Here is a true and very funny story...

Last weekend I had Marc Z on my boat, which we launched out of Bayberry Lane in Groton to fish the Race. On the way back in, it was decided that Marc would hop out onto the dock, go to the parking lot and back my trailer down the ramp. In light of what happened next, it is worth noting that it was quite windy, and thus Marc had a LOT of heavy clothes on.

I pull the boat up to one corner of the dock. The dock is maybe 3 or 4 feet higher than level of the boat, and therefore maybe 6 feet out of the water. He gets one foot on the dock, and wraps both arms around one of the support posts (there is one in each corner of the dock, shaped like short telephone poles, which go into the water). He figures it will then be easy to swing his other leg from my boat to the dock. Can anyone guess where this is going?

Naturally, the wind picks up, and my boat starts to drift away from the dock, and since Marc's other leg was still in the boat, he starts to do a split. So, he does the only thing he can and manages to wrap both arms and both legs around the support post. He looks rather like a kitten clinging to a tree branch as the flood waters are rising. This was quite funny to see, but I figured he'd probably be able to shimmy his way up onto the dock, which is now at his eye-level.

All of a sudden, I hear the unmistakeable sound of wood splitting. After wondering to myself, "is that sound what I think it is?", I see the support post start to separate from the dock. Marc looked back at us in the boat with a mixed expression of panic and disbelief, and while he was still clinging to the post, it separated from the dock and fell backwards into the drink, Marc holding on the whole time. Once we realized he was OK, we were very sympathetic, as we comforted him by pointing at him, laughing uncontrollably, and saying things like "Ha! Way to destroy the dock, fat boy!." Marc is actually built more like a string bean, maybe 150 pounds soaking wet, which he WAS, believe me. In fact, the poor guy had a wool hat on, 2 sweatshirts, and heavy sweatpants, so with all that water, he probably weighed 400 pounds. If only I had thought to yell out "TIM-BER!" while he was falling, that would have been something.

I hope this reads as funny as it was to see. It was something I'll remember for a long, long time. You can all feel free to use this to embarass Marc at will.

Seems like more of an oppurtunity to poke fun at the Captain of the boat who put his crew member in such a perilous spot! <img src="/Images/Happy_Face.gif"><!--e1--> Just my opinion of course.

Hey Saltheart -

You're on the money there. There was definitely some sub-par helmsmanship that led to this event. I sure learned to keep my boat in gear and to stay on the wheel whan unloading at the dock when the wind is howling.

I was with Marc last night, and he mentioned that he's getting his Rhode Island beach pass this fall. We may hit you up for some pointers at a future date.

Tight lines,

Jamie

And you call yourself a Boat Driver?? Acutally, knowing that the only damage suffered was pride, that is pretty funny.

Marc, you OK?? Did you really look a like a cat clinging for dear life??? Anything that you'd like to say in your defense???

John

My own buddy stabbing me in the back!

This really was a funny story and if I did get hurt Jamie sure would not have blabbed this story to all of you. Unfortunately this is the only way Jamie can get back at me for always outfishing him.

Jamie don't forget, I now owe you one!

MZ

I must take issue with those who thought Jamie's piloting skills were less than perfect. He and his other passenger did all they could, given the parameters of the situation. Namely, they laughed their heads off. Jamie didn't say it in his version of the story, but while Marc was clinging to the piling, Jamie had another emergency to attend to: his other passenger lost his breath from laughing and almost needed CPR. In my objective view, Jamie performed admirably.

JDOD (Jamie's Dear Old Dad)

Let me try to be helpfull for the next time. The way to approach a dock on a windy day is to head into the wind as much as possible. at the dock , get a line around something on the dock or around the piling and then on a cleat ahead of the center of the boat. Then you simply put it in reverse at a low idle and the boat will back down and be forced into the dock. This is how all the launch drivers do it. I can assure you that they wouldn't be launch drivers for long if they were dumping their passengers in the drink very often! <img src="/Images/Happy_Face.gif"><!--e1-->

JDOD, welcome aboard!! Other than to state how this calamity would not occur to the surfcasters among us <img src="/Images/Tounge_Wink_Face.gif"><!--e5-->, accidents do happen. Reminds me of a time when I was young and fearless when I nailed a pier on a Hyrdo-Slide at about 30mph, but more than my pride was hurt <img src="/Images/Sad.gif"><!--e2-->

Saltheart-

Thanks for the lesson. I had heard of this technique before, but not being a boat person I had forgotten it. I hope Jamie will make the best use of it, and have every confidence that he will.