Scummy Things Fellow Boaters Have Done To Others...

[Fishtales]

Thought I'd start a winter discussion thread and ask folks to share some stories and hopefully lessons learned from things done to them by others. Can be good or bad.

I believe I had two small thefts on the boat during winter layup (maybe more that I'm not aware of)...
One year I was late to spring launch and in a rush to get the boat to the slip. I had a fishing excursion planned and wanted to be able to follow through on the commit. I layup about 45 minutes by boat from dealer to slip so I take her back and forth each spring and fall. Boat is launched, on the dock and ready to go. I take the launch to the floating dock perform an operational check and I'm off like a prom dress. I get about 3 min away outside the harbor and decide to stop and prep the boat to slip. I clean out the boat very well in the fall and put everything back in the boat in the spring ensuring I touch and inspect everything as it goes back in. The only things I leave on the boat are (4) fenders and (4) 30' dock lines. Everything else comes out. I put other things in the v-birth storage lockers in the spring, so I move the fenders to the aft fish box and one in the live well until I prep to dock. I place the dock lines on top of the fenders in the aft fishbox as there are installed on the cleats, so they are ready when I arrive. I went to grab the nice new black dock lines and they are gone. At this point I'm a tad concerned but remember that I keep a couple of spare lines under the mid berth. When I rotate new lines in, I keep a couple of the older ones for storm ties or if I unexpectantly need to dock. Lucky I had these lines, or I would have been in deep yogurt at the dock as I was alone. I told my dealer/owner about this and I could tell he thought it strange (who would steal lines) and probably didn't believe me. I wasn't looking for repayment or anything more just sharing the story so he knew things can happen on the hard in the yard.

Th second one was just detected this year. I say this because I'm not sure when it actually happened. This past fall I removed my anchor and rode as I figured it was time to replace the rode after 15 years of use (yea probably a little late). At the end of the season, I drop the anchor and rode from the boat on the hard and bring home. A few weeks ago, I decide to get cracking and order the rode to prep for spring. I pull it out and find that I only had 15 feet of chain not the 30 I thought with 300 feet of line (BTW this seems to be a standard config sold by Lewmar and others). I noticed a square piece of metal welded to the bottom anchor V that I didn't remember being there. I also noted that my Delta Fast Set anchor now said Marpoc on it. I recall noticing rust on the bottom of the anchor last fall and was surprised by it. Now some may say maybe you thought it was a Delta from the beginning. Being a tad anal, I use some elbow grease and hit the anchor each spring with the metal cleaner so I'm familiar with the anchor. I then remembered I peeled off the two blue Delta stickers off the anchor a couple of years ago as they were faded, and a bit chewed up. When the boat is wrapped the anchor is used as a hold point and the shrink wrap is wrapped tightly all around it. No way the anchor could be removed post shrink during layup without being noticed. I ended up getting a new rode (recommend Dark Horse Marine in Fl on the web with free ship BTW if you need a custom one) and bought a "used" Fast Set off Amazon. I worked for Amazon developing robotic and industrial automation equipment for their fulfillment centers (know their operation) and found a "used" one in excellent condition for 2/3 the best price I could find. I've had good luck with their warehouse items from time to time. I'm guessing the label is beat up and they are selling at a discount. If not, it will go back, and I'll order a new one. I also keep a lighter weight Danforth anchor and rode in a Coors Lite 30 pack zip cooler to keep the noise down.

The lessons are:
Be observant and pay attention to your equipment. Inspect and replace anything that is out of date, worn or missing.
Keep critical item spares on the boat if possible. Be prepared - stuff happens.
Ensure you have your lines and fenders before leaving for home port.
Coors 30 pack zip coolers make decent noise mitigation containers for storage areas on your boat.
Don't peel the stickers off your anchor. It would have been much easier to see the anchor was swapped if I left them on.

 

[MashpeeMan]

Interesting. I have a friend who owns a Harley and we spoke about a "code" where "everybody" knows that you can leave your Harley virtually anywhere and people don't mess with it. We talked about a similar code with boats... where you can leave a boat worth tens or hundreds of thousands of dollars virtually anywhere (transient dock, mooring, marina, on a trailer, etc.) and nobody will mess with it. I talked about owning boats for decades and the fact that I've never given a second thought to leaving equipment out and open, key in the ignition, etc. and that I've never had any problems or issues. No doubt that there are always exceptions and a-holes that have no respect for other people's property... code or no code. Personally I'd prefer to continue to not give it a second thought... and if I get burned I get burned. I've left expensive equipment in plain view in shared mooring areas (like Oak Bluffs on MV as one of my frequent destinations) many times and I sure would be ticked if something gets snagged. But I don't want to give it a second thought and so far I haven't been burned.

