TravelTalkOnline Forums Travel and Vacation Forums British Virgin Islands White Bay Collision

On the BVI Charters and Vacation Facebook page there is a video of a somewhat bizarre incident. Posting states boat left with engines running. Jib not properly secured and unrolled, Jib sheets looped around throttle and yanked engine into gear. Bumper cars after that. Wish I could figure out how to post a link. Anyone know if the details above are correct?
G

I saw that and heard he left engines on to charge batteries

my buddy pulled it up on badideaboating on instagram

Here it is. Quite a sh*# show: https://www.instagram.com/reel/CbgvOomjsa0/?utm_medium=copy_link

The guy in the dinghy came close to getting hurt. Probably best not to have become a human fender! A boat that size certainly had a generator which is far more efficient for battery charging. I wonder if the Genset was inop.

So unsettling. That is negligence in my book. I heard that the damaged boat has to be hauled out in Puerto Rico for repairs.

As I replay what would I do in this situation I was looking at that dinghy captain wondering was that a good idea

That’s crazy! If I read this right, they left the engine running at anchor with nobody on board? The neurotic skipper in me tells me that’s not a great idea. Is that a standard practice?

Personally I would never leave a main engine running without someone on the boat. I don’t like to even leave a generator running unattended.

Not supposed to run the engines unattended. The genset at least has a shutoff, I believe the engines only alarm until they seize. I certainly have a lot of sympathy for the owner of that boat. I wish I could see the charterer statement on this incident.

Unless they were charging at idle, or had the throttle(s) set in neutral reverse, it seems like it would require the throttle lever being pulled first back and then forward for this to happen.

I never leave the helm with the engine running…

It would seem as the boat ran over the anchor it would tend to reset and hold the runaway to some extent - but with this capt, I would not assume a proper set.

Was the boat on anchor or on a mooring ball? If the later, I'm guessing they didn't tie in correctly.

There are only two mooring balls in this part of White Bay - originally designed for day boats not overnight and not huge boats. A boat this size under power would have no issue breaking the mooring. Will chat it up with Lou when we are visiting next week and get her thoughts.

Unbelievable! don't need anymore information to stay away from the West-Side of White Bay. Stayed on the east side overnight once moored next to Ivan's Peace and Love - That was magical. But the west side is a $hit show!

Best thing: overnight in great harbour, never in white bay

Saw an even worse one at White Bay in 2019 where a young child got his hands on the throttles of an idling twin outboard engined centre console whilst the adult were attending to mooring the boat stern to the beach. The youngster pulled the throttle into full reverse or near to.....boat walked sideways and nearly crushed people who were swimming. Not a fan of boats mooring stern to beach at White Bay.....fatality was possible. Need for a boat free swimming area never more illustrated in this incident

East side of White Bay is great with right weather/waves...West is non starter at any point

I have had more issues in Great Harbour to include being swung into at night by a boat anchored just outside the mooring

Favorite is Little Harbour or better yet Diamond Cay

We spoke to the owner of the private Bali 48 that was hit, at Skinny Legs in Coral Bay. She said that the Bali 50 was on a mooring. It motored around the mooring, not under command, until the sand screw pulled out. Damage to the Bali 48 was to an engine room bulkhead. They are having the fiberglass work done at Puerto del Rey.

The captain of the vessel that went walkabout made an egregious series of mistakes.

Cheers, RickG

So I still don't get it. Even if they left the engine on how did it get in gear?

Jib wasn't properly secured, unrolled in wind, then loose sheet caught shifter/throttle.

This - We are planning on staying at Little Harbour this trip. We could stay in Diamond Cay as well through. Which would you pick? Little Harbour or Diamond Cay - never stayed at Diamond Cay. Have stayed in Little Harbour, Great Harbour and White Bay...

sory the above question (previous post) was supposed to have this quoted...

If you want peace and quiet Diamond Cay is great. You have BLine and Foxys Taboo and of course Sandy Cay and Sandy Spit are close. Never had a hard time getting a Mooring

Little Harbour has Cynthia at Harris's place and Sidneys.

Great Harbour has provisioning...

what are you looking for for the JVD leg of your trip? Do you have Scott's cruising guide?

Here is our land based JVD trip report from 12/21
http://www.traveltalkonline.com/ubb...ed-jvd-scrub-12-11-12-20.html#Post271939

Well I think peace and quite wouldn't be bad. We will be staying at Cane Garden Bay the night before and will be at Norman the night after. We will want to take a taxi to White bay though for the afternoon as we have some couples on the trip that haven't been to the BVIs before. Haven't been to Foxy's taboo or Bline so this might be a nice stop.

We've never stayed at Diamond Cay but started staying at Little Harbour every charter startiing about 3-4 trips ago and love it. The quiet plus choice of excellent restaurants (we love Abe's) makes it a great overnight stop. A taxi all the way to White Bay isn't that expensive.

That is good re:land taxi...White Bay pretty much shuts down abound 4-5 anyways. Only thing to see in Great Harbour IMHO is Tipsy Shark. You can provision at Rudys there with taxi on way back. Christine's bakery is also good...he daughter usually has a road stand by customs

Love Diamond Cay. Bline there is a great very low key place. One of our new favorites. More of the old style BVI beach shack vibe. Super nice couple runs the place. There is also the short walk to the Bubbly Pools from the dock on the Foxy Taboo side of the bay..

I would also vote for Diamond Cay. We like both Foxy's Taboo and B-Line. The Passion Confusion is the drink to get at the B-Line! The hike to the Bubbly Pools is short and scenic. I would have Little Harbor on backup just in case the North Swell makes Cane Garden uncomfortable.

You can't go wrong with Little Harbor OR Diamond Cay...BOTH are great anchorages in my opinion and much better anchorage/mooring options on JVD for quiet/peaceful.

In your case I would just choose based on what you and your group want to do off the boat...bubbly pool hike, Foxy's taboo and B-line, then Diamond Cay is the play - quiet boat time with dinner options and slightly cheaper (maybe) cab ride to White Bay, then Little Harbor is the play.

We like to hang out at Diamond Cay for the afternoon. Go to B-line, Foxy’s Taboo, bubbly pool. Then motor around the corner to Little Harbor to have dinner at Harris’s that night.

Our group was sitting on the beach in front of SD. The loose sheet had been flapping in the wind for at least 15 - 20 minutes prior to being knocked into gear , which had many people looking around the West side beach for the Captain, as it was causing quite a bit of noise. My understanding is that Captain was down at Ivan's.

Hats off to the several other boaters who reacted pretty quickly, boarded the stray boat, brought it under control and re- anchored well away from the busy part of the anchorage!

Years ago a couple moored next to us in Soper's Hole, West End where we had stopped to check in with customs. The captain apparently put the boat in reverse to slow it down so his girlfriend could grab the mooring ball. They were in such a hurry to go below, he neglected to shift back to neutral. After about 15 minutes his boat did a 270-degree spin and was about to hit us when I got our dingy between the 2 boats and knocked loudly on his hull. He appeared in the companionway obviously upset I had interrupted his "lunch" until he realized his mistake.

Maybe it was a bit more than lunch. That can certainly make a man forgetful!