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Crazy start to Block Island vacation

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    Cableguy GregCableguy Greg Member Posts: 5,012 ✭✭✭✭✭
    Glad to hear that your wife is okay and the boat is as well. Safe travels back to your home port.
    2008 280 Express Cruiser, 6.2MPI, B3, Pittsburgh, PA "Blue Ayes"
    Go Steelers!!!
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    rasburyrasbury Member Posts: 8,239 ✭✭✭✭✭
    I seldom anchor it seems....but I have a cleat under my rode cover door.....
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    PickleRickPickleRick Member Posts: 3,886 ✭✭✭✭✭

    rasbury said:
    I seldom anchor it seems...
    Don't wanna wear out that windlass button???😜
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    rasburyrasbury Member Posts: 8,239 ✭✭✭✭✭
    No, we just don't seem to just sit anywhere other than a marina ...
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    randy56randy56 Member Posts: 4,083 ✭✭✭✭✭
    What a story, nothing worse having your spouse sick like that. In the end great adventure. I hope there grandmother survived. Great pic's 
    Boat Name : 

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    PickleRickPickleRick Member Posts: 3,886 ✭✭✭✭✭
    edited August 2019
    rasbury said:
    No, we just don't seem to just sit anywhere other than a marina ...
    I was just kidding. I dont have a windlass on my boat, i lug that 18 lbs anchor, chain and rode by hand.  I envy you guys with a windlass.
    Post edited by PickleRick on
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    diggin2day1diggin2day1 Member Posts: 1,326 ✭✭✭✭
    Continuing my crazy Block Island Vacation.... 
        Wednesday afternoon a 40’ Silverton and 38’ SeaRay that were tied up together started dragging anchor directly at me(while the pump-out boat was hooked up to them too). The captain of the Silverton saw us getting closer and yelled out to me “am I dragging my anchor?!”.... I yelled back at him “WELL I’M NOT DRAGGING INTO THE WIND!!!”  He quickly started up and moved his boat(end the ones attached to him) and re-anchored... way too close for comfort! 
        NOW THE FUN BEGINS... crazy storm rolls through that night with that guy directly in front of me. Heavy winds, rain, lightening, etc... didn’t sleep a wink just waiting for his anchor to drag again. Last night was very windy again and I didn’t get much sleep. 
        So this morning at 6am we headed back toward Long Island. I cruised across the Block Island Sound and between the forks of Long Island. As we approached the shinnecock locks I saw that they were open so we proceeded forward. As we got closer I felt that we were moving a bit too fast so I back off the throttle for a split second and BAM!! The swirling current slams the starboard aft slams into the lock wall. STAY ON THE THROTTLE WHILE MOVING THROUGH RUSHING WATER!!!
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    diggin2day1diggin2day1 Member Posts: 1,326 ✭✭✭✭
        THEN.... To top it all off, within 3 miles from my marina, I threw the serpentine belt!!!
        Believe it or not, we had a great time... we decided to spend tonight on the boat, but we’re docked at Davis Park Marina. Going to The Casino for dinner and drinks and we’ll head home in the morning. Crazy trip with lots of learning experiences(some more costly than others!!)... we’ll be talking about this for a long time. 
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    aero3113aero3113 Member Posts: 8,810 ✭✭✭✭✭
    WoW @diggin2day1 ! Definitely a trip to remember!!! Glad your back safe, enjoy the night.
    2008 330EC
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    reneechris14reneechris14 Member Posts: 3,134 ✭✭✭✭✭
    This is way they call it vacation lots of fun and lots of problems. Life come in different waves. Glad you had fun and stayed safe. 
    2005 Rinker FV342  Pawcatuck river,Ct
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    PickleRickPickleRick Member Posts: 3,886 ✭✭✭✭✭
    Shredded a serpentine belt??? Inconceivable!!!

    Glad you made it back safely and had a great trip.  
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    rasburyrasbury Member Posts: 8,239 ✭✭✭✭✭
    I keep a spare on board....it's an adventure! We were at a marina...tropical storm came right at us...super high tides, big wind. They way I was docked there were two huge sailboats constantly lurching perpendicular to our hull and was just waiting for one to break lose and cut us in half- thanks to booze I was able to sleep however.....good times...?
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    diggin2day1diggin2day1 Member Posts: 1,326 ✭✭✭✭
    edited August 2019
    Truth be told... I am a happily married man of 21 years with (2) great kids. I just went on a week long vacation alone with his wife... Flew my mother in from Tampa to watch the kids/house/dogs... just a few minor bumps this week, but I still have a roof over my head, a good woman and kids and an old boat that keeps us safe. Thank you guys!! 
    Post edited by diggin2day1 on
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    J3ffJ3ff Member Posts: 4,060 ✭✭✭✭✭
    edited August 2019
    well you aren't the only one going to the fiberglass shop... this was the boats introduction to Florida water, yesterday morning.. 

    https://streamable.com/v6f10

    :(
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    diggin2day1diggin2day1 Member Posts: 1,326 ✭✭✭✭
    J3ff said:
    well you aren't the only one going to the fiberglass shop... this was the boats introduction to Florida water, yesterday morning.. 

