Dockside 'Helpers' Cause More Damage Than Hurricane Season

Bayview Marina has released its annual damage report revealing that unsolicited docking assistance from bystanders — colloquially known as 'dock helpers' — caused more property damage than the combined effects of three named tropical storms during the 2025 season. The report documents 147 incidents in which marina visitors, day-trippers, or fellow boaters attempted to 'help' vessels during docking maneuvers, resulting in a total of $340,000 in repairs. Hurricane Francine, by comparison, caused $280,000 in damage to the same marina. 'The typical dock helper sees a boat approaching and experiences an overwhelming urge to grab a line,' said marina manager Dolores Cleat. 'They then pull the line in a direction the skipper did not intend, at a speed the skipper did not request, wrapping it around a cleat the skipper was not aiming for. The boat responds by hitting everything in the vicinity.' The report's most costly single incident involved a dock helper who caught a bowline from a 45-foot trawler and secured it to a piling while the vessel was still making two knots of forward speed. The resulting pivot brought the stern into contact with three other boats, a kayak rack, and a decorative anchor sculpture that the marina had installed the previous week. 'He was very proud of his cleat hitch,' the trawler's skipper noted in his incident report. 'It held beautifully. That was the problem.' Bayview Marina has installed signs reading 'DO NOT CATCH LINES UNLESS ASKED' at every slip entrance. They have also posted laminated cards listing the correct response when a boat approaches the dock: 'Stand back, keep your hands at your sides, and resist every instinct you have.' Dock helper incidents have increased 23 percent since the signs were installed.