Lessons Learned – by Pat Carson
Is It Right Or Is It Wrong 16
It is June, it is spring and it finally appears that the winter weather is behind us. It has been a year since my last installment of “Is It Right or Is It Wrong” and I thought it would be a good time to begin the 2024 boating season with a new installment recapping the hits and misses of the past year. I have been collecting photos and saving contributions from readers regarding items and issues that we know are just not right, some things we know are right and some of which we are not sure. I thought that I would share a few of my latest observations in installment 16. I do appreciate reader submissions as I may not see all that is right or wrong as I boat around the Bay, Delta and Pacific Coast.
Work Boats
We see work boats everywhere around the marinas. Sometimes they are tasked with a difficult and or dirty job and it is obvious why they look the way they do, but at times you just have to wonder what the captain and crew were thinking.
I get it. We need a lot of tools and supplies while making repairs to our vessel and preparing for that commercial fishing trip. Personally, I find it easier if the work area is kept neat and orderly; do not block access hatches and keep the work area clean. Apparently, not everyone thinks this is important. This shot was taken of a recreational vessel that had been repurposed as a commercial fishing boat and the owner was making repairs and getting her ready for pot fishing. I think he had a long way to go and the clean up afterwards could take days.
This photo was taken in Portland at the dive boat’s permanent slip on the Willamette River. She is a well-kept vessel and looked to be well fitted for her intended purpose. However, she is moored with not one, but two recreational diver flags and with no personnel in the water. Signal flags are used to signal between two ships or between ship and shore and should be flown only when engaged in the activity indicated. The correct signal flag is Code flag A which is white with a blue swallowtail and is the appropriate signaling flag used by diving support vessels to indicate their inability to move from their current location because they have men working in the water. For more information consult Navigation Rule 27.
This photo of a commercial urchin fishing vessel was taken in Santa Barbara. The aft deck was stacked high with boat fenders that have been repurposed as floats. She had the proper day shape indicating a vessel engaged in fishing, although the shape of a fishing vessel engaged in fishing consists of two black triangles or cones; inverted and stacked vertically not horizontally. For more information consult Navigation Rule 26.
By now we should all be familiar with the mess of working boats at the end of Eight Mile Road. Here is one last parting shot of the sunken work boat with another sunken former small cruise boat. Both have outlived their useful lives and should be retired and scrapped. The back sloughs of the Delta should not be the dumping ground for commercial vessels even if the owners think they can save the vessel.
Spotted this fishing boat tied to the dock in Brookings, Oregon as the owner was busy preparing her for a day of fishing. Could not help but notice the large amount of ground tackle laid out on the foredeck. Apparently, this is his usual procedure so that it is ready to go. He singlehands the vessel and wants to make anchoring as easy as possible. Although it does not look very secure to me, it works for him. I changed my mind from wrong to “sort of,” right?
Rows and rows of crab pots were lined up and ready to be loaded on their respective boats. This photo was taken in Westport Washington as the crab fishing season was about to open. The forklift drivers were busy moving gear around for each of the boat operators. This is a common sight at most coastal harbors along Northern California to Western Washington. Unfortunately, the crab season this past couple of years has been terrible for the commercial fisherman and is definitely a “Wrong.”
The harbor patrol in Ventura, California has the right idea of how to wash away the sea lion excrement from their docks. Even in San Francisco the sea lions and seals leave a large amount of waste behind every morning that needs to be washed off. In Ventura one of the harbor patrol boats goes out every morning and uses the fire monitor to wash off the public docks around the harbor. I think it is a great idea to get the boats out, test all the systems for proper operation and clean the waste off the docks. If I was tasked with cleaning the docks this would be a fun way to accomplish the task.
What to do with all the metals and batteries that are taken off boats and replaced with new parts? Recycle them of course. Copper is especially valuable and easily recycled. Any copper from wire, tubing or heat exchangers contains large amounts of the metal. Batteries are also easily recycled as the manufacturers will disassemble them, remove the lead for recycling and even recycle the plastic case.
There are those occasions when you need assistance getting back to the marina. In this case the only way to get the boat to the yard for haul out and repair is to have TowBoatUS come and tow it. The professionals at TowBoatUS San Francisco have a modern fleet of purpose-built boats and are available 24/7. It helps when you schedule ahead of time and can choose a morning when the weather is relatively calm.
In this photo I am taking a 30-something-foot weekender to Richmond from Sausalito. A long uneventful voyage at seven knots it seems like it takes forever to cross Raccoon Straits and the central Bay.
