Just a couple of thoughts. Here it is a part of the responsability of
all masters to go to the aid of stricken _vessels_ -i.e. whether they
have people on board is irrelevant. The only excuse not to is where your
crew or vessel would be placed in danger by providing aid -it doesnt
sound as if that was the case but it was your call. I'm not sure if that
principle applies in coastal U.S... Second what about salvage laws? It
doesn't sound like it would have been a big deal to go after it.
Wouldn't at least a part of the vessel become yours under salvage laws?
I commend you for getting help for it -others might have just cursed and
hoped it went on the rocks for hitting your boat...

Cheers



Brien Alkire wrote:
It drifted away too quickly for that, we would have had to lift our anchor
and pursue it. If someone was onboard and in distress then we would have
lifted anchor and tried to help. But it was not worth the risk to our crew
to pursue an unoccupied vessel drifting out to sea (no lee shore).


"Nav" wrote in message
...

Good story. Did you think about putting a line onto the cruisers anchor
warp and letting out more scope again?

Cheers

Brien Alkire wrote:


A few weeks ago I submitted a posting asking for info on anchoring at
Paradise Cove in Malibu. We went last weekend, so here's some info on

our

experience.

We left Marina Del Rey at 10:30 in a Catalina 36. Paradise Cove is due

west

and the wind was nose on. It was a beautiful day, sunny and clear day.
Temperature was around 70F, and winds initially were around 12 knots.

The wind and waves built throughout the afternoon with plenty of

whitecaps.

We had many periods of solid 18 knot winds, and short periods of winds

in

the low 20s and waves around 5 ft. It was difficult making progress

upwind,

but we were having a great time.

We arrived at Paradise Cove and set the anchor by 16:00. We anchored in
sand outside the kelp beds about 300 feet off the pier in 38 feet of

water.

The wind died down suddenly, partly due to shelter of the cove and

partly

due to their own accord.

I snorkeled for a short while, with visibility around 15 feet (not bad

for

the coastline around here, but nothing like the islands). I also swam

down

and checked the anchor, which was fine. We enjoyed a bottle of wine on

deck

as the sunset, and watched numerous pods of dolphins swim by. A few of

them

even jumped, and it was a happy time with a goreous sunset.

There were two other sailboats in the cove, further out and apparently
unoccupied (one was moored). There was a 25 foot cabin cruiser anchored
about 100 feet from the pier. We saw a few kayakers around before

sunset

too.

After sunset there was a dramatic change. A nasty Santa Ana kicked up

out

of the east. I would say the winds were in the high 20s with gusts

around

40. It blew out any westerly swell, so the water was calm. The winds

are

warm.

We enjoyed a nice BBQ dinner. After dinner, the wind was very severe

and I

checked the anchor. It seemed to be holding fine (single plow anchor

off

the bow). I let out more scope as a precaution, and went below.

At 20:10 (shortly after letting out more scope) we heard a loud BANG! I
looked up through the campionway and saw a structure. My first

impression

was that our bimini had been blown off. I scrambled up the steps, then
realized the structure was not our bimini, it was the cabin cruiser.

First

I didn't know if we'd dragged anchor or what had happened. Then I

realized

we were still anchored fine, and my impression was that the cabin

cruiser

had swung into us. There was no one onboard the cabin cruiser (we'd

seen

some folks in a dinghy earlier). And it was clear that the cabin

cruiser

was dragging anchor.

I debated whether I wanted to try and board her and reset the anchor on

the

cabin cruiser. However, we're not very experienced, don't have a

dinghy,

and the winds were howling. Instead I wrote down the CF numbers and

hailed

the USCG.

The cabin cruiser was flying out to sea fast! Luckily, there's no lee

shore

in this condition at Paradise Cove. The USCG intercepted the vessel at
around 22:00. We could see from the anchor light that the vessel was

about

to go hull down, and we estimated it must have been nearly 10 nmi away

by

then (it was flying fast).

We were fine, only our BBQ was destroyed. Our anchor was holding, but

the

event made us all anxious. I sent the crew to sleep and I stayed on

deck

and watched the anchor until 1AM. It was a beautiful night, warm, very
clear, the moon almost full. I went below for some sleep, and got up

every

two hours to check the anchor throughout the night.

The next morning was beautiful and all was well. We had a non-eventful

trip

home.

The owner of the cabin cruiser paid for the damage and all is well and
everyone happy.

A little more adventure than I would have wished for, but it's a

beautiful

place and I'll be sure to go again.

-B.