[Rhodes22-list] Tight Turns To Port With The Wind Astern

[Keyes, David]

Roger, thanks for your expertise and advice.  The idea of docking with lines
rather than the motor should have occurred to me but did not.  I will still
have to think about how to do this in my situation.  We don't have poles or
pilings, like in a bay or lake with only tidal movements.  Because Lake
Travis's height fluctuates with the Lower Colorado River Authority's release
of waters for downstream rice farming and other property-owner use, as well
as recent rains or dry weather, the water heights can vary by about 70 feet.
Thus, all the docks are floating ones.  At the end of the finger piers (or
any where else), there are no poles or any type of piling to toss a line
onto or, more likely, use a boat hook to fetch a line off of.  There is a
small turning wheel--small enough that I wouldn't want to hit it or rely on
it--at the edge of the port finger pier (first side coming in on the hard
turn to port), and I do put out fenders in advance.  So the thing to
practice, it seems, is (first in calm weather) to leave a coiled line
sitting on the port finger pier of the floating dock, one end cleated and
the other end probably hanging somewhat off of the pier, in such a position
as to be reasonably accessible to a crew member with a boat hook.  All this
supposes that I have a crew member who is reasonably agile (as I did the day
of the accident).  I often take the boat out alone, or with my wife who is
not athletic (or skilled in steering in these conditions in while I would go
forward) and who could not reliably do what needs to be done regarding
fetching and securing the dock line.  

Another challenge is that, once secured to a docking line but not yet into
the slip, if the boat is pushed by the wind towards the one remaining slip
downwind from me (my neighbor), his motor protrudes astern of his boat, and
the next emergency would be to avoid having the starboard side be pushed
into his motor.  But, notwithstanding the challenges, docking with lines
sounds like the way to go, with motor maneuvering only as the fall-back.

Another possibility is to try coming into dock in reverse--easy in light
weather (when there would be no need for this maneuver) but perhaps even
more difficult in heavy weather with the wind catching the bow and then the
windward side during the turn into the slip.  At least, if I were alone, I
would use the motor to get into the slip with my being in position to use
the boat hook myself, if necessary.  My slip doesn't really fit when the
boat is backed in, due to the combination of dock control winching equipment
and the configuration of "sissy lines" normally keeping the bow from
drifting into that equipment.  But, temporarily, a stern-first approach can
be tied into place until weather or help permits re-docking.  However, I
would still have the problem of staying away from collision into my
neighbor's motor if I am not in my slip but only secured by the line at the
edge of the finger pier.  So approaching in reverse does not seem to be a
good decision.

I also like your suggestion about getting "on the list" waiting for a slip
on the opposite side, requiring a hard right turn, rather than a hard left
turn.  I had not focused until recently on the difference in turning
capabilities (right vs. left) when a sailboat's outboard motor is mounted on
the port side of the rudder.  I will have to wait for a different pier (down
a different alley way between boats)--the ones opposite me are generally
about 35 feet long and have larger slips--all the more reason not to crash
into them!

Discussing this situation with the marina staff, I also have found another
suggestion that might be relevant to other members on this list who
occasionally have to dock after (presumably--some of us go out in this
weather in the first place!) the development of heavy weather.  Most marinas
have a ramp or other area where there is more space  between piers or other
obstacles, plus a stretch of dock where there are no slips (so that boats
set down the ramp can be temporarily tied broadside to the dock) and
protected with fenders.  For whatever reason, there may be an area in a
marina that permits more maneuvering--such as coming in wind astern and then
coming about upwind and alongside a dock.  Then you can tie up temporarily
and wait for better weather to motor out, around, and into your slip.

-----Original Message-----
From: Roger Pihlaja [mailto:cen09402@centurytel.net]
Sent: Friday, January 10, 2003 6:03 AM
To: The Rhodes 22 mail list
Subject: [Rhodes22-list] Tight Turns To Port With The Wind Astern


David,

Sorry to say this, but it sounds to me like your docking technique may have
contributed to your engine failure.  Repeatedly shifting from
forward-reverse-forward is very hard on an engine.  It's also a very
difficult way to turn a boat around, sort of the technique of last resort.
However, it sounds like you have one of the most docking difficult
situations; strong wind astern, right hand prop, & tight turn to port into a
narrow slip - YUCK!  Dynamic Equilibrium can make this turn under these
conditions in about 1.5 - 2 boatlengths by putting the rudder tiller hard
over to starboard & the engine tiller hard over to port with the engine at
full throttle in reverse.  Please note that you will have to disconnect your
rudder to motor steering linkage in order to perform this maneuver.  The
boat would need to be traveling at a starting velocity of about 3 knots
forward in order to pull this maneuver off.  So, your situation sounds like
it's right on the ragged edge of the performance envelope.  Before you try
this, make sure you have done everything possible to reduce your windage,
particularly at the bow.  Remember that you must maintain forward velocity
in order to have any steering control.  Although it can be daunting in a
crowded marina with the wind howling, if you are going to attempt this kind
of turn; then, this is not the time to be timid.  I think I would setup some
fenders for marker buoys out in open water & practice this maneuver before
trying it in the marina.  I know this manuever sounds radical, but try it.
You may get to like it & it will be a whole lot easier on your engine.

