Boat etiquette question
 

Is it Ok to move another person's boat, or anything else, without their permission?

We were having lunch at a restaurant, my boat was at the public dock. A very nice 60' yacht pulled up to the dock and tied up in a private part of the dock that's clearly labeled "no docking". They had a conversation with the guy who runs the rental boats who has the rights to that part of the dock so I assumed they got permission. Next thing I know a couple guys from that boat start untying mine to move it so they could get out of the 'no parking' end of the dock. My friend & I bolt out of the restaurant and, from a distance, put a stop to that and they re-tied it. We made our way down to my boat and they acted like it's no big deal to move another person's boat. I was pissed, but also thinking that if done safely it really shouldn't matter....but I don't know these people or how they handle a boat. Part of me feels like it's not really an offense, but the rest of me thinks you just don't mess with other people's stuff. It would be like someone moving your bike to make space for theirs. If done without harm it really shouldn't matter, but is it ok to do that with someone else's stuff?

I kept my friend from knocking them all out and I moved my boat to be nice, they helped, then I was left wondering what the general consensus on something like that is.

You don´t touch or move another human beings property. That´the decent thing.

Exept to prevent imminent harm or danger to other human beings.

If you have to work with other peoples property, you handle it with the same care as if it would be yours.

...but i know that some people just do not care anyway.

I used to run into this constantly and other etiquette questions when I owned boats. I finally had enough of ignorant boat owners and sold it.

That said, no, they shouldn't have touched your boat. They should have tried to find you first. Also, it's up to the first guy who parks (you), to pull as far forward on the dock as possible to make room for guys behind you coming in, especially if you're on a river with a current (like the Sac River here). I've even gone as far as if I'm in a restaurant, to move my boat forward if a couple boats in front of my left, if I was going to be there a long time. Odds are you're not there that long though. Once the beer and nachos are gone, your back in your boat.

Boating is supposed to be a "let's all help each other" type of thing, especially if on a river where there's a current involved. No, they shouldn't have touched your boat without asking, but being that you guys all worked together to rectify his parking problem was a good thing and what should have happened.

Don't even get me started about the morons at the boat launches.......

I had a boat also for many years and the most stressful part was putting it in and out of the water.

I dreaded the drunk jerks at the dock.

Launch ramps, sometimes it's so ridiculous that it's funny. But damn those people who get on the ramp to then start prepping and transferring stuff from the truck to the boat spending half hour in the way.

I only prep at the ramp if it's near empty and I can be completely out of the way. My current boat is too big for the normal prep area, I'd be blocking anyone trying to get through so I just go to the far end of the ramp where nobody likes to go.

EXACTLY!...and it always happened on a single ramp! The "proper boater" preps in the parking lot, unhooks the winch, backs in with a friend at the wheel or to catch it and get it out of the way, dumps the boat, and pulls out as quickly as possible.

I about had seizures when a guy would back down (after 5 attempts)....then he'd start to transfer everything and all his gals would lay out the towels and start to put on lotion. When a ramp on a busy river has a half dozen boats waiting in line....GIT-'ER-DUN!

I've seen "normally intelligent people" turn into complete morons when a boat is involved. I'm sure you've seen the same.

A single ramp or even worse, in the middle of a double making it a single.

Great example: I'm in line to get on the ramp talking to the guy ahead of me who's bitching about the slow mutherFer on the ramp, really over the top bitching. Slow poke finally gets out and the guy ahead of me gets on the ramp and then starts to put in the plug, put up the bimini top, load the food, get the ice chest, etc. with his buddy just watching. Finally he looks ready to go and as he gets in the boat his buddy takes off to go to the bathroom....?!? All that time standing around waiting and neither took a single step towards being ready. I was solo launching a cuddy cab without a ramp side dock, not the easiest thing in the world. Launch, dock the boat, walk back and pull truck off the ramp; just under 4 min. The complainer was on over 10 min. as was the guy behind me. I was initially going to invite the guy behind me to move my truck once I slid off but he was red-faced bitching about the guy in front of me and I didn't trust him to not do something stupid.

boat etiquette is no different than car etiquette. .. you don't move someone else's car to get your lincoln into a good spot at the mall.... then you don't move other peoples boats to get tour uacht parked either....,

Yea, I mostly feel that way, but many things are different in boating. Among the boating forums the thought seems to be split about 50/50, probably because moving boats and even side tying to a docked boat is a pretty normal occurrence in some places. I was offended at the entitlement shown to move my boat, on the other hand if done for a reason and with great care it's really not an offense; so hard to judge what the proper reaction should be. I do feel they should have at least tried to make contact with me before moving it.

Where I live in some places its expected. We have many restaurants/bars on the water and the boats have to pull up and side tie to each other. Normally there are dockhands to do this for you for tips and they shuffle the boats all around to let people arrive and leave. However if the dockhands are not available the boat owners do it themselves. Everyone just keeps an eye on their stuff to make sure nothing crazy is happening. I have seen a few arguments ensue when people not familiar with the process see other people step/walk across the back of other boats to get to the dock/restaurant. Proper etiquette is to remove your shoes at a minimum and don't be a drunk.


/