 

[Mustang65fbk]

When I was a kid we would leave our outboard kicker motor on our dinghy in front of our beach cabin on Whidbey Island throughout the summer so that you didn't have to carry it back and forth over the bulkhead down to the beach every single weekend. We had some neighbors who lived down the way from us and their son was I guess a drug dealer, and one weekend we came up to the cabin to find that our outboard motor, as well as several others, had been stolen off of our boats. The motor wasn't worth a ton of money, but it was the fact that someone stole it from us that pissed me off. I think sometime soon thereafter the son ended up going to jail for dealing drugs or something else and then I believe moved away, but it still pissed me off that someone would steal something that isn't theirs.

The same goes with crab pots that you leave out. I can't really prove it 100% because the cheaper priced crab pots are pretty light, so there is a possibility that they drifted or got tangled up in someone else's pots and sunk. But I've had probably at least 5-6 pots over the years either get stolen up "wandered off on their own". I know people check other people's crab pots because I've come out the next day after dropping my pots to find both no bait in the bait trap as well as no crab in the pot either. I'm sure a few smaller sized crab could've potentially gotten in there and eaten some of the bait but not 2-3 full sized turkey or 5-6 chicken legs in a matter of 12 hours. Again, if it was just the cost of going back to Costco and paying $80 for two crab pots because I dropped them too deep or because they drifted off on their own accord then that would be my fault and it would be one thing. Having someone steal your stuff though, and/or checking your pots annoys the hell out of me to no end. Almost to the point to where I've about given up on it altogether because unfortunately where we drop the crab pots isn't in front of our cabin so we can't really keep eyes on the pots all day to see if someone is checking or pulling them. Especially on the 4th of July, it's pretty much a guarantee that you'll not pull up any crab in your pots because there are hundreds of other pots out there and people get greedy so they take yours. I've had the conversation with my neighbor multiple times about the same thing and he's "lost" or more like has had stolen multiple pots over the last 5 years as well as his pots very likely having been checked by someone else.

 

[Fishtales]

I own a Harley and it is true but most of the stuff says Harley all over it versus plug compatible stuff that works on any boat. The other thing is Harleys are in groups and are outside very little time vs a boat.

There are a lot of folks on the water in boats that really have no business being on the water due to safety or reliability issues. I tow in at least one boat every couple of seasons that I can't believe are even out there. I wonder if those are the folks that would be inclined to lift versus buy items. Thieves target the more expensive items like fishing rods, electronics and motors. Lucky there isn't much of that going on.

I have a 10 pot lobster license in MA but have not lobstered for a few years now. The state loves me as it is $55 a year to renew. I'd always loose a couple a year to boaters I thought but I've been told the commercial buys will cut you if you are too close to their spot. Not sure if I believe that or not... I always put a small tie wrap on the lid so I knew if someone was raiding the pots. You really have to check lobster pots every 48 hours as once the bait is gone, the lobsters will work (and do) to get out. Sometimes tough to do with crazy schedules and life going on. Cheaper to go to the store and buy...

 

[Uncle Joe]

My brother in law convinced me to hire a local guy who was "down on his luck" to help do some of the work on the boat to get it ready one spring...painting the bottom....cleaning etc....then also to help prep it for winter storage....covering it etc.
I did and overpaid the guy both times....only to stop by the boat in December and to find the guy had opened up my cover...broken into the cabin and was living in there....booze bottles, cigarette butts, his clothes, were everywhere.

 

[SmokyMtnGrady]

I was trolling for dolphin off of Key largo and heading north. I was in 250 feet of water and doing about 5-7 knots when a jack wagon in his 40-50 cruiser came in behind him heading east doing 25-30 knots . It was clear as day I was trolling with my outriggers out and I use high vis yellow line. I altered course to avoid the guy a couple times and he came in behind my boat about 75 yards out and he first spooled two reels and then cut it off. My only pleasure was knowing his prop shaft was wrapped with my line . In retrospect I should have just turned west gone upstream a bit and then continue to head north. I do blame the guy some and I will take some . Let's just say that has not happened again since that day. I avoid those guys like COVID . .

