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Joined: 18/09/2009
Posts: 4
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We have recently returned from some pretty horrible nights anchored near the port of St Tropez. Was a little bit shocked at the un-professionalism of other yacht tender drivers zooming in and around the anchorage at speeds that sent most boats rolling around way more than necessary. I'm not sure what makes them think that thier guests need to get somewhere faster than anyone elses. Or that when glassware goes flying on a 30 mtre boat as opposed to thier boat that it is less expensive or less important. Its highly un-professional not to obey the speed limits, or, if you claim ignorance to that fact, its dangerous and impolite to be speeding in anchorage where there are potential swimmers. For that reason I loathe anchoring in St Tropez where unprofessional yacht crew make me loose sleep.
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Joined: 14/01/2009
Posts: 633
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Welcome to the world of yachting !! Makes me laugh whenever Gin Palace operators use the word Professional . Every region in which power crazed, semi literate stinkpot crew congregate is plagued by arrogance and a lack of seamanship. Do us all a favour..... jump into your tender, follow one of those morons into the harbour of St Tropez, introduce yourself and ask politely whether the crew driving is a member of THE PROFESIONAL YACHTSMAN ASSOCIATION !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! The Caribbean , South of France, Sardinia, Hvar, Dubrovnik, the Ionian...just full of trailer trash working on big white yachts. Some of the scenes are down right funny. Last Oct in Fiskardo we were ashore at sunset with the guests eating at a waterfront cafe. A big....40 meter plus charter stinkpot approached the entrance of the harbour at speed, dropped the bone out of its teeth at the last minute, then swung broadside so the Chad'da guests could take a quick picture of this beautiful keyhole shaped harbour. The big gin palaces wake rolled into the harbour , smashed into the low sided port and literally swept a dozen cafe tables ...including the one we were seated at ...away. The wake was so big that as it reverberated around the harbour sunsail plastic flotilla sailing yachts got their masts and spreaders tangled up in the rolling mayhem. Two weeks ago in the anchorage of Molat ,a super tender...quasi hinkley picnic boat type...sped thru the anchorage and charged towards a waterfront restaurants, knee high, concrete dock. The moron yacht crew driving the tender, dressed in white love boat uniforms with radios on their belts, banked 180 degrees to come alongside, dropped speed at the last moment, threw fenders over the side and attempted to come alongside this very low dock just as their own meter high wake caught up with them...SMASH CRUNCH...15 meter toy thrown on top of the concrete dock by the idiots own wake . Hilarious !!! we laughed into our cold pivos and told even more sea stories about superyacht morons. . As youre now learning....superyacht crew are either arrogant fools or a dam arrogant fools.
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Not that you would be one to generalize, I guess Junior. If only we could all be as wise and proffessional as you!
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one of the hazards of life at sea is that the big blue wobbly thing you float on tends to move around a bit.
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Joined: 19/05/2010
Posts: 1
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I can see why you remained anonymous, Junior is correct these guys are idiots but the not funny side is the damage and harm they cause.
Ask the local port authority to get involved and report the yachts name here, why not start a wall of shame as maybe the owners will pay attention.
Doubtful but can't hurt!
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Joined: 28/08/2008
Posts: 6
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Junior, not all "gin palace" yacht crew are a bunch of cowboys, loose canons, idiots who don't know how to fix anything or the numerous other terms you've coined for us in this forum.
Whilst you do have some valuable knowledge to contribute, I often find the rest of your posts quite offensive. Why don't you take a page out of Henning's book and be a nice guy for a change. Offer your knowledge and advice without being a complete ass.
As for the tenders, I agree everyone could do with slowing it down. We are anchored off Cannes at the moment and our swimplatform is constantly getting swamped and our tender is rocked while we are trying to get our guests on and off.
I'll say this though, it's not just yacht crew. Plenty of ferries, weekend warriors, para-sailing boats, local wakeboard/tubing boats, city boats etc.. all doing the exact same thing.
I'd better go make sure our Zero-Speed stabilizers are on so our owner doesn't spill his drink..... Have a nice weekend!
