Did I do the right thing?

O

OUV11112

Member
Joined
Nov 7, 2007
RO Number
28921
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75
On Saturday night at 8.30 we were headed back to the dock and about a 1/2 mile outside of the marina were flagged down by a 14' enclosed bow fishing boat with two adults and two kids about 13 years old on board. Their engine had died and they wanted a tow. Everyone on board had their life jackets on and there was no emergency.

My dilemma was that I could not tow them with the short line that they had. I could have passed them a line and had them secure it and pass it back running from both back cleats however; I could not leave the helm and did not feel secure with asking anyone else on board doing this. To add to this it is a busy area with an entrance to a port and the marina itself and there was lots of traffic.

What I did was let them know I would offer assistance and to sit tight. There was a 20' converted tug following us in. I flagged him down and he was able to hook up their line to his tow post and bring them in to the marina.

My wife thought that we should have towed them but I was not comfortable with this. If we had been alone with no other boats around I would have definitely towed them. Since there was readily available assistance I felt we did not have to.

What is my responsibility in this situation?
 
Sounds like a reasonable reponse to me. I

I probably would have doen the exact same thing in that circumstance.
 
Sounds right... sometimes gving assistance means helping find the right kind of help.
 
I think you answered your own question. There was no emergency and your judgement was that it was not safe for you to tow. So you assisted in another way. This is a no brainer.
 
If you were not comfortable, you are the Captain nough said.
I'm sure they did appreciate your help.
Just having someone stand by can be very reassuring.
 
If you were not comfortable that you could do it safely, then you were correct in your actions, especially if there was no emergency.
 
You wife was wrong, you were right.

Not that you'll ever get her to acknowledged that. :-)
 
Thanks for the responses.

Now I can tell her I was right - let's see how that goes.
 
Good luck telling her, would likely lead to a brief dose of the doghouse around here :)
 
You did heed their request and provided the best help that you were able to offer with the resources you had available to you. There was a good outcome as a result of your actions. Done deal!
 
Only one thing that can get a man into more trouble than overestimating his abilities.........telling his admiral she's wrong. <grin> Good Luck. Let us know how it goes after the swelling from your two newly blackened eyes goes down enough to see to type.
 
quote:
Originally posted by Capt. Bill1

You wife was wrong, you were right.

Not that you'll ever get her to acknowledged that. :-)

Click to expand...

+1 :)
 
Two solid decisions in one week.....pretty damn good!
 
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