You might consider finding a different slip for next season.  For example, a
slip right across from you would be better.  A tight turn to starboard in
this situation is much easier than to port.

If it were my boat & I were being more cautious, I think I would pull up to
the end of the finger pier, port side to the pier.  I would either put out
fenders on the port side amidships or mount a suitable bumper on the corner
of my pier.  I would loosely tie off amidships & use a bow line to warp the
bow around into the slip.  No muss - no fuss.

Roger Pihlaja
S/V Dynamic Equilibrium

----- Original Message -----
From: "Keyes, David" <dkeyes@velaw.com>
To: "'The Rhodes 22 mail list'" <rhodes22-list@rhodes22.org>
Sent: Friday, January 10, 2003 1:29 AM
Subject: RE: [Rhodes22-list] Small temporary replacement motor; Yamaha 9.9
accident


> Rik--thanks for your information about the Evinrude 4.5.  Do you link it
> with the tiller, or are you doing tight turning with one hand on the
tiller
> and one on the motor?
>
> Ed--The electric trolling motor sounds interesting, and I will look at
them
> for temporary use--if the power is enough whils still being light, simple
> and reasonably economical.   Not being a fisher, I have never seen one.
>
> Yamaha 9.9 experiences--I am on a large lake, but the winds can easily be
> steady at 25-30 miles per hour, winds howling through the spars and
rigging
> of the boats tied at dock, with heavier gusts, blowing onshore towards a
> rocky coast just about two boat lengths past my slip as I have to return
by
> making a 90-degree sharp turn to port into a narrow slip (10 feet wide,
> probably, no more), when the "alley way" down between the boats before I
> make my turn is no more than about two boat lengths.  I have to alternate
> between forward (at minimum idle speed) and neutral (mostly neutral) not
to
> be coming in too fast, and then have to alternate forward, neutral and
> reverse just to kick the stern around and turn sharply enough into the
slip.
> Leaving the dock to go out on the lake can be the reverse of this
situation.
> In the summers, the wind blows offshore, and everything is easier.
>
> My experience with the Yamaha 9.9 over the past year and one-half has been
> that it can maneuver successfully the above challenges (when the gears and
> throttle don't jam as they did in November, first into reverse rocketing
> towards the sterns and motors of the boats behind me after I had almost
made
> it into my slip but had to reverse due to being blown too much to
starboard
> to enter the slip properly), and in the nick of time forceably hitting
> forward and rocketing into the concrete and steel part of the dock between
> the inner-most slip and the rocky shore).  However, no outboard motor on a
> sailboat, set off as it is to one side of the rudder, seems to give the
> steering maneuverabilty for tight turns of a motor boat or a larger
sailboat
> with an inboard motor.  Of course in no wind or very light winds, I can go
> in and out perfectly and think I finally have the technique figured out.
> Even in stronger winds, if not blowing directly onshore, docking sometimes
> works out just right, as if I were a skilled master at this.  But some
> owners tell me that they will not take their boats out at all if there is
a
> strong onshore wind--and I may listen to them next time.
>
> I don't get the full benefit of the 9.9 heading out of close quarters into
> open waters, where I could open to full throttle.  This is because I don't
> feel that the steering is stable enough at full speed using the R22 tiller
> linkage.  The motor is at that time either connected to the tiller, which
> doubles the turning torque (sailboat rudder plus motor steering) or, more
> normally, is disconnected by removing the pin to let the tiller do all the
> steering but relying on the motor to stay put by itself in a straight
> position (requiring proper advance adjustment of a screw to control effort
> needed to turn the motor).  To avoid sudden swerving one way or the other,
I
> slow down to, say, half throttle or less anyway, where everything is fine.
> So I am not ever using the full power of the 9.9.  In theory, though, it
> could come in handy in a bad storm.
>
> If I were doing everything again, I would buy a motor of half the power
but
> try to connect it to the tiller and move the controls there--like Stan's
9.9
> setup--because, although I have not tried the other way, it just seems
safer
> and more efficient to have control in one place and be able to look
forward
> under motor instead of fooling around bent over the stern and trying to
> figure out what to do as between the motor steering and the tiller/rudder
> steering. Having said that, I would have been a lot better off in November
> if I had direct controls on the motor that I could get to, rather than
> jammed controls connected by cable on the tiller.  While the fault may
have
> been with the motor, if I were guessing, I would think that I increased
> speed too much in reverse trying to avoid hitting the dock on the
starboard
> side of my slip, and almost immediately had to (in high wind) avoid a
> collision to stern with boats behind.  I probably (but this is just a
> guess--it all happened so fast) tried to force the gear shift into forward
> while still not having slowed the throttle to neutral.  There is probably
a
> safety feature preventing switching gears except at idle or low speed.  By
> forcing the motor into forward I probably jammed or bent cable connectors
> where they enter the gear area on the motor.  Once that happened, I was
> stuck in forward and at high speed.  Welcome to the dock ahead.
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Kroposki [mailto:kroposki@innova.net]
> Sent: Thursday, January 09, 2003 11:20 PM
> To: 'The Rhodes 22 mail list'
> Subject: [Rhodes22-list] Small temporary replacement motor
>
>
> David,
>        Did you catch the line in Rik's email about Stan using an
> electric trolling motor?
>              Ed K
>
>
>
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