[Rhodes22-list] Combination Of Sharp Turn To Port + Single
HandedDocking
Steve Alm
salm@mn.rr.com
Sun, 12 Jan 2003 23:43:28 -0600
David,
Do you have enough water depth at your slip to land with the board down?
The boat will corner much sharper, forward and reverse.
Slim
On 1/12/03 11:35 AM, "David Keyes" <dkeyes@houston.rr.com> wrote:
> Roger, I will try your single dock line. But the challenge with a brisk
> wind astern has been even to get that far (to where one is entering the slip
> between the finger piers), where you could get to the dock line. I have to
> think about coming in close on my port side to the sterns of the upwind,
> docked boats just before my slip and fetching the dock line for a pivot into
> the dock, but this couldn't work single-handed due to the protruding
> outboard motors of the other boats. I have been coming down the "alley"
> between the adjacent piers with my boat about 2/3 to 3/4 of the way towards
> the opposite pier to allow for turning room but without my stern getting too
> close the the sterns of the boats to starboard as I make my turn to port.
>
> As to your question: Of course the wind is not always that strong. I have
> since found out, talking to the marina personnel and some other boat owners,
> that (virtually) no one goes out on days where there is a strong onshore
> wind (northerly wind--we are on a southern shore), which would be rare in
> the summer but is common in the winter. They don't go out because of the
> same problem of returning to docks. But I am going to ask a few of the
> owners who seem to use their boats frequently, year around.
>
> Even on the November day of my docking accident when mine may have been the
> only boat out, I and my crew of two thought we were successfully turning
> into the slip without incident after a great sail when at the last instant I
> decided that the wind had caught the bow so that it was going to be pushed
> too hard into the entering edge of the starboard finger pier. I hit reverse
> on the engine to soften the blow (and one crew member jumped onto the pier
> at that point) to try to push the boat off, when my motor jammed in reverse
> and we went rocketing back into the boats in their slips behind me. (It was
> when I forced the gear shift into forward just missing a collision with
> those boats but permanently jamming the gear into forward).
>
> Interestingly, much larger sailboats in the larger slips opposite me (the
> ones I back toward as I back out of my slip) seem to have no problem, at
> least when I seen them come and go on normal days. One skipper with two
> small sons repeatedly brings his 35-foot sailboat to a dead stop centered in
> his slip with no lines whatsoever. The only differences I can see are (i)
> they are headed towards a larger opening, (ii) they are turning to starboard
> if that makes any difference--is that what people talk about when they refer
> to a right-hand prop?, and (iii) their prop is inboard and at the center
> line of their boat, giving better steering control.
>
> Lastly, even on relatively calm days, the approach to the slip requires
> skill, paying complete attention, good anticipation and decisions and
> sometimes a little luck. Many years ago, I had boats at marinas in lakes
> and bays where this was not the case, within the limits of prudent
> seamanship. For five years at one lake, I just sailed to the dock with no
> motor at all (boats of 17 and 19 feet). In Biscayne Bay in Miami, I docked
> regularly a 34-foot motor sailer in many kinds of weather and never any
> problem. However, in the present case, for one thing, I usually have to
> start my hard turn to port as if I were going to head into the (already
> occupied) third slip out from me. If one were driving a car doing this on
> dry land, one would crash into the motor at the back of that boat. I have
> to "slide" out to starboard during the turn to actually come in, hopefully,
> right in the middle of my slip without touching anything. Surprisingly,
> this works at least half the time, and over the past 1-1/2 years until
> November, the rest of the time involved a bump into a fender or the like, so
> no big deal--at worst a rubbing of the gel coat alongside the white rubber
> strip at the edge of the finger pier, or against the small turning wheel at
> the entrance to the port finger pier. But there should be a way to make
> this virtually 100% successful in all but emergency weather conditions and
> where you could even explain to a guest skipper what he or she needs to do
> as the best technique for this particular slip. My success rate had gone up
> significantly after the first few months of owning the boat when I started
> the practice of, if needed, momentarily engaging the engine in forward
> during the turn, with the motor linked to the tiller. Then, if I weren't
> going to complete the turn in time (i.e., coming in too far too starboard),
> I would change the tiller/linked motor steering direction bringing the
> tiller hard to port and momentarily hitting reverse to straighten the boat
> out before proceeding (hopefully) straight into the slip. This appears to
> have been hard on the engine, as you said in an earlier email.
>
> Roger, I really like your earlier suggestions, which I quote below:
>
> "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."
>
> There is not alot of room to do this at my slip, but it should be feasible.
> The finger pier at the port is only one foot wide, and their is a long boat
> with a motor protruding to port. Likewise there is a boat and protruding
> motor on the starboard side of my slip (mine being the last full one with a
> finger pier on both sides to make an enclosure), and which of course one
> would not want to "warp around" outside the edge of the slip and into that
> motor. The slip is 10 feet side. So what you say should work with a
> practiced technique, and I am going to try it. Using your single dock line
> idea in your article quoted below, this could also be the line that I fetch
> at the end of the port finger pier.
>
>
> David Keyes
>
>
>
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: "Roger Pihlaja" <cen09402@centurytel.net>
> To: "The Rhodes 22 mail list" <rhodes22-list@rhodes22.org>
> Sent: Sunday, January 12, 2003 5:53 AM
> Subject: [Rhodes22-list] Combination Of Sharp Turn To Port + Single
> HandedDocking
>
>
>> Thank you Steve & Mark! This was the article on single handed docking I
> was
>> refering to.
>>
>> So, David, what do you think? Wouldn't executing a sharp 90 deg turn to
>> port & throwing a single dock line over a piling or cleat on the end of
> your
>> finger pier be more graceful & less taxing on your equipment than what you
>> do now?
>>
>> By the way, if your marina is so tight & the wind blows like you say, how
> do
>> the boats around you get into their slips?
>>
>> Roger Pihlaja
>> S/V Dynamic Equilibrium
>>
>> ----- Original Message -----
>> From: "Steve Alm" <salm@mn.rr.com>
>> To: <rhodes22-list@rhodes22.org>
>> Sent: Friday, January 10, 2003 5:41 PM
>> Subject: Re: [Rhodes22-list] Single Handed Docking Article
>>
>>
>>> 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
>>>> _________________________________________________
>>>> Use Rhodes22-list@rhodes22.org, Help? www.rhodes22.org/list
>>>
>>> _________________________________________________
>>> Use Rhodes22-list@rhodes22.org, Help? www.rhodes22.org/list
>>>
>>
>> _________________________________________________
>> Use Rhodes22-list@rhodes22.org, Help? www.rhodes22.org/list
>
> _________________________________________________
> Use Rhodes22-list@rhodes22.org, Help? www.rhodes22.org/list