 

[Mustang65fbk]

I've had more than a few instances where all of the boats out fishing are going the same direction North or South, but then you always seem to get some jerk wad that likes to go perpendicular and head East or West and cut everyone else off. It annoys the hell out of me that one person always has to ruin it for everyone else. That and I've had several instances where people either aren't paying attention or they want to crowd in next to you and you get your lines tangled. Last time that happened was a couple summers ago and I ended up losing my flasher, spoon and then had to spend 10 minutes away from fishing to get everything rigged back up again. Luckily I didn't lose my downrigger ball but I was annoyed to no end because the boat was coming toward me perpendicular and they had a shaker on, which for some reason they thought both of them needed to leave the boat in gear and figure out how to get the shaker off the hook. Meanwhile they drifted into my lines and tangled up

 

[Meanwhile]

The fishing pattern is kinda funny until someone runs over your lines. In the case of the salmon fishery at the Columbia River mouth, the famous Buoy 10, there is little to be done about getting cut off. The unwritten rule is to not make eye contact. If you do then an actual discussion might have to take place. It is much more common to troll until rod tips on different boats have to be moved from holders prior to a tangle. Then everyone pretends that it is an absolute surprise the other boat is almost on top of your boat. At that point a not so gentle reminder is uttered under the captain's breath.

It can be nerve wrecking to be the captain. It is hilarious to watch as a passenger.

 

[Mustang65fbk]

I mean, I get it if there's a confined space or there isn't much room and there's a ton of boats out there trying to navigate around... that's completely acceptable. What annoys me to no end is when a boat deliberately cuts you off, is cruising and cuts you off to slow down and start fishing right in front of you or behind you, or as stated above where everyone is going one direction and some jack wagon decides to go perpendicular to everyone else and someone is going to get cut off or lines are going to get tangled. I see it happen all the time, fortunately it's not always involving myself and another boater but it doesn't really need to happen at all since the Puget Sound at the part where I fish most of the time is about 3 miles wide. Obviously there's going to be a few times where trying to navigate through a couple hundred boats or more might be a little close but you shouldn't ever have to stop for fear of getting your lines tangled with another boat when you've got miles and miles of open water to fish in. I think people are obviously not paying attention, don't care, or think that they own the ocean.

 

[Meanwhile]

One time while trolling a spread for albacore I noticed a dory following my every turn. I put the auto pilot on a wide spiral and went back to changing gear. It took about 3 times around before the boat realized we were going in circles. I didn't see the boat again.

Another day we had just hooked 3 tuna and were in the process of changing to a jig/bait stop. Here comes a googan trolling about 50' from our boat, put the whole school down. Ugh.

 

[Sailfish]

Had a dock neighbor back another dock neighbors wife (on the wife's boat). Needless to say, it put a damper on socializing for a while

 

[enfish]

Another day we had just hooked 3 tuna and were in the process of changing to a jig/bait stop. Here comes a googan trolling about 50' from our boat, put the whole school down. Ugh.

That's every weekend in San Diego! Last year we pulled up to a school of foaming bluefin in the 70-100 lb class. I cast a jig right into the middle of the foamer and was instantly bit... line starts peeling off my reel and here comes another boat flying in to get into the middle of the action who drives between me and my fish and saws me off.

 

[Scot Smith]

Thought I'd start a winter discussion thread and ask folks to share some stories and hopefully lessons learned from things done to them by others. Can be good or bad.

I believe I had two small thefts on the boat during winter layup (maybe more that I'm not aware of)...
One year I was late to spring launch and in a rush to get the boat to the slip. I had a fishing excursion planned and wanted to be able to follow through on the commit. I layup about 45 minutes by boat from dealer to slip so I take her back and forth each spring and fall. Boat is launched, on the dock and ready to go. I take the launch to the floating dock perform an operational check and I'm off like a prom dress. I get about 3 min away outside the harbor and decide to stop and prep the boat to slip. I clean out the boat very well in the fall and put everything back in the boat in the spring ensuring I touch and inspect everything as it goes back in. The only things I leave on the boat are (4) fenders and (4) 30' dock lines. Everything else comes out. I put other things in the v-birth storage lockers in the spring, so I move the fenders to the aft fish box and one in the live well until I prep to dock. I place the dock lines on top of the fenders in the aft fishbox as there are installed on the cleats, so they are ready when I arrive. I went to grab the nice new black dock lines and they are gone. At this point I'm a tad concerned but remember that I keep a couple of spare lines under the mid berth. When I rotate new lines in, I keep a couple of the older ones for storm ties or if I unexpectantly need to dock. Lucky I had these lines, or I would have been in deep yogurt at the dock as I was alone. I told my dealer/owner about this and I could tell he thought it strange (who would steal lines) and probably didn't believe me. I wasn't looking for repayment or anything more just sharing the story so he knew things can happen on the hard in the yard.

