FEBRUARY 2018“Drones can be
fun, but also a
nuisance. We
were moored
in a marina in
the Bahamas
when another
yacht’s drone
flew overhead
and hovered
over the
sundeck where
guests were
sunbathing.
One of the
guests got
really upset
and threw
cushions at it.
He missed, and
we lost a few
cushions.”
Captain of
a 213ft yacht
in Paradise
Island,
the BahamasThey are a safe haven, but can’t guard against mishaps and misbehavior.
Superyacht captains confess some memorable marina moments to Risa Merl
(names have been omitted to protect the innocent... and the not so innocent)“I worked for one owner who always had different
types of people on board, so I was used to that... but
one summer day in the South of France things got a
little out of control. He arrived with his family, then
they all left for a day on shore. The owner came back
in the afternoon, saying his wife and kids were still
out shopping, but he had this woman with him and
he introduced her as his girlfriend. They spent the
afternoon on the boat together, then all of a sudden
he shooed her off, and the wife and kids appeared, as
if he had choreographed it all. Later I noticed the
girlfriend was sitting in the restaurant across from
where we were moored stern-to in the marina. She
was just staring at the yacht while chain smoking and
drinking. She sat there all night until the owner
snuck out of the boat. This continued for a few days
until one night he didn’t go to meet her, so when the
restaurant closed she came really close and just
stared at the boat for hours. Then she started talking
to the crew member on watch. He wouldn’t let her on
board, of course, so she started screaming, and a
marina security guard came by. The owner came out
to talk to her and she finally went away; we didn’t see
her again for the rest of the summer. There was
something very Fatal Attraction about it all.”
Captain of a 165ft yacht in the South of France
“It didn’t happen to me, but I saw everything.
We were in Charleston, South Carolina, and there
was a sportfishing yacht coming in like a real hot
rod. The captain was standing with his back to the
helm, working the throttles without looking at
them. It was a beautiful Rybovich sportfisher with
a varnished transom, an absolutely stunning boat.
But this guy was being a show off, going way too
fast. All of a sudden he went to pull out of gear, and
he missed. That beautiful transom went square into
the dock, and he hit it so hard that he flew over the
rail into the cockpit below. To make matters worse,
it was a floating dock, so when the boat hit it,
everyone on the dock fell as well, like dominoes.
I would not have wanted to be him having to tell the
owner what happened.”
Captain of a 147ft motor yacht in South Carolina“I ran a boat that the owner kept in Ukraine for a
while, and sometimes when we came into the port
people would be gathered on the dock, waving –
being such a large yacht we were a bit of a celebrity.
One day we came in to dock and a very drunk
Russian decided it would be a good idea to swim out
to us, but my props were still in reverse! He wanted to
get on the swim platform and board the boat, but our
transom opened up, not down. So, when this guy
finally got hold of the transom door, we pushed the
button for it to open and it just pushed him into the
sea. It’s one way to get rid of unwanted visitors.”
Captain of a 147ft motor yacht in Ukraine
“We were in Capri on a charter during the 2006 World Cup. Our guests
had gone ashore to watch the final and allow us to watch it on board.
Italy was playing France, and we were an Italian crewed boat with a
French boat right next to us. We were both watching the game on the
aft deck and shouting to each other the entire time. Then Italy won!
The crew on the French boat went inside, closed all the blinds and hid
in shame. Our charter clients came back, and we were all jumping in
the water in our underwear. Then everyone in the marina jumped in, it
became a huge celebration – but I had to swim to rescue one of our
guests because we didn’t have space to put down the swim ladder.”
Captain of a 160ft motor yacht in Capri, Italy“It was a floating
dock, so when he
hit it, everyone on
the dock fell as
well, like dominoes”
MARINA
MAYHEM!