On Mon, 15 Sep 2003 22:15:27 -0300, Capt. Mooron wrote:

I would have bitch slapped the owner of the boat at the first sign of
incompetence... refusal to comprehend enough to turn off the engine.....
then very loudly humiliated him and question his ability to be allowed to
venture onto the water.

I can understand questioning his competence, but bitch slapping a 65 year
old?

You acted quite civil Donal.... it appears he was fleeing a very
embarrassing moment. Make sure the incident, party and the boat get
mentioned in the local paper.

CM



"Donal" wrote in message
...
| A couple of weeks ago I was in a marina that had a locked entrance.
| The lock was small (4-6 boats), and there was hardly any wind.
|
| Coincidentally, a customer, who has a 40 ft power boat was visiting
| the
same
| marina. On the Sunday morning I noticed that he was standing on his
| flybridge alone. I wandered over to his boat and went aboard.
|
| He told me that he was watching the "fun" in the lock. He was moored
| no more than 100ft from the lock, with a view straight in. He said
| that
nearly
| every boat that went in was getting into difficulties.
|
| We chatted for a few minutes, and saw one 30 ft yacht try to wedge
| itself between the lock walls. Later, we watched a 40+ foot old
| wooden motor
boat
| get into difficulties. The bow seemed to be secured, but the stern
| was drifting away from the wall. There was lots of shouting, and we
| were
smugly
| commenting on their incompetence when there was a splash!!
|
| I'd like to think that I react quickly in an emergency. However, the
brain
| doesn't work that way. I said that I thought that someone had fallen
| in. Roger said that he thought so too. Roger then said that maybe we
| should
go
| to help. It was only at that point that we realised that a real
| emergency existed, and we ran like mad.
|
| It only took a few seconds to cover the 50 yards, but when we got
| there
the
| lockeeper was already in the water, supporting the 65(?) y/o woman who
| had fallen in. They were holding onto a vertical rope on the lock
| wall.
The
| motor boat's stern was about 4-5 feet from the wall - and it was
threatening
| to come in and crush the pair in the water. I sat on the wall and was
able
| to get my feet into a position to stop the boat coming against the
| wall. Roger is shouting at the skipper to switch his engines off. The
| skipper seems to be more concerned with getting his boat alongside the
| lock wall- and doesn't seem to have figured out that he might kill his
| wife (and the lockeeper). At this point, I have a rope from the boat,
| and I also have
my
| feet on the stern -holding it off. I'm now also shouting at the
| skipper
to
| "turn the Fu*king engines off".
|
| The engines got switched off, and we pulled the boat against the wall,
| a couple of feet forward of the pair in the water. They pulled
| themselves over to the boarding ladder of the boat. The skipper
| (husband) leaned
over
| the stern and told his wife to climb up the ladder. She tried, and
| said that she couldn't. The skipper told her again to climb up! At
| this point
I
| said to him (our heads were only a foot apart) "she's in shock from
| the
fall
| and the cold". The husband didn't seem to understand.
|
| Anyway, the lockeeper pushed her up onto the ladder, and he followed.
|
| The lockeeper then got onto the wall - and expected a "thank you" from
| the skipper. He was dissappointed. He even passed a comment about
| "seeing
you
| next week".
|
| The keeper went up to the controls and closed the inner gates, then
| opened the outer gates. The motor boat sailed off without a word of
| thanks.
|
|
|
| With hindsight, I realised that the lockeeper had gone straight into
| the water - without hesitation. He didn't have time to empty his
| pockets. When *we* started to run, the lockeeper was still in his
| observation
tower,
| and less than 10 seconds later he was in the water. I suspect that he
| had
a
| wallet in his pocket - any money in it was ruined. He wasn't even
| offered
a
| bottle of wine.
|
|
|
| This page shows the lock in question.
| http://www.island-harbour.co.uk/getting.html
|
|
| Regards
|
|
| Donal
| --
|
|
|