Th second one was just detected this year. I say this because I'm not sure when it actually happened. This past fall I removed my anchor and rode as I figured it was time to replace the rode after 15 years of use (yea probably a little late). At the end of the season, I drop the anchor and rode from the boat on the hard and bring home. A few weeks ago, I decide to get cracking and order the rode to prep for spring. I pull it out and find that I only had 15 feet of chain not the 30 I thought with 300 feet of line (BTW this seems to be a standard config sold by Lewmar and others). I noticed a square piece of metal welded to the bottom anchor V that I didn't remember being there. I also noted that my Delta Fast Set anchor now said Marpoc on it. I recall noticing rust on the bottom of the anchor last fall and was surprised by it. Now some may say maybe you thought it was a Delta from the beginning. Being a tad anal, I use some elbow grease and hit the anchor each spring with the metal cleaner so I'm familiar with the anchor. I then remembered I peeled off the two blue Delta stickers off the anchor a couple of years ago as they were faded, and a bit chewed up. When the boat is wrapped the anchor is used as a hold point and the shrink wrap is wrapped tightly all around it. No way the anchor could be removed post shrink during layup without being noticed. I ended up getting a new rode (recommend Dark Horse Marine in Fl on the web with free ship BTW if you need a custom one) and bought a "used" Fast Set off Amazon. I worked for Amazon developing robotic and industrial automation equipment for their fulfillment centers (know their operation) and found a "used" one in excellent condition for 2/3 the best price I could find. I've had good luck with their warehouse items from time to time. I'm guessing the label is beat up and they are selling at a discount. If not, it will go back, and I'll order a new one. I also keep a lighter weight Danforth anchor and rode in a Coors Lite 30 pack zip cooler to keep the noise down.

The lessons are:
Be observant and pay attention to your equipment. Inspect and replace anything that is out of date, worn or missing.
Keep critical item spares on the boat if possible. Be prepared - stuff happens.
Ensure you have your lines and fenders before leaving for home port.
Coors 30 pack zip coolers make decent noise mitigation containers for storage areas on your boat.
Don't peel the stickers off your anchor. It would have been much easier to see the anchor was swapped if I left them on.

Fishtales - I would say drop that marina
My sense ,from what you described , anchor had to be an inside job , what thief would go to time and trouble to install an anchor where he is under time constraint? Sounds like someone had lots of access and wanted to upgrade their own boat, my guess is manager or marina crew, Scummy is right

 

[sturgstev]

A few year back I used a mechanic that had a dock to bring my boat to. They left the boat at their dock and delayed bringing it into their yard for several weeks.

A local yokul with a sail boat came by and took my boat and stripped it of most of the supplies and then let my boat adrift.

Mechanic retrieved the boat and called me about it and said they were sorry. The discounted the bill and I just let it go but do not use them anymore.

The world has more problems that me.

Sturg

 

[Hookup1]

Scummy Things Fellow Boaters Have Done To Others... 13 replies

Good things that boaters have done for each other? 2 replies.​

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[Fishtales]

Thought I'd start a winter discussion thread and ask folks to share some stories and hopefully lessons learned from things done to them by others. Can be good or bad.

I believe I had two small thefts on the boat during winter layup (maybe more that I'm not aware of)...
One year I was late to spring launch and in a rush to get the boat to the slip. I had a fishing excursion planned and wanted to be able to follow through on the commit. I layup about 45 minutes by boat from dealer to slip so I take her back and forth each spring and fall. Boat is launched, on the dock and ready to go. I take the launch to the floating dock perform an operational check and I'm off like a prom dress. I get about 3 min away outside the harbor and decide to stop and prep the boat to slip. I clean out the boat very well in the fall and put everything back in the boat in the spring ensuring I touch and inspect everything as it goes back in. The only things I leave on the boat are (4) fenders and (4) 30' dock lines. Everything else comes out. I put other things in the v-birth storage lockers in the spring, so I move the fenders to the aft fish box and one in the live well until I prep to dock. I place the dock lines on top of the fenders in the aft fishbox as there are installed on the cleats, so they are ready when I arrive. I went to grab the nice new black dock lines and they are gone. At this point I'm a tad concerned but remember that I keep a couple of spare lines under the mid berth. When I rotate new lines in, I keep a couple of the older ones for storm ties or if I unexpectantly need to dock. Lucky I had these lines, or I would have been in deep yogurt at the dock as I was alone. I told my dealer/owner about this and I could tell he thought it strange (who would steal lines) and probably didn't believe me. I wasn't looking for repayment or anything more just sharing the story so he knew things can happen on the hard in the yard.

