Sailed into my slip

PotomacDaysailer

PotomacDaysailer

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Jun 14, 2010
307
Seafarer 29 Oologah, OK
My engine wouldn't start after a day on the lake yesterday. Coming in I furled the genoa and reefed the main to reduce speed as much as possible (being afraid that I wouldn't bleed off enough speed by letting fly the sheets if I came in too hot). So under reefed main alone I was beating up towards the dock, making a couple dozen yards per tack with leeway about equal to forward way. On the final tack I came up with the slip on my starboard bow, let go the mainsheet and came starboard 4 points and sailed in. At the last second I sheeted the main back in so the boom wouldn't hit the next boat over (actually I don't think it would have but I was nervous) then quickly dropped it and tied the dock lines.
upload_2018-8-31_22-19-52.png

Added in edit: actually now that I look at it the boom would have overlapped my starboard side neighbor by about 3 feet so would have hit his port side shrouds.
 
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jssailem

jssailem

SBO Weather and Forecasting Forum Jim & John
Oct 22, 2014
24,516
CAL 35 Cruiser #21 moored EVERETT WA
Nice job. Good to know you adapted and over came.
 
31seahorse

31seahorse

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Aug 2, 2005
1,155
Pearson 33-2 & Typhoon 18 Seneca Lake
:thumbup: Really good job of seamanship! However, you did not mention how you seemed to bounce off the end of one finger pier or how you flew the drone at the same time to get those fantastic views from above. Inquiring minds want to know.
 
Roadking Larry

Roadking Larry

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Mar 30, 2013
700
Allied Seawind MK II 32' Oologah Lake, Oklahoma
Good job! The one time I tried to do that after an engine failure I got to about where your track starts and the wind completely died on me.
 
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All U Get

All U Get

.
Oct 2, 2008
3,811
Pearson/ 530 Strafford, NH
31seahorse said:
:thumbup: Really good job of seamanship! However, you did not mention how you seemed to bounce off the end of one finger pier or how you flew the drone at the same time to get those fantastic views from above. Inquiring minds want to know.
Click to expand
Notice different length lines all equal to 500 feet except the last was only 474.33 feet.:liar:
 
PotomacDaysailer

PotomacDaysailer

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Jun 14, 2010
307
Seafarer 29 Oologah, OK
The track is very approximate, drawn on Google Maps from memory using the distance measure tool, hence the 500' hash marks.
RoadKing Larry, how did you get in after the wind died?
 
jssailem

jssailem

SBO Weather and Forecasting Forum Jim & John
Oct 22, 2014
24,516
CAL 35 Cruiser #21 moored EVERETT WA
It was not working. Had to rely on his primary source of power on a sailboat...
 
Roadking Larry

Roadking Larry

.
Mar 30, 2013
700
Allied Seawind MK II 32' Oologah Lake, Oklahoma
PotomacDaysailer said:
The track is very approximate, drawn on Google Maps from memory using the distance measure tool, hence the 500' hash marks.
RoadKing Larry, how did you get in after the wind died?
Click to expand
After an hour or so of hoping the wind would pick up, attempting to use my kayak paddle and pretty well exhausting my repertoire of foul language I eventually swallowed my pride and let someone come out with a RIB and push me into my slip.
The following week I rebuilt the carb on my Atomic 4 and have been trouble free ever since.
 
Claude L.-Auger

Claude L.-Auger

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Dec 14, 2003
1,450
Hunter 34 Lake of Two Mountains, QC, Can
Great job ! I sail solo and quite often practice coming in my slip under sail alone. I find that it is easier to control my arrival speed by dropping the main and sailing in under jib alone. I can furl as needed when needed and if I time it right, I just ease into the slip slowly with almost no jib. And it's a tight squeeze as we have only 25 feet between our finger piers and my neighbor and me take up more than 23' forcing either one of us to remove the fenders to avoid interlocking. Again great job !
 
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Brian D

Brian D

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Feb 17, 2006
5,274
Lancer 27PS MCB Camp Pendleton KF6BL
Once I couldn't get my motor started. Finally realized in my haste I forgot to deactivate the kill switch. Silly me. And another time forgot the take the motor out of gear. Again, silly me.

B-Z on docking under sail.
 
M

Mickstr

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Jun 1, 2007
272
O'Day 322 Mt.Sinai
I'm thinking I should practice picking up my mooring under sail in case I need to some day (home or on the road)... Good job.
 
Meriachee

Meriachee

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Aug 1, 2011
3,972
Catalina 270 255 Wabamun. Welcome to the marina
Mickstr said:
I'm thinking I should practice picking up my mooring under sail in case I need to some day (home or on the road)... Good job.
Click to expand
We do it all the time, and it's actually no harder than sailing off the mooring. Or it's just lazy. :)
 
genec

genec

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Dec 30, 2010
188
Pacific Seacraft Orion27 HP: San Diego, M: Anacortes
Man I was just thinking about how tough that might be where I am now... I sailed into my slip a few times in San Diego, and indeed it was quite empowering... but my slip up here in the PNW is surrounded by a high wall of pilings and is below the adjacent land level... all yielding a well shielded slip during poor weather... but also a slip that is accessible only through a maze of narrow passes.

marina_entry.JPG

(Yes, that is a tall wall, all around the marina)

This might be more "doable" than I think, as the breeze generally comes from the bottom right of this pic (SW). But making it through that gate and then making the turn... that's gonna be tough.

I agree with using the foresail... mine is on a furler and being able to "drop sail" in a moment is a nice feature.

It is worth practicing!!! As someone said, it is very empowering!
 
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