Trinity "Mine Games" Playing Docking Games...

Would you care to say that again so the captain of Mine Games can hear. He may have missed that "not hard" part. I haven't seen close-ups but I'd guess you could install a dolphin for the price of the repairs they'll be making.
For the amounts of money these yachts bring to a town they should "demand" the "space".

Culture? Tradition? I'd say it's more a matter of telling the yacht owners to twist rather than laying out a few euros to insure their safety.

Hi,

When you consider how many dockings are made annually like this the failure rate is almost non existent among the professionals.

The weekend warriors however do often provide some excellent dockside viewing and a high carbon emitting alternative to watching the sun go down whilst enjoying evening cocktails.

August is the peak viewing season for this type of domestic bliss turned nuclear holocaust in the time it takes to dock the boat whilst gesticulating wildly with all mobile body parts

Like I said, everybody has a bad day for what ever reason.

And F-ups like that don't happen very often. So I'd guess there isn't much, if any, real demands being made for pilings.

I enjoy watching yachts mooring in the Med! The sight of a 150 footer sliding in between 2 other yachts in what seems to be a 5 foot gap is amazing. However, with the amount that some marinas are charging per day, even though seasonal, I can't seem to understand why the cannot come up with a decent solution.

But as Capt. Bill said, its a demand and space issue. Yachts keep coming back year after year and pay whatever they going rate is with no questions asked. It's either that way, or you end up spending the night out at sea.

Mooring a boat can be tricky and everyone has a bad day. There are locations in the Med ‘le Grand Mott’ for example that do have pilings to assist. However it is not the norm. Just because it is done differently in one part of the world does not make it right. I actually find mooring stern too with pilings harder? If pilings were used it would limit berth width and the marinas ability to locate different sized yachts . Many captains moor up without issues, with skill and experience yes. I don’t know if this was the captain of Mind Games first trip to the med or first time docking stern too in a high wind but it looks as if he got slightly flustered. No big deal as it happens to us all at some stage. The questions is should it happen when you’re in commanded of a 150ft, at this stage in the game you should have clocked up some serious experience of pontoon bashing, however at least he or she avoided the Ferretti .
As for yacht owners demanding the space, berths are very limited in the med, you are lucky to get a berth say in St Tropez, requesting better facilities because of what you pay will fall on amused French ears I think.

The slip I've been using this year for the 50 is really for a 40 or 45 with the pilings 30' from the dock. We have about 60' across the marina (bow to bow), a 4kt + current just off the bow and whatever wind. I do it cleanly because that's my job, but my heart rate is up until my quarters are within those pilings. I especially fear the guys next to us who may or may not have experience.
Sliding 100' down along fenders still leaves rub marks, and get off the straight and narrow and that quarter can dig in.
Nantucket (and occasionally North Cove, NYC) are the only marinas on the east coast that med moor at all to the best of my knowledge. Everywhere else the big boys lay side to or have pilings. It just seems like the euro marinas aren't putting in an effort to accommodate.

Hi,

NYCAP- Can I suggest you put in a season or three in the Med working on a boat before making such comments?

Too old for that, but thanks. No insult intended in the comment though. It's just that it seems such a logical thing to do, and these boats are spending such serious coin that you'd think the marinas would step up. Sometimes marinas take the attitude that, since they're full the way it is, why should they maybe lose a slip to make things easier for the yachts. I saw that in two marinas I managed and one even when out of there way to inconvenience their customers simply because they could. The actual words used were "---- the customer". It's a concept I just don't understand.
Coming in on the anchor is necessary in several locations but once the quarters are between pilings things can slow down.

!
That's OK Pascal. It's absolutely true. We don't hold back.

Actually, it's mostly just the America's Cup type boats that use it as home port. My hat's off to them. Between the wind and the wakes that funnel in there it's no easy task.

That skill level isn't limited to Americans. I once worked for a Greek who bought a 46 Azimut as a first boat. Didn't have a clue and couldn't handle the boat so he sold it and bought a 62. (I've also had French, Canadian, Italian, British, Mid-Eastern, etc. with similar skill levels so PLEASE, nobody get insulted).

I saw the boat being repaired in Rybovich Oct. 08. They had to remove most of the teak deck and then cut out a large part of the aft deck and stern transom while on the hard to replace. The damage was much more impressive looking while in the yard.

The Capt was not fired for the incident. From what I heard from others at the time, he did not make up any excuses either for the incident, he simply admitted "Yeah I F***ed up".

Gotta respect that..

I see in Auckland at the Viaduct Basin the marina owners provide their RIBs to assist med mooring vessels and it seems to work OK. Problem of high cross winds is typical. Did observe a RIB deliberately throwing itself between Jim Clark's superyacht and a careering new comer going astern at an angle into the adjacent spot to the effect that the RIB itself became the main fender. The boatman looked somewhat freaked as his beam was compressed alarmingly but it worked! Does suggest that using a RIB as a pusher tug when conditions are dodgy has benefits - is this common?

This is "Athena" you are talking about Blair?

Was during the first local America's Cup defence a number of years ago so I am fairly sure it was his previous sailing yacht - name escapes me.