[Rhodes22-list] Single Handed Docking Article

[Steve Alm]

Here it is:

All boats have a point along both sides, usually just aft of amidships,
wherein a single dock line will cause the boat to stop parallel to a dock.
To find this point, pick a place along the side.  It's helpful to use the
sliding cars on the genoa tracks for this purpose.  Attach a mooring line to
this point & pull on it from behind.  If the bow pulls towards you faster
than the stern, then slide the attachment point aft.  If the stern is
favored, then move the attachment point forward.  When the boat crabs
sideways towards you, then you have found the approximate sweet spot.  The
actual sweet spot will shift slightly when the boat has forward momentum.
However, this approximate location will be sufficiently close to allow you
to go out & try to pull up to a dock with a single line.  Try to stop the
boat with a single mooring line using your approximate sweet spot.  If the
bow or stern tend to crab towards the dock faster, then adjust the position
of the line fore or aft as before & try again.  When you have found the
correct location, you should at least mark it.  You may even wish to install
permanent mooring cleats there port & starboard.

With a single mooring line, simply motor up to the dock, slip your loop over
the piling near the end of the dock, & shift into neutral.  The mooring line
attached to the sweet spot will snub the boat's forward momentum & the boat
will almost magically "crab" sideways up against the dock.  This sideways
crabbing involves a tremendous amount of drag, which uses up the boat's
forward momentum in a matter of inches, thus making it almost impossible to
hit the dock.  The boat will stop at a convenient distance away from the
dock for you to go around attaching your bow & stern lines at your leisure.
Try this technique.  I guarantee it will make you look like a boat handling
genius!

Roger Pihlaja
S/V Dynamic Equilibrium

On 1/10/03 12:50 PM, "Roger Pihlaja" <cen09402@centurytel.net> wrote:

> Hey Everyone,
> 
> Did anyone happen to save a copy of an article I wrote several months ago re a
> foolproof single line docking procedure?  I can't find it in the SailNet
> archives or on the FAQ page & I don't know how to search the new archives.
> I'd really rather not retype the whole thing if someone has a copy they could
> repost.
> 
> I'd like to forward it along to David Keyes.  The combination of the technique
> for making a sharp turn to port which I described in my previous post along
> with this single line docking technique might work very well in his situation.
> 
> Roger Pihlaja
> S/V Dynamic Equilibrium
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