters? (hate that term, a boater is a hat?)  Low and behold, they knew
> the people with the black hulled stinkpot.   In the months after our
> encounter with them, they?d run afoul of their home marina for non-payment
> of fees and objectionable behaviour involving noise? then another marina
> for non-payment for expensive cosmetic remodelling of their boat.  The
> result of all this was that their boat had been legally seized from them.
>
> Hurrumph, says I.  Yes, I feel a little guilty for being quietly pleased.
>
> On a similar vein, last summer we witnessed a huge and fast powerboat
> doing a full-on Rodney Dangerfield charging up Severn Sound blaring his
> horn and near missing several boats as he weaved through the sunday
> afternoon homeward bound fleet while towing a huge wake.   I caught the
> name of his boat, and made a project of hunting it down in the local
> marinas? PAINFUL PLEASURE was a tenant nearby.   I reported him to the
> police with a detailed description of what had happened.  The police told
> me they visited him and had a ?conversation? which they reckoned made an
> impression.  I didn?t press for charges to be laid, but I could have.
>
> Some months later, in my professional capacity as national distributor for
> Epifanes marine coatings, I received a call from the same marina reporting
> a client needing advice for a painting job he was doing.  The boat was near
> enough for me to make a personal visit...  Guess who it was...
>
> I helped him out with his issue and in the course of the inspection got to
> know him a little. He was of course new to boat ownership and clearly loved
> his monstrous powerboat.  I commented that I was a sailor and kept my boat
> at the sailing club nearby? he murmured ?I don?t think sailors like me very
> much?.   So I drew a breath and told him it was I who called the police on
> him the previous summer, and told him why.   He apologized? clearly the
> cops had indeed made an impression on him.    I believe this particular
> inconsiderate boat operator is in the category of most of them? he just had
> no idea what mayhem and danger he was out there? well now he knows.
>
> Gordon Laco
> 426 Surprise
>
>
>