During our Hope Island Cruise this year, two boats had to do an emergency break away from the raft they were on. The lead up: On Friday night three boats started a raft on the southwest side of Hope Island. A 38 foot boat was tie to the park mooring ball. This boat severed as the start point for the raft. Later that evening a 43 ft boat and a 49 ft boat tied up the boat on the mooring ball.
Each boat did a bow to stern tie up. Each boat dropped a bow anchor. The 49 ft boat dropped two anchors for better holding. Also this took all the pressure off the park mooring ball. The next day two more boats 40 foot plus tied up to the raft. Each boat dropped a bow anchor and continued to tie up bow to stern. There was over 1,000 feet of anchor chain/line out. The raft rode very well in the currents. The raft rode the currents for one full tidal cycle and at no point was there any pressure on the park mooring ball. It appeared we had a very solid raft.
With this in mind, the Cruise ensued with no real worries. Most of the crews were on the raft for the potluck. Things were going well. Two boats arrived late to the Cruise. Both boats were 36 feet plus and for convenience they tied to the larger raft where the potluck was taking place. Unlike the other boats on the raft, they did not deploy their anchors. The boats tied up and joined the party. About an hour later the tide switch from a flood to and ebb tide. That's when things got interesting.
There was a call for the skipper of the boat on the mooring ball to come look at the mooring ball. The mooring ball was now taking the stress of the raft and the ball was stretched to this max. Also the boats closest to the mooring balls now had stress on their mooring lines. You could no longer walk from boat to boat. Each boat now sat at slight angles to one another rather than sitting parallel to each other as they had all day. The raft was now in trouble and if something was not done there would be damage to boats. Two skippers jumped into a dingy with a motor and tried to push the raft back together. The skipper of the boat that was tied to the mooring ball dropped an anchor to get some pressure off the mooring ball.
This did not work. All the boats that were in peril tried to readjust mooing and anchor lines, but the pressure was too great. So the boat that was on the far end of the raft was asked to drop anchor. The dinghy took the anchor out as far as the chain allowed and dropped anchor. Two attempts were made to set the anchor. When the anchor took hold, it was not enough to take the pressure of the raft. Something had to happen. The two late comers were asked to break away to take the pressure off the raft. There was some hesitation by the skippers to break away. The problem was the more they hesitated the more danger the raft was in.
After a while, the two late arrivers broke away and thus took the pressure off the raft. Unfortunately feelings were hurt in the process. The two late arrivers left the Cruise and for points unknown and were not seen again at that Cruise. Fortunately no damage was done to any of the boats or the park’s mooring ball. Shortly after they left the raft righted itself and the boats went back to their former positions.
Lessons learned: The two boats on the end of the raft without anchors acted like a leaver on the raft and put stress on the raft. All boats on the raft no mater of arrival time need to drop an anchor. All skippers should assume the risk of having to break away and will be expected to do so immediately as not to exacerbate the situation. Of course each situation is unique to each raft. Skippers need to be flexible.
A side note to the skippers that broke away. I am very sorry that you had to separate from the raft and hope that you were not offended by this event. If you were, I apologize. We really enjoyed your company and hope you come back next time.
Be safe and see you on the water!
Mark Welpman, Cygnet, Your friendly neighborhood Cruise Chair