Seeking docking advise

[Joe A.]

I just bought an Ericson 26 and before I get the opportunity to meet other marina sailers, I want a better understanding of "Mediteranian style docking". At my marina, this involves backing your boat perpendicular to the dock between two posts. I've read up on the subject but what's available is a little weak. I understand prop walk and wind direction issues but still haven't wrapped my brain around the subject. Keeping the boat backing straight is my biggest area of concern. I used to sail my Thistle right up to my old dock which was no small feat given the sail area but the bigger boat and docking style presents a totally different set of rules.

UPDATE 4/6/10 I talked with the guy who sold me the boat. He used to run my marina. He said a good way to get into the slip is to hang a 'cheater' line on one or both pilings. I could pull up next to the pilings faceing windward and parrallel to the dock, throw the looped cheater line over my inside winch and use it as a spring line as I pivot backing (usually to port) into the slip. It makes sense and maintains good control but I wonder will I have to have to pry against my gunwale to do this? Any comments?

 

[MrBee]

Simply put, your asking about backing into a slip ?
My Irwin 10/4 can't seem to back straight to save it's life.
SLOW is good. I bump mine in and out of reverse as needed. If I try to go to fast, by the time the boat starts to turn I already need to be turning back the other way. I guess each boat is different. All i can say is take your time. If things are happening to fast in reverse, slip it into forward and give just enough throttle to stop and regroup.

I know I'm not much help but I'm the kind of person that just has to jump in with both feet and get a feel for things.
I can't back my boat straight for more than 10 feet without it starting to turn, but i have learned to use that to my advantage.

Bee

 

[seadaddler]

Help

I find it very hard explaining how to properly do docking so I will leave it to others hear.
What ever you do don't be a fraid to ask for help from your new dock neighbors,we have a newbie couple just got a 42 Hunter and never sailed and having trouble with docking and refuse help from other sailors even though they offer.
Good luck and enjoy your boat.
Nick

 

[KandD]

hmm I never thought of taking it out of gear to deal stop the prop-walk.... I don't have to Dock Med. Style, but I also avoid backing up like the plaque. (40' boat). When i do, I give it a lot of throttle to get the water flowing over the keel. If I try it too-slow I have 0 steerage.

 

[BobM]

Sounds like fun with a new boat. Remember that you need way on to steer. Most goose the throttle to get the boat moving then move the shifter to neutral. You can then drop it in forward to stop yourself. Go out into the open and practice backing up this way. Get a feel for what prop walk your boat has and use it to your advantage in maneuvering. Remember that when the rudder is hard over it will act as a brake, usually to your disadvantage.

I also suggest you look into some padding for your dock. Also, I suggest you search on this site, because this has been discussed. Many rig some lines to the posts to assist. The lines to the posts may need rollers too, if it is a tidal area.

 

[SamLust]

Forget backing straight. It's a boat, not a car. It backs curved. Learn it. Live with it. Use it. Find a secluded area with something stationary sticking up out of the water to use as a reference. Practice backing, learn what your boat will and won't do without a lot of expensive hardware and lookey loos around.

 

[rpell1@msn.com]

Practice, Practice, Practice..

I have a 30' Catalina with a 3 bladed prop that loves to "take walks". I back into my slip at any opportunity to learn how she moves under different wind and tide conditions.

My slip is in a north/south position and mMy boat performs best by back TURNING to the right, into the slip with the bow into the west wind. By using right rudder in reverse, she "walks" into the slip with an occassional "nudge" in forward to correct. The rudder stays set to the right until she is halfway in....then I can correct, in neutral.

If the wind is coming from the east, it becomes stern to the wind and back turning in with a more neutral rudder.

A south or north breeze makes life so much easier since my slip faces north/south. It is then a straight in maneuver.

Personally, I feel the key is learning how YOUR boat reacts. So, the more you practice the better you get. Like the amateur musician asked the NY Cab Driver...."Do you know how to get to Carnegie Hall?" The Driver replied, "Practice my boy, Practice". I hope this gives you a little insight.

