There is a natural distrust between sailors and powerboaters. Well, at least there are stereotypes that fuel the perception that there are differences.
Last evening I witnessed an event that did nothing to change my opinion that at least some powerboat owners that operate their vessels differently than the sailors that I hang out with.
Let me explain…
Yesterday two large powerboats anchored near Pandora in Spa Creek, Annapolis. First the big one dropped his hook, with very short scope I might add,nearby. After he was settled, another powerboat arrived and tied up to him. The two boats represented a lot of weight and windage for his anchor but it was calm so there probably wasn’t a lot of risk to them for the time being. After tying the two boats together, they jumped onto a water taxi and headed into town, probably the boat show.
Some time later the wind picked up from a different direction and, as you would imagine, they shifted direction. The bad news was that they were now sitting just a few feet of the dock of one of the homes on shore. To make matters worse, if they had dragged even a few feet, they would have bumped into the owners very nice yacht, no make that two very nice yachts. I guess that the homeowner made a call as a short while later the harbor police showed up to check out the situation. After securing his boat to the wayward raft, the officer jumped up on the bow of the offending yacht and proceeded to pull up the offending yacht’s anchor. To see that anchor come up so quickly really showed just how short the line was. And, let me tell you, the holding here isn’t that good under the best of circumstances so to go with short scope was a very risky move.
As I watched the officer try to maneuver these two boats, each much larger than his patrol boat, made me realize that he could probably use some help. As luck would have it, another sailor was observing the events and he too pitched in. So, like three tugs maneuvering a cruise ship, we helped shift the “raft” onto a nearby private mooring. It was great fun. My crew from Essex was still on board and took a few shots of the action. There’s me holding the mooring line as the officer and other helper nudged the raft. 
I am glad that there wasn’t much wind as our puny boats would have been no match for the shear bulk of the two offenders. 
It turns out that the other sailor who helped out was Mike from Wombat of Sydney a very nice guy. I need to learn more about how he came up with that name. Exactly, what or who is a Wombat anyway?
As you would imagine, the officer was very appreciative of our help and stopped over to thank us once everything was properly secured. They say that the satisfaction of doing good is it’s own reward. Yes, that’s true but I did ask if perhaps I could get a “get out of jail free card”. Alas, no such luck as he was all out.
A short time later, the owner of the home who’s yacht and dock were threatened by this whole incident showed up to present me and Mike with our own bottles of very nice red wine. What a wonderful gesture. Brenda and I will enjoy the fruits, so to speak, of my labors. The wine presenter is on the right. 
In the interest of complete candor, the owner had a large powerboat on his dock. However, he also had a good size racing sailboat. However, no stogie for him and he has great taste in wine. I guess that makes him a good guy, powerboat or not.
Perhaps you are wondering what happened when the wayward powerboaters showed up. I am so glad that you asked. Well, the owner arrived by water taxi, climbed on board, all the while probably wondering how his yacht had moved several hundred yards from anchor to a mooring. He came up on his bow of his now relocated vessel, while puffing on his altogether fat cigar, and casually looked down at the lines and mooring. I could’t resist and said, “You missed all the fun. The harbor police and harbor master were here to move your boat” So, what did he say to that, you ask? “I wanted to be sure that everything was properly secured”, and walked back into his cockpit. No questions, just concern that perhaps someone had not secured things properly. Can you believe it? I would have been mortified if I had done what he had but his reaction didn’t provide even a hint of self doubt.
However, there was justice, I hope, as the harbor captain paid the skipper a visit this morning. Fine? I am optimistic.
So, are sailors different than powerboaters? You be the judge but I can’t say that I have run into many sailors who are so casual about anchoring but have seen a number of episodes, by “the others” like this. No, I don’t want to paint everyone with a broad brush but this was one for the books, or blog as it were.
So, are sailors and powerboaters different? You be the judge. Me, I got a great bottle of wine and made a new friend, or two. I can’t wait to share that nice bottle of wine with Brenda.
Oh yeah, my crew from Essex departed today just ahead of the rain that is now pounding down on Pandora’s decks. Now that I am finished with this post, I’ll have to figure how to keep my self occupied for the rest of the day until the rain stops.
Hmm… Can you say time to clean Pandora?