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Written by Administrator
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Friday, 30 November 2007 |
Don't be Cruel (to a Mooring Ball) - This column often warns about using National Park moorings with caution. Time and again we see boats coming adrift while still happily attached to their mooring pendant. Whenever blame is assigned, the finger often points to poor maintenance and inadequate policing. It is true that one rarely if ever sees a National Park patrol vessel in the vicinity of the most heavily used parks. Equally unusual is news of someone being apprehended or fined for illegal or inappropriate use of moorings in National Park areas.
However, I recently saw a couple of instances of inappropriate use of moorings. In the first, three boats are rafted up on a single mooring ball at the Baths. In the second, two boats are rafted up at the Indians.
In both cases, the mooring balls are in exposed locations which are subject to swells. Swell is what causes much of the damage to moorings and their supporting tethers—the jerking of the boat puts substantial loads onto rope and chain, often sufficient to snap them, or more likely to contribute to metal fatigue or to chafe. Often, sailors are surprised to find their boat adrift after making fast to a mooring line on a calm day with barely a ripple to put a strain on the mooring system. But it is the cumulative effect of one irresponsible party after the other rafting up together on a mooring or attaching an over-sized vessel to tackle clearly designated as being for vessels under 60 feet in length, that contributes to the eventual failure of the mooring equipment.
The BVI is a small country with a small police force. It is hardly possible to police every national park site or correct every instance of misuse. Part of the problem, of course, is the small number of moorings relative to the number of charter boats active in the area. Clearly, an increase in the number of mooring balls at such popular destinations as the Caves, the Indians, the Baths and Monkey Point might help alleviate the problem, but it is the behaviour of individual skippers that is the root cause. As with many problems it's not simply the fact that one person does something—it's the fact that many people do the same thing over time. It's a gradual wearing-down, not a sudden collapse.
So, what to do? First, don't do it yourself. Second, friends don't let friends raft up (on a NPT mooring, that is). Third, if you see somebody behaving in such a manner, why not make a call to the charter company with the name of the boat and the location of the incident. It's ultimately education that will make the difference. Charter companies, as the primary beneficiaries of the excellent infrastructure here in the BVI, ought to be leading the way in educating their clients in appropriate behaviour. Otherwise, it might come down to the courts—as was seen recently with a huge fine levied on a sailor fishing without a licence.
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