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Joined: 14/01/2009
Posts: 633
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Well Vandyke50, the problem is the sheer number of these goons who park their cars then crawl out of the marinas during high season. Marine traffic on the South of France is intense. The authorities would be overwhelmed. A place like Croatia has a huge coastline, you would need to dedicate hundreds of patrol craft. As for not all Gin Palace Jockeys being goons ? Prove me wrong. Im out here watching their antics on ground zero 7 days a week Last week in Telascica National Park....Uvala Telascica. Uvala Telascica is a nearly enclosed one square mile tranquil bay. When you enter the bay you pass thru a very narrow passage with a BIG SIGN on the east side 4 Knots, No Skiing. Anchored in the center of this tranquil Uvala Telascica was a big 40 meter plus Marshal Islands registered gin palace with its two jet skis terrorizing the anchorage at 40 knts and a pair of yacht goons in uniform towing a water skier around in circles. Now anonymous , tell me that these Professional Stink Pot crew can read.
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I couldnt agree more that there is a huge problem. Something does need to be done about it as it is at the point of plain stupidity and is not safe for anyone. Its not only tender operators but operators of many different variations of vessels. When a 100ft mangusta goes thru an anchorage hooked up at 30 knots its not a pretty situation. More local authorities do need to be present to stop this type of behavior that has seem to become standard in Europe and the Caribbean.
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Joined: 14/01/2009
Posts: 633
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You say simply add extra marine enforcement resources, but its not so easy. Most of these countries...Spain, Italy, Greece, Croatia..... are already swamped with huge fiscal deficits. Imagine asking the Croatian or Spanish taxpayer for another couple million euros to hire a gang of public employee, officers at the expense of crumbling schools and health care, simply to patrol the waterfront and keep millionaire yacht owners from hurting themselves. Never happen. Croatia already has their hands full just removing the tons of yacht garbage off the outer islands at the end of the season It would be difficult to come up with the resources, manpower and equipment to create a credible enforcement regime for the three month "silly season ". Far better to reeducate the goons who operate these craft or restrict their fuel supply. Perhaps when the yacht purchases its yearly cruising permit, the fee would include an automatic choke collar to be installed around all tender operators necks. Exceed safe speed or invade the space of others with your goofy 1000hp tenders and the choker automatically closes around the operators neck. Great safety feature...plumb it into the GPS and whole crews could be saved the inconvenience of a Bahamian hospital trip and a new set of teeth when their mega tender slams into the rocks.
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Joined: 05/08/2008
Posts: 53
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I reckon this madness in anchorages is getting worse. For the bigger yachts, the only person to blame is el Capitan or the Mate for not controlling their stupid testosterone fuelled crew. Thereby hangs the tail all too often in this unprofessional industry we live in. One of the worst examples I have ever seen of an owner going mad was 3 weeks ago in Formentera Ibiza, we were anchored off by 300m from the shore in 12m. Anchored much closer were alot of smaller motor and sail yachts close to the beach in shallow water. A guy in a cigarette boat flew between us and the beach at around 50kn heading into the sunset with the bow trimmed up showing off to his mates onboard. There are some things we can do though. I made an official complaint recently to one of the well know Flag States about the extremely dangerous behaviour of one of their superyachts. Flags do take very seriously the complaints and can follow up the situation very quickly. I am awaiting the result with baited breath. Once I hear the results I will write what happened. I have on occasions printed a section from the Col Regs and hopped into the tender and delivered it to a particular yacht who just breached one of the rules. The other thing that really riles me, are tenders, motor and sail yachts of all sizes crossing my bow extremely close when i´m at anchor with absolutely no consideration for who may be doing the same coming the other way perpendicular to their course, and to boot they are looking away from the yacht quite oblivious to possible crossing traffic. Oneday there will be a horrible bang, T boning some other fellow idiot with no brain. I have to say, it is also a cultural thing, try reasoning with someone from Spain, France or Greece and trying to explain that what they just did was so damned stupid, they blow up, throw the arms in the air and argue that what they did was perfectly fine. Now before all you Spanish, French and Greeks read this and do the same, think about it next time exactly what you did wrong, the person will probably have a point to make. No amount of training is going to change any of this one iota. You either have the brains and intellegence, or you don´t. Let´s go boating once a year, pack the car, pick up the booze the bimbo and leave the brains at home. Capt Kaj