    https://streamable.com/v6f10

    :(
    Did that mangle your anchor pulpit?
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    rasburyrasbury Member Posts: 8,239 ✭✭✭✭✭
    Could not really tell what happened? Did you get your out drive issues fixed? Where the heck are you trying to launch, a ditch? Lol....look, there are lots of ramps in FL, not all are suitable for a 270. Most are made for smaller boats- you can easily run your trailer off the end of the concrete and really be in trouble. Throw tides on top of this and you really can get in trouble quick.
    When I want to go to a new area, I always do a recon mission to check out the ramps and figure which one, if any I can use. So much of the inter costal ramps just aren't designed for longer boats. From the limited few of your launch I don't think I'd launch but could not see the concrete. Most have a marker for where the end of the concrete is.
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    diggin2day1diggin2day1 Member Posts: 1,326 ✭✭✭✭
    Yeah @J3ff we need more info!!!
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    J3ffJ3ff Member Posts: 4,060 ✭✭✭✭✭
    J3ff said:
    well you aren't the only one going to the fiberglass shop... this was the boats introduction to Florida water, yesterday morning.. 

    https://streamable.com/v6f10

    :(
    Did that mangle your anchor pulpit?
    Ripped it right out. 
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    J3ffJ3ff Member Posts: 4,060 ✭✭✭✭✭
    edited August 2019
    rasbury said:
    Could not really tell what happened? Did you get your out drive issues fixed? Where the heck are you trying to launch, a ditch? Lol....look, there are lots of ramps in FL, not all are suitable for a 270. Most are made for smaller boats- you can easily run your trailer off the end of the concrete and really be in trouble. Throw tides on top of this and you really can get in trouble quick.
    When I want to go to a new area, I always do a recon mission to check out the ramps and figure which one, if any I can use. So much of the inter costal ramps just aren't designed for longer boats. From the limited few of your launch I don't think I'd launch but could not see the concrete. Most have a marker for where the end of the concrete is.
    Owner of ramp completely okayed the size of boat... I watched bigger ones get launched the day before... I personally think the driver just went a little too fast. But it is what it is.. will get fixed as soon as it can. 

    Was also under a time crunch at work and this was the closest one.. 
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    GMSLITHOGMSLITHO Member Posts: 1,559 ✭✭✭✭
    Yea looks like he should have backed you in further 
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    PickleRickPickleRick Member Posts: 3,886 ✭✭✭✭✭
    That wasnt great at all.  I dont unstrap my bow eye until my boat is floating and I'm in park. I have never done that with the anchor/ pulpit in mind, its the thought of my boat flying off of the roller trailer that worries me.  This forum has kept the insurance adjusters busy this summer!
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    J3ffJ3ff Member Posts: 4,060 ✭✭✭✭✭
    edited August 2019
    will add that it's only a 3ft tide swing here, and it was mid tide, so tide really had nothing to do with it! Has been really weird getting used to such a small tide swing when it's 8 to 10 ft on a normal day at home!!
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    PickleRickPickleRick Member Posts: 3,886 ✭✭✭✭✭
    The tides in the keys are great unless youre having issues in or around one of the channels between islands 


    Last year there was a sailboat on a sandbar laying on her side just south of marathon by the bridge bay side.  I believe her motor was non operational. She lost an anchor during a storm, luckily she settled there rather than getting beaten by the bridges.   Coasties had to rescue the people aboard, a couple iirc. No idea if the owner ever recovered her.  She had been there a while when we saw her. Was gone this year.  No idea why cruisers would not have multiple anchors and rode. 
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    Dude_HimselfDude_Himself Member Posts: 596 ✭✭✭
    @J3ff: I launch a 280 on ramps it's not really meant for (maybe that's why I get anxious every time I think about this boat). Keep the bow hooked, back in until the bunks are wet, then pull out until the boat is almost floating. Unhook the bow straps and brake-check it a few times to slide it back on the trailer. THEN you can back it a little further and it'll float right off.

    I don't use trailer guide posts either - while they help in tides with a long boat and long trailer I might not have the room to get the bow between the uprights. Some ramps I have the boat tied to the dock and splash the trailer just abeam, then push the boat sideways over the trailer to retrieve. It's always an adventure for sure, bu seriously: 28' boat with 24" draft (engine trimmed all the way up) can launch at ramps that 24' center consoles have difficulty with, and I do it solo. It's all in the technique.
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    rasburyrasbury Member Posts: 8,239 ✭✭✭✭✭
    8' tides? Wow! Sounds like the edge of the water would be 20' of the dock at low tide! That's crazy...
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    J3ffJ3ff Member Posts: 4,060 ✭✭✭✭✭
    rasbury said:
    8' tides? Wow! Sounds like the edge of the water would be 20' of the dock at low tide! That's crazy...
    I don't think we've had one in the last couple years, but one summer in the last 5-10 years we had a bunch of 10ft tides.. caused a ton of flooding problems- went out around the islands to take a look and it felt like the movie water world! Water just everywhere it shouldn't be! 
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    rasburyrasbury Member Posts: 8,239 ✭✭✭✭✭
    Well a super high tide is a much different normal swing of the tide being 10'- I've see some places like that and when the tide goes out boats at the dock are sitting on dirt...
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