Th second one was just detected this year. I say this because I'm not sure when it actually happened. This past fall I removed my anchor and rode as I figured it was time to replace the rode after 15 years of use (yea probably a little late). At the end of the season, I drop the anchor and rode from the boat on the hard and bring home. A few weeks ago, I decide to get cracking and order the rode to prep for spring. I pull it out and find that I only had 15 feet of chain not the 30 I thought with 300 feet of line (BTW this seems to be a standard config sold by Lewmar and others). I noticed a square piece of metal welded to the bottom anchor V that I didn't remember being there. I also noted that my Delta Fast Set anchor now said Marpoc on it. I recall noticing rust on the bottom of the anchor last fall and was surprised by it. Now some may say maybe you thought it was a Delta from the beginning. Being a tad anal, I use some elbow grease and hit the anchor each spring with the metal cleaner so I'm familiar with the anchor. I then remembered I peeled off the two blue Delta stickers off the anchor a couple of years ago as they were faded, and a bit chewed up. When the boat is wrapped the anchor is used as a hold point and the shrink wrap is wrapped tightly all around it. No way the anchor could be removed post shrink during layup without being noticed. I ended up getting a new rode (recommend Dark Horse Marine in Fl on the web with free ship BTW if you need a custom one) and bought a "used" Fast Set off Amazon. I worked for Amazon developing robotic and industrial automation equipment for their fulfillment centers (know their operation) and found a "used" one in excellent condition for 2/3 the best price I could find. I've had good luck with their warehouse items from time to time. I'm guessing the label is beat up and they are selling at a discount. If not, it will go back, and I'll order a new one. I also keep a lighter weight Danforth anchor and rode in a Coors Lite 30 pack zip cooler to keep the noise down.

The lessons are:
Be observant and pay attention to your equipment. Inspect and replace anything that is out of date, worn or missing.
Keep critical item spares on the boat if possible. Be prepared - stuff happens.
Ensure you have your lines and fenders before leaving for home port.
Coors 30 pack zip coolers make decent noise mitigation containers for storage areas on your boat.
Don't peel the stickers off your anchor. It would have been much easier to see the anchor was swapped if I left them on.

Update 3/8.
I decided to get a new anchor after getting a new rode from Dark Horse Marine. I locked onto one from Amazon that was used and 1/3 off ($168). I figured the anchor's packaging was damaged or something and took a shot. I thought it was a 22lb Lewmar Delta stainless steel anchor that looks like galvanized steel. Looks like Lewmar acquired Delta?
https://www.amazon.com/Lewmar-Galvanised-Delta-Anchor-lb/dp/B000N9XDY8/ref=sr_1_5?adgrpid=1331509143462801&hvadid=83219392248285&hvbmt=be&hvdev=c&hvlocphy=102829&hvnetw=o&hvqmt=e&hvtargid=kwd-83219661086942:loc-190&hydadcr=9438_10836557&keywords=delta+anchor+22lb&qid=1646777355&sr=8-5&th=1&psc=1

Well I was a bit surprised when a shiny 316 stainless steel Lewmar arrived. It is the Lewmar DTX which is same design as the Lewmar Delta but made overseas vs in the US.

https://www.amazon.com/Lewmar-Stainless-Steel-DTX-Anchor/dp/B00AJVH95Y/ref=sr_1_6?crid=2WMJ1VKTDLVY6&keywords=delta%2Banchor%2B22lb%2B316%2Bstainless%2Bsteel&qid=1646777560&sprefix=delta%2Banchor%2B22lb%2B316%2Bstainless%2Bsteel%2Caps%2C58&sr=8-6&th=1&psc=1

Can be bought for about $735 new. Perfect condition to boot. I'd say I may have to move this to the "good things boaters have done for others" thread!