No bow thruster. I have a friend with them and when he comes in sometimes we yell "cheater" just to get is goat![Reply to post #12.]
Smokey, that's a great rule, but it can't always be followed. I did fine with a tough setup doing it Charles's way every time (even with skilled crew).
Do you have bow thrusters?
I do the same thing except my spring line is permanently affixed to the outer port piling. As I come in I hook it's eye and slip it over the port winch.I dock on a finger dock with port to and have a spring line set up and tied to a midship cleat at the right length which I can throw over a post on the end of the dock as I come in. I use the engine to slow the boat once the spring is on, but allow the spring to go taught. Once the spring is tight I then put the boat back in slow ahead with the tiller to port, which will drive the boat sideways to the dock, if it's real blowy I may have to add a little more revs, but it has always worked fine. My boat has a tiller, and I've made a short strop to hold the tiller over so I can let go of the tiller, with the engine still in forward drive, whilst I go about setting all the other lines. I also use this method to hold the boat when I'm getting ready to depart, makes the process very stress free - I can take off all the lines except the spring, then put it in reverse, and pull the spring off of the dock post as I leave.
Certainly a long, long list of risks in boating. My job is to mitigate them. Since I solo most all the time were it left to securing a line before stepping on or off the boat, I would never leave or return.I have a rule on my boat - nobody, I mean nobody - jumps from the boat to the dock or the dock to the boat until at least one line is secured and the boat is stopped! Period! If I can't get the boat in a position to secure at least one line then I back out and try again. There are just too many risks when jumping off a boat for you and/or your crew. What happens if you slip and miss, spring an ankle, injure a joint, or miss and fall in? (Ask me how I know that one) This is especially compounded if your boat has no lines secured and keeps moving or blows down on you if you are in the drink between the boat and dock? Just too many variables and too many risks. I'd try and figure a way to get at least one line secured and the boat stopped before I "step" off the boat! Now my boat has a high freeboard so that is a consideration for me and may not be a problem for you but its your boat (and life) and your choice.
Just to reply - my deck height is almost flush with the dock height. So in reality it's more like stepping off the boat onto the dock in my case. The cleats on the dock are on the dock itself, there are no pilings on the dock. So short of hooking a cleat with a looped line as I come in, there's just no way to single-handedly dock the boat without leaving to secure a line. I'm not saying I come flying in and rely on brute strength in my arms to jump off and muscle it to a stop. I'm probably one of the slower people that actually do dock, for those reasons. On a perfect day, I will have the boat completely stopped as I settle into the slip, but there are days where I do have a little momentum and then it's just a straight tug backwards on the bow line to hold it from bumping the dock, Then the stern line gets cleated off, then I walk up and tie the bow line. I didn't mean to imply that I'm making big flying leaps to docks and then strong-arming the boat to a stop. But in my situation, it's the only way I can do it while solo.I have a rule on my boat - nobody, I mean nobody - jumps from the boat to the dock or the dock to the boat until at least one line is secured and the boat is stopped! Period! If I can't get the boat in a position to secure at least one line then I back out and try again.
Thanks Jackdaw. Good advice as always.Docking, in particular single handed dockings, are like snowflakes. No two alike.
The best advice anyone one can give to to be totally aware of your surrounding; wind, current, waves, other boats.
A lot of people throw out the old 'don't dock any faster than your willing to hit' line but I don't buy that. Know how your boat slows and stops when given reverse, and trust in that. If you need to come in faster to keep way on then slow at the very end, do that. There is nothing worse than getting caught going slow and loosing steerage while solo docking. You're hosed. Maintain way at all cost.
When my teenage son and I took a charter certification class several years ago, the first day was all harbor work. Each student had to back out of the slip move around in the harbor, and dock again. My son volunteered to be the first one at the helm. After maneuvering around the harbor, he brought her back into the slip. I thought he was coming in a bit fast, but I figured the trainer would not want me to comment. He did bring it in "hot", and the trainer was calling for more reverse power. I knew he was not going to slow up in time. I kept thinking that the big concrete dock was going to leave quite a mark on the Catalina 36 we were training on.The other thing I did which really saved my sanity while I was learning to dock, which is always solo BTW, even then I have helpers, is to install a bridle setup. Picture a line running from the outer port piling to the dock piling/cleat. Then another run the same way on the starboard side. Then a horizontal fender at the point you want your bow to stop, about level with the bow eye. Tie the lines to the fender eyes so it doesn't move. You end up with a V shaped bridle with the fender at the point of the V. If I lose steerage or the wind tries to blow me into the next slip, the v shaped bridle keeps me centered. The lines have enough stretch for the spring line to work but they keep me off my neighbors.
and that's how I do it also- in many many dockings, from the Mexican border, around to Annapolis, Maryland, ,and return. Except I DON'T jump.. Have gotten too old to JUMPI set up my dock lines up on the boat before entering the marina, A stern line and a spring line. I hang the free end of the lines on the side of the lifeline gate. I then pull into the slip very slowly when the gate reaches the end of the dock, I quickly exit the cockpit grab the lines on my through the gate and jump onto the pier holding both lines. I cleat the stern line to stop all forward momentum and then use the spring line to keep the boat close to the dock so that it doesn't drift into my neighbor. I have been single handing for years and I have never had a mishap using this method. It sounds like it would require a sprint but it really doesn't require a rush it just requires you to move when the gate reaches the end of the dock.