Caught another boats anchor, whos fault?

[Ozer]

Hey all, just wanted to get an opinion as to see who was at fault..

Saturday afternoon at a beach on lake Ontario, popular spot to just pull and hang out.
We got there when there was like 8 boats, by the time we were leaving there were 50+ boats, not all lined up or tied to another boat.

This 18ft open bow drops anchor along side of me, about same line as my bow. Water is 3ft deep there and begins to back up and set his anchor. He has a anchor marker on. He back up letting out 100ft of line if not more. Now he is way behind me.

More boats come in and front of me is still open but maybe 2 boat length wide not much room to wiggle and leave. I get going, pull anchor out and start going slowly, in gear but no throttle.
I hear "you got my anchor ass****!"
I look back and sure enough i see his marker behind me. Stop boat, luckily i was able to grab it and pull his anchor up. Rope is cut. I forgot his anchor was even there, between the getting out of there and kids and such...

Question is: Should that anchor even be there 100ft front of the boat. According to anchor logic 7 -10 x the depth so at most 30ft of line he should have out, not 100+.
His logic: "its marked, doesn't matter how far out, its marked"

I said sorry but keep it closer next time and gave his anchor back and he mumbled back to his boat.

 

[dingbat]

Hey all, just wanted to get an opinion as to see who was at fault..

Saturday afternoon at a beach on lake Ontario, popular spot to just pull and hang out.
We got there when there was like 8 boats, by the time we were leaving there were 50+ boats, not all lined up or tied to another boat.

This 18ft open bow drops anchor along side of me, about same line as my bow. Water is 3ft deep there and begins to back up and set his anchor. He has a anchor marker on. He back up letting out 100ft of line if not more. Now he is way behind me.

More boats come in and front of me is still open but maybe 2 boat length wide not much room to wiggle and leave. I get going, pull anchor out and start going slowly, in gear but no throttle.
I hear "you got my anchor ass****!"
I look back and sure enough i see his marker behind me. Stop boat, luckily i was able to grab it and pull his anchor up. Rope is cut. I forgot his anchor was even there, between the getting out of there and kids and such...

Question is: Should that anchor even be there 100ft front of the boat. According to anchor logic 7 -10 x the depth so at most 30ft of line he should have out, not 100+.
His logic: "its marked, doesn't matter how far out, its marked"

I said sorry but keep it closer next time and gave his anchor back and he mumbled back to his boat.

There is no "logic" when it comes to recreational boaters. Reason I avoid weekends and popular locations like the plague.

Most are ignorant to the rules of the road and the other half could care less one way or another.

There are no enforceable rules to rode length. It's left to boater discretion.

There is no mention of rode markers in the regulations. In fact, had to google it. The rode marker I'm familiar with are used to control depth, not notify others of the presence of my anchor line. Set a rode in heavily traveled area, expect it to get run over, marker or not.

Maybe he'll shorten up a bit next time

 

[Tassie 1]

3 ft of water ?
He puts out a 100 ft length of rope??

But did you say anything when he first dropped his anchor next to you ?

This one of those " silly sandbar " party locations ?

 

[jimmbo]

Similar to the Dock Fisherman who casts his line in front of a Boat, then screams and yells when it gets cut. One time, I went back and said I wanted his Name, so I could send him the bill for the cost of replacing the Prop Shaft Seal.

What I found the next day. Seal wasn't cut though

 

[Ozer]

3 ft of water ?
He puts out a 100 ft length of rope??

But did you say anything when he first dropped his anchor next to you ?

This one of those " silly sandbar " party locations ?

I assumed he was going to stay next to me but then kept going and going.
This was my first experience with this situation so next time i will say something if i see it.

Its a popular sandy beach where weekends get full.

 

[jimmbo]

Perhaps once his line is repeatedly cut, he might clue in. It could have been interesting if an older outboard with a Bullet shaped Gearcase had happened along and snared the Rope. I know the rope would have been cut, or engine stalled, but I wonder how many feet old Frog Mouth's Boat would have moved?

 

[Ozer]

Perhaps once his line is repeatedly cut, he might clue in. It could have been interesting if an older outboard with a Bullet shaped Gearcase had happened along and snared the Rope. I know the rope would have been cut, or engine stalled, but I wonder how many feet old Frog Mouth's Boat would have moved?

Haha thats true, i wonder what happened back there when i was puling him. He did have a rear anchor also, probably at the beach or tied to a tree lol I was surprised my motor didnt stall or anything, rope must have got cut early on.

 

[jimmbo]

I've had my mooring lines dragging in the water and they have gotten caught by the prop, and the engine has always stalled, mind you it was only going about 1000 rpm.

 

[roscoe]

I'm thinking he won't let so much line out next time, because you just shortened it for him.

 

[tpenfield]

To answer the question . . . it is your fault. Particularly given the fact that you were aware of the other guys presence and anchoring.

It happens, but it is always good to be mindful of where other anchors (and rode) are as you depart an anchoring area. The same goes for if you drop anchor over some else's line (rode) or situate your boat over their anchor.

 

[airshot]

If you were at anchor then in Ohio it is illegal to come within 100 ft, so he would have been at fault. But this is why I stay away from party/ and overly popular boating areas!

 

[dingbat]

If you were at anchor then in Ohio it is illegal to come within 100 ft

Wow, didn’t know that.
Can you post a link to the regulation?

 

[airshot]

It is in the boating regulation paperwork you get when you get your boat registered. Probably look up Ohio boating regulations

 

[dingbat]

It is in the boating regulation paperwork you get when you get your boat registered. Probably look up Ohio boating regulations

I did but no mention of any such regulation which is why I asked

Ohio Boat Operating Laws

Operate your boat in a safe and legal matter by following these Ohio-specific operating laws - age requirements, boater education, water skiing observer required, definition of reckless operation, OUI, litter, and more.

ohiodnr.gov

 

[rustybronco]

"No person shall leave any vessel anchored, or in any dock space, or tie-up space, without first properly fastening and securing the vessel in such a manner as to avoid fouling"

fouling

Definition, Synonyms, Translations of fouling by The Free Dictionary

www.thefreedictionary.com

"4. To entangle or catch (a rope, for example)."

 

[airshot]

Last time I was stopped for a safety inspection ( 3 yrs back) I has discussed this with the officer as I had been almost run over while at anchor perch fishing. The officer pulled out a phamphlet and showed the rule where a boat under power must maintain a distance of 100 feet and slow down to idle speed so as not to cause any wake damage. Here in lake erie I have witnessed the DNR pulling boats over from running to close to boats at anchor. I can only assume it is still in place.

 

[RaftRat]

I bet he won’t let out as much line next time because it’s shorter now. But seriously I think it’s just courteous that if you’re going to pull up next to someone in a tight area, to be mindful enough to kind of follow suit of the person there before you. I think he was kind of asking for it when he laid out that much line, even though technically you may have been at fault. Those tight areas can be tricky, other boats, people in the water, lots of waves, it’s easy to lose track of what’s below the water, and everybody makes mistakes and preventable as they are, accidents are going to happen, it’s just whether we learn from them or not.