Shakedown considerately

With reference to ‘Shake down your skills’ (YM, April 2021) while I fully agree with the importance of knocking the rust off a few skills, I would like to caution against practising in marina aisles.

I returned to my boat on the Hamble after two weeks away and noticed the port pushpit appeared to be a little off, the guard wires excessively slack and the inflatable Danbouy in disarray. While sorting out some bits below, I heard the intermittent revving of a nearby engine. I ventured out and saw a local sailing school boat trying to turn in the narrowest aisle. Two and two were put together and I went to the marina office where I asked them to invite the school to stop using my boat and others as stopping points. Needless to say, there was no video of the collision with my boat.

My thought is that if you can do it, you don’t need to practice in an aisle, and if you can’t, you shouldn’t. If you do try but can’t, then perhaps offer to pay for the damages. Dominic Aldington

Practising in narrow marina aisles can lead to costly mistakes... ...such as bent and broken fittings Dominic’s Dufour 335 was damaged but no-one owned up to it