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Joined: 14/01/2009
Posts: 633
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The " silly season" creates the greatest challenges of the year. As Kaj states , close quarters crossing of anchored yachts and superyacht yacht wake swept anchorages are a nightmare. Ive torn the teak grating out of two robust swim platforms and bent the substantial hydraulic rams on the aft opening door from wake impacts in the past 4 years. Ten grand in repairs each time. Bend up the gear and the yacht suffers for the rest of the cruise. The situation is so bad that I reject proper seamanship which favours anchoring on the windward side of a bay, with my stern facing open water and safety when the anchor drags... but instead anchor for afternoon swims on the leeward side of bays, bow into the motoryacht wash and stern too the rocky shoreline. Very stressful when the anchor pulls free of the grassy bottom, the rocky shoreline get closer and in a panic you must fire up the engine with guests still swimming in the water . There seems no solution. High powered Super Yacht behavior and density is to great. I feel sorry for any young captains starting off in the buisnes. They will undoubtable learn costly and dangerous lessons fast .
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Joined: 01/06/2008
Posts: 608
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File a claim with your insurance company for the damages done, include the particulars for the vessel causing the damages, let the insurance company subrogate. Eventually the people running these operations will become uninsurable and no longer be able to work.
As for "accidents waiting to happen", that's just entertainment, no different from watching "Jackass".
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Joined: 14/01/2009
Posts: 633
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It makes no difference if they become uninsurable...the next one is waiting in line as soon as they do. Never believe that yachting crews are composed of career minded, lifetime seaman. The vast majority are seasonal blow ins , completely oblivious to the damage and stess they cause and out of yachting long before they can aquire a sense maritime etiquette . Your only defense as captain is eternal vigalance. This vigilance is what makes the high season Med scene so demanding. Just ask Kaj... Ibiza is one of the most attention challenging summer venues of them all. At the end of each silly season the little shipyard in Marina Botafock is piled high with badly broken 25m yachts.
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Joined: 02/06/2008
Posts: 217
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"It makes no difference if they become uninsurable..."
I don't think anyone is going to become uninsurable. The deductible on most large yacht policies is probably more than the cost of the tender that caused the wake damage so even making a claim is ridiculous. The insurance company isn't going to waste time on such silliness as trying to recover the price of a few wine glasses.
And more to the point, who is going to make whom uninsurable anyway? Is flag state going to take action against an individual or a vessel? Hardly. Has anyone ever heard of a yacht's flag state maritime authority (USCG excepted) taking action against a yacht license or crewmember for anything, and I mean anything? Is Cayman going to pull the flag because a tender driver is rude and stupid? Until places like St. Tropez import off duty Fort Lauderdale water cops to keep the evil eye on rogue tenders this is another tempest in a Perrier bottle.
Photograph the bad guys and report the incident to the port authority. It's up to them to enforce the rules - or not. Beyond that it's all just ranting against the mistral.
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Joined: 14/01/2009
Posts: 633
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It is a rant...the purpose of which is to educate ignorant crew of the hassle they cause. You say report to the port authority ! Not me. Everyplace I ever go Im a foreigner. As a foreigner the best way to cultivate favourable treatment from port authorities is with a Good Morning Sir and a positive attitude . Favours from the Port Authorities, like the ability to discharge guests at a ferry terminal with a simple phone call or overstay your cruising permit without a full paperwork shakedown are critical to making my own program run smoothly. As a foreigner you wont develop cordial working relations with the authorities if you attempt to make your problem, their problem.
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Joined: 02/06/2008
Posts: 217
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"..the purpose of which is to educate ignorant crew of the hassle they cause..."
How's that working for ya so far?
If it isn't worth informing the only people on the planet who can do something about the issue then it must be one of those "you know what really burns my ass?' questions that is best answered with, "yeah a flame about - this - high."
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