Random Errors In Judgement
These can occur anytime and take many shapes. Following are a few submitted over the last year or so.
There are many places that we can safely anchor and moor our vessels. Next to the levee and in contact with the rocks is probably not the best choice. This photo was taken in Fourteen Mile Slough near Village West Marina. Add to the already “wrong” situation, the vessel is downwind of the prevailing westerlies and any weather just pushes it further against the rocks. Fiberglass is not that tough and will eventually crack and fail.
This photo was taken at the boat yard as a 12-foot tender arrived for repairs. Clearly, the bow of the boat was used as a battering ram and suffered significant damage. I suppose the owner is lucky that the tow eye was not compromised and was able to get it on a trailer and to the yard.
An interesting way to secure your vessel as you fetch the trailer. Hard to understand the plan since the trailer is on the opposite side of the ramp, fully submerged with the boat apparently aground. This photo was taken at the boat ramp in Stockton across from 5 Star Marina. When I took the photo there was no one around or I would have stayed and at a minimum offered to assist. Getting that large boat afloat, to the back of the trailer and then onto it would not be an easy task.
This photo was taken in Steamboat Slough and it looked as though the skipper was waiting for the tide to rise and for a gust of wind to get him off the sand. Not sure how it all worked out as I could not stick around for high tide in two and half hours.
So, it is OK to be a little crooked. But I would find it difficult to stay on board a boat with a 15-degree port list. With an aft master cabin with the berth athwartships either your head or your feet are seriously elevated. I do not think that I could sleep like that but perhaps it does not bother some folks.
How many times have you seen this mistake made. Somebody installed a new RADAR in front of the steaming light on this large flybridge motoryacht. While the anchor light appears to be higher than the highest structure of the vessel, the steaming light is 100% blocked from its intended purpose of providing a forward-facing white light.
A power boat and any sailing vessel underway using mechanical means of propulsion MUST show one green light on the starboard side, one red light on the port side and one all around white light or lights while operating in reduced visibility. These lights should shine at all 360 degrees of visibility with the steaming light shining at an angle of dead ahead to 22.5 degrees abaft the beam and the stern lights shining 135 degrees dead aft. Navigation Rule 23 – Lights and Shapes for a power-driven vessel articulates the requirements and there is no wiggle room. Looks like either lowering the RADAR six inches or raising the steaming light six inches would make this vessel compliant.
Yep, the Sacramento River is running high and fast with tons of debris.
What A Shame
The once awesome Heidi’s Outrigger Marina and Saloon on Three Mile Slough is no more. Sad to see her fall apart and closed down for what apparently looks like for good. Located on East Sherman Island Road in Rio Vista, this was once one of the 10 best watering holes in the Delta. With the karaoke, dance parties, ice-cold beer and a dog friendly deck we visited here often. So, “Wrong.”
Moore’s Riverboat is also gone. In the early morning of July 6, 2022, the iconic Moore’s Riverboat restaurant in Isleton was destroyed by a fire. Firefighters were unable to save the structure as they concentrated their efforts in saving the nearby buildings and let the Riverboat burn. Fortunately, there were no injuries and the nearby structures were all saved.
A year and a half later, the Sacramento County District Attorney’s Office prosecuted Rolly “Brian” Heath Byrd for felony arson who pled guilty to felony arson charges with two years in state prison time already served. Officials say he is required to register as an arsonist for the rest of his life.
The loss of this great spot is also “Wrong.” I especially liked the Bikes, Boats and Bikinis weekend.
Giusti’s website describes the business as the oldest restaurant and bar in the California Delta, going back to 1912 with four generations of family ownership. It had more than 1,200 hats on its ceiling and pictures of celebrities who have visited, along with other memorabilia on its walls. At around 1500 hours a fire erupted in the galley and flames engulfed the building.
Well, that is all for this installment. Now I can sit back and enjoy that fine cigar and glass of port as I consider the start of the summer boating season and look forward to attending the Pacific Sail and Power Boat Show at Westpoint Harbor in Redwood City. Be safe around our fellow yachtsmen and yachtswomen and if you do see something that you are not quite sure if it is right or wrong, take photos and email them to me at patcarson@yachtsmanmagazine.com. I may include them in the next edition of “Is It Right or Is It Wrong” so that we can all learn from your experiences.
As we approach the spring and summer boating season in San Francisco, remember that the this is the time of year where we get higher winds and cooler days and you thought that was all behind us for the year.
Just kidding – go ahead and park there.
