After getting back from Chicago, I was dying to take the boat out for a day. Andre had been planning to come down to Ventura to take out the O’Day since he finished his ASA 101 certification. We took it out on Saturday and just sailed her to the usual route for an afternoon.
The day started pretty calm and slow which was actually pretty nice for a change. We hoisted the 110% jib in lieu of the genoa just in case the wind picks up. A few hours into the trip, the wind indeed picked up. We were sailing in about 20 knot winds with visible white caps by the time we entered back into the harbor.
The usual route involves just a little upwind sail up to the Ventura pier and tacking around starboard and evetually heading back in on a broad reach. Once we got back to the launch ramp, there was a plenty of traffic congestion. We managed to locate a spot on the leeward side of a dock and hung out there for a bit as some activities were unfolding at the ramp.
For whatever reason, there were more PWCs out that day than I’ve seen before. Maybe its just the time of the year. Everyone and their grandma now own PWCs and decided to take them out this afternoon. We even saw a guy get a ticket from Harbor Patrol before we headed out for the day. This guy didn’t just get a ticket. He also got a 20 minute lecture from this officer. He must have really screwed up while putting around out there.
Another thing that unfolded at the launch dock was this family of 3 who apparently decided to take out their little Capri 16 dinghy for the afternoon. The father and son duo looks as if they were trying to impress the boy’s girlfriend as they managed to launched the boat without much incident at the ramp. However, as they were trying to rig the boat, it was obvious they had little idea about what they were doing. It looks like complete chaos as the father was trying to give directions to the son while the girlfriend sat in the cockpit with her life jacket on fearing for what was to come. At one point the dad nearly slipped into the water while trying to hoise the main.
Andre and I at this point was clearly fixated at this scene. It was like watching an eminent train wreck but you can take your eyes off. Once they finally had their sails hoisted and rudder and daggerboard in place, the wind had picked up significantly and 2 boats had docked on both sides of the ramp. They would need to sail through a narrow space as they do not have any other sources of power such as oars or motor. Liuck for them, one of the boats in their way offered to help as he walked their dinghy around his boat and into position at the end of the dock.
The girl at this point decided that today was not going to be hers to go out. She had by now removed the life jacket and planted her feet firmly on the dock. As the father and son climbed into the cockpit, they only have the main sail hoisted and no jib. They would have to sail upwind to get themselves out of the ramp area and I started to worry for them. There is no way these guys would be able to get out to the open harbor. Without the jib and having such strong winds, they will not be able to point high enough or manage the multiple tacks it will take to get them to a safe place.
As they are planted in the cockpit, the girl was left holding on to the bow dockline to help them push off. As she struggles to position them into place, someone jumps in and helped them around to the other side of the piling to get better positioning. The boy at this point decided that he didn’t want to take his sunglasses with him out just in case if they were to capsize. He promptly removed them and motioned for the girl to take the it from him. He was just a few feet from the dock as he tossed it from the dinghy towards the dock. Unfortunately, his miscalculated how much force was needed to clear the gap as his, presumably valuable brand name, sunglasses slipped in the the murky and choppy waters of the harbor.
Watching along with us is this man coming back from a day of jetskiing. All of us could just watch and hope these guys have what it takes to pull this off. As they started floating away from the dock untethered, they began floating backwards with no control whatsoever of the dinghy. Everything was in slow motion as they drifted towards a cove full of rock pilings. I realized at this point that we are about to watch someone wreck their boat into the rocks. Without any help, they are doomed. As they continued to drift backwards past out dock they are unable to turn their boat to make any headway. The father managed ,as calmly as possible, said to the jetskiier, “Can you grab our dock line please?”. It was too late. He had started to drift out of reach.
Almost as if it was in a movie, the jetskiing turns around and darts towards his PWC. As he unties the docklines and mounts the water hog, a stream of water shoots out the back of this craft as the motor roars to life. Spinning around quickly and away from the dock, he gets to the father and son in the dinghy as they are merely a few feet from the rocks. Somehow at this same moment, the dinghy begins to propel forward. We were all gasping as this unfolds in front of our eyes. It almost looks as if they are going to make it but they quickly lose all of their speed and begins to drift backwards again while trying to tack. The jetskier doesn’t hesitate this time and grabs the bow dockline and drags them to the safety of the leeward dock where they had first pushed off.
As dramatic as this happened in front of us, there really was no real danger for physical harm for all that was involved. In worse case scenarios they would have had some deep scratches on the hull of the dinghy. It was very amusing nonetheless for us and reassures my belief that people should not take sailing any vessel lightly. Take all the precautions you can and don’t go out if you are at all not comfortable with the situation.
