Don't be that guy

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I was that guy once. I was sailing with a buddy and his wife to one of the gulf islands from Vancouver. He had just completed a night navigation course, this sail was mostly in the dark so it was practice time. Problem was, the two lights he was taking a fix from (old days no chart plotters) weren't "those" lights.

He walked forward to change the foresail and just as he got there, I heard 'Oh, Oh!" Then we hit a shoal. I went flying forward and my head hid a part on the traveler resulting in a six stitch wound. What none of us knew was I also experienced a bit of a concussion. One of the signs of a concussion was being loud and obnoxious, apparently I didn't disappoint. A dental surgeon showed up (a Royal Vancouver Yacht Club out station) with the most complete portable kit of stitches and needles, but no freezing for a wound. He had me take a few drinks, waited a bit then stitched me. When you see those movies were the guy takes hits of whisky or bourbon before the big surgery to dull the pain - doesn't work!
 
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A month into the first year in our marina, "that guy" rented the slip next to ours and we shared a finger pier for the rest of the season.


He would borrow tools and only return them when asked.


He would arrive back to the marina, from fishing, after midnight and crank up the tunes while he and is drunken crew washed the boat down.


He would scream vulgarities at his children for not cleaning the boat properly.


He would leave his stuff all over the finger pier.


He would "borrow" our spring lines and fenders (the ones we leave at the dock) while we were out cruising.


The only upside was that he knew everything and was eager to share his vast knowledge. He did not rent a slip in our marina last year and we had the best season ever.
 
That guy was across from us last year. His wife and he had a small band of 2. An occasional song is fine with me, heck even a good run of them on a Friday night is fine once in a while. But every Fri/Sat for the entire summer they would set up on the back of the boat, and play the same 4-5 songs over and over and over...
 
Unfortunately every Marina has "that guy"
 
We were in Ft Myers City Marina this past December when an old sport fish came into the slip behind us on one engine overheated. They had a full sized hot tub full of water in the cockpit that they used on the trip across the Okeechobee Waterway from Stuart. The head did not work because the holding tank was beyond full. No one on board ever pumped out the holding tank before so the job was given to the youngest crew member. That resulted in the bow covered in poo then the guy puked over the side! The hired Capt left in a hurry as #2 ran to the ships store for 2 cases of beer. Stereo up loud and back into the hot tub. They left for Clearwater 2 days later without fixing anything except topping the old Detroit and hot tub up with dock water.
I felt sorry for the old SF.
 
OK, I'm gonna admit, when I was about 16 years old, I was on a 420 sailing team in one of the small towns up near Gloucester, MA. I was goofing off and capsized in the only channel in and out. Then I turtled. Then I got the mast stuck in the mud. Boats had to move through the mooring field to get in and out for quite a while while I got my donkey unstuck. And anything over a certain, pretty small size, wasn't making it. So I basically shut the harbor down for a bit. I really don't understand why everyone was so mad at me? :)

Guess I got to be that guy that time.
 
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newt said:
OK, I'm gonna admit, when I was about 16 years old, I was on a 420 sailing team in one of the small towns up near Gloucester, MA. I was goofing off and capsized in the only channel in and out. Then I turtled. Then I got the mast stuck in the mud. Boats had to move through the mooring field to get in and out for quite a while while I got my donkey unstuck. And anything over a certain, pretty small size, wasn't making it. So I basically shut the harbor down for a bit. I really don't understand why everyone was so mad at me? :)

Guess I got to be that guy that time.
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Don't feel bad...there's a big container ship stuck sideways in the Suez Canal being reported now....it's blocking all traffic.


It's a lot easier to live with one's boating mistakes if you do a few years as an assistance tower, it's often a job that resembles watching America's Funniest Home Videos. :D
 
A couple of years ago when I had our boat at the Port marina a guy and his wife with a 58' Bayliner got the slip across the dock from our stern. He wasn't really a bad guy at first, just one of those "I've been there and done that" kind.

Then he hit on my wife, putting his arm around her shoulders and snuggling up to her. She gently pushed him away. That happened numerous times until I finally told him to keep his freaking hands to himself.

Fast forward to last week when I got a call from one of the guys on the board at our club. He asked me if I could remember the guy's name who owned a boat named such and such. It didn't ring a bell at first but then as he kept describing the guy and his boat my feeble old memory cleared up and I recalled him.

Seems the guy wanted to join our club. This guy got a "NO" vote from me and he'd also gotten that same response from others in the club.

Sorry Charlie, but we don't need no wannabe romancer in the club.

He was/is that guy.
 
GFC said:
A couple of years ago when I had our boat at the Port marina a guy and his wife with a 58' Bayliner got the slip across the dock from our stern. He wasn't really a bad guy at first, just one of those "I've been there and done that" kind.

Then he hit on my wife, putting his arm around her shoulders and snuggling up to her. She gently pushed him away. That happened numerous times until I finally told him to keep his freaking hands to himself.

Fast forward to last week when I got a call from one of the guys on the board at our club. He asked me if I could remember the guy's name who owned a boat named such and such. It didn't ring a bell at first but then as he kept describing the guy and his boat my feeble old memory cleared up and I recalled him.

Seems the guy wanted to join our club. This guy got a "NO" vote from me and he'd also gotten that same response from others in the club.

Sorry Charlie, but we don't need no wannabe romancer in the club.

He was/is that guy.
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What no fight or tongue lashing from Tina? She is getting soft....:dance:
 
For a few weeks last year we had the cigar smoking, hard drinking, southern rock blaring boat next to us. Now those 3 things are fine occasionally but not daily. The cigar smoke flowing thru the hatch was brutal.

Thankfully they moved to a slip further away and down wind.
 
Lollygag1 said:
For a few weeks last year we had the cigar smoking, hard drinking, southern rock blaring boat next to us. Now those 3 things are fine occasionally but not daily. The cigar smoke flowing thru the hatch was brutal.

Thankfully they moved to a slip further away and down wind.
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Hey now wait a minute.....lol 20210324_181019.jpeg
 
I should clarify they were on a $5 budget for smokes and booze.

You my friend have good taste
 
Lollygag1 said:
I should clarify they were on a $5 budget for smokes and booze.

You my friend have good taste
Click to expand...
I once had a box of 20 cigars and took insurance on them. I smoked them and filed a claim. They caught fire. Insurance company went to court for 20 separate acts of arson!

Ok just kidding. The above was a country song....
 
There is a huge difference between being "THAT GUY" and a fellow boater having a bit of a bad experience.

An overheated engine, a fouled prop, a full black water tank, a misbehaving thruster. They all happen and can really rally a group of boaters together to solve a problem.

A loud party, barking dog, large wakes, garbage overflowing, etc. are a different story. Marina management or maybe the police should be contacted. Most marinas and municipalities have nuisance rules.

pete
 
My 2 cents.


I guess I've been lucky. My only such experience was hearing "Why don't we get drunk and screw" wafting across from two dock away (not two slips away, two docks away). I know, what's a boat without Buffet? My kids were 5 and 9 at the time.
 
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