There was a huge ruckus on the dock, here at Port NcNeil near the north end of Vancouver Island in British Columbia.
I heard an engine roaring and someone shouting. And someone else shouting back.
I was enjoying a cup of French press coffee, but put it aside and jumped from Quadra to the dock and raced toward the commotion to find out what was the matter.
It turned out to be something unfortunately common - a boater who can successfully drive his craft in a straight line through nearly 300 miles of contentious waters, but who doesn’t really know beans about how a boat works.
Picture a typical U-shaped moorage with boats moored along each long side of the U and one squeezed into a side tie at the bottom end. The noise was erupting from the revving engine of a 36-footer with her starboard side tied in that tight dock space, and from the captain at the helm.
It was a single-engine boat and the skipper was attempting to move her away from the slip by motoring ahead and turning the wheel to the left. This, of course, threatened a collision with the boat tied to the adjoining long side of the U; a spearing seemed inevitable.
Nearly as bad was the potential for damage to the starboard quarter and transom of the boat that was struggling to move away. Because, as the hapless skipper tried to move forward and to port, he was jamming the starboard quarter of his boat against the dock. Nothing was moving, except the engine and the skipper’s mouth.
A friend of the skipper was on the bow of the 36 attempting to prevent its anchor from spearing the bow of the yacht that was only inches away. The skipper with the big mouth yelled at the friend, accusing him of screwing up things.
A couple of helpful guys were on the dock, trying to move the stern away from the dock so the boat would swing clear. Their efforts pushed the bow toward the neighboring boat and the guy on the bow of the 36 pushed back to prevent a collision.
A crowd was gathering, attracted by the engine noise and shouting.
Then I head another strange sound and saw white water jetting from beneath the swim platform. This guy had a stern thruster!
The easiest way out of this jam, I thought, would have been to cast off all lines but the one at the bow and have someone on the dock hang on to it. The skipper would shift into reverse and the stern would walk to the left and the stem, while close to the dock, would move gradually to its starboard.
If more boost were needed, the skipper could engage the stern thruster and let it push a little harder until the 36 was perpendicular to the dock. The handler on the dock then would toss the line aboard and the skipper could back smartly down the fairway into an area where he could swing onto his desired course.
No shouting required.
No other comment needed, either.