Good Luck,

Ralph

 

[Ross]

All of our boats are docked stern to the pier. The wind can be a problem when it is across the slip. Bring the boat in close to the slip and turn hard to line the stern up with the space between the pilings. Go into reverse to stop the boat and start back. Now if the alignment is off you can put the rudder hard over and run full throttle forward for just a few seconds and back to neutral the stern will kick left or right depending on the why you set the rudder. Quickly go into reverse to gain some sternway. By this time someone should be able to reach a piling with a boat hook. But the trick is to not be afraid to use the horse power in short bursts to kick the stern around.
Practice in open water until you get a feel for it. You don't want to make any headway when you kick the stern around so your power bursts are short and intense and quickly countered with reverse.

 

[sailingdog]

Most boats suffer from propwalk while in gear, especially in reverse. The best way to deal with this is to learn how your boat handles. Take it out and practice going forward and reverse in it, using a mooring ball or something similar in place of the dock.

Most boats will do far better if you use the throttle in bursts, and then drop it back into neutral. This will give you far better control on most boats than trying to use the throttle at a low speed. Give the throttle a hard shot in reverse to get the boat moving backwards and then drop it into neutral—steer while the boat is moving in reverse—repeat.

If you do practice enough, you'll eventually get the hang of kicking the rudder over slightly to compensate for the prop walk as you give the prop a burst of reverse and kick it back into neutral.

Learning to use spring lines and such will also help a lot.

 

[cephius (Dave)]

Practice

I am always taking new sailors out to give them more boat handling experience. Practice out in the open water. Once you are comfortable backing, leaning how much speed and which way to turn, then move on to maneuvering against a reference. Use a racing buoy or drop a weighted fender. The idea here is to approach from a specific direction and stop at a specific distance from your mark. This will increase your skills and confidence.

The next step is to do touch-and-gos, just like pilots in training. Find a public dock with more room then your normal slip. Practice backing down to it over and over again. New sailors never seem to want to take the time to build skills before they are needed. One slip approach per sail is too slow a learning curve.

Anybody can learn to sail in about 10 minutes. Boat handling skills take longer to learn.

After watching hands moving boats in a charter harbor I realized that most use more throttle than the average owner. They know that water moving across the rudder makes the boat more maneuverable when backing. I was taught that you must keep your speed down because you never know when you might have a mechanical failure. Their successful boat handling in tight quarters seems to disregard this safety axiom.

 

[PrincessoftheLake]

This is all great advice. When we went from our Hunter 34 to the Hunter 40.5 Captain Grumpy had to learn docking all over again. The conditions that are still the most challenging are getting out of the slip when there is a cross wind. What happens is that sometimes by the time we get the stern out into the fairway between the docks the wind pushes us one or the other. Grumpy is getting better all the time at this but we have wondered for a long time is there a way to make this easier on ourselves by using spring lines? Part of the reason we find it challenging is that there is a 40ft Tiara with a 14 ft plus beam and big swim platoform that we share dock space with. With a width of a little over 30' I always get a little nervous. Coming back to the dock in crosswinds has become less of an issue because what we do now is Grumpy gets the bow close in and I step off with the bowline which I quickly cleat short which then allows him to hit reverse which walks the stern right over. By the time I walk back to the stern he can toss me the stern line and we are set. Always impresses the dock rats. Anyway, any thoughts on using spring lines would be much appreciated.

POTL

 

[Stu Jackson]

POTL, you wrote: Anyway, any thoughts on using spring lines would be much appreciated.

I have written several spring line replies. Do a search on "spring line", using my name for author, find exact phrase, there are a few recent ones that all have details and references.

 

[Ron20324]

I believe you would find the "Mediteranian style docking" to be dropping an anchor off the bow, backing up to a piling-less dock (or quay, in the Med), and tying the stern to the dock. The anchor holds your stern off the dock.

A cross-wind docking can be tough. As said, practice is the key. I find in such a case, come across the front of the slip INTO the wind and stop the boat. With a little reverse, the wind will start to bring the bow around, the stern towrad the slip. It is the practice that will teach you how much quick throttle to use, and you'd use the prop walk to scoot the stern over. If you do not get in the slip and the bow is now beyond being straight into the slip, don't hesitate to go forward and out of the slip and start again. I have a 32, and just chartered a 40 in the BVI. I was concerned with docking, but just knowing the mechanics of the process was the saving grace.

 

[MrBee]

Maybe I should edit my earlier response.... When I suggested going slow. I didn't mean to be light on the throttle. I use quick burst of the throttle in reverse to get it going then, back to neutral or idle speed till I see what I need to do next. As others have said, you have to get the water moving past the rudder. Practice, practice....

 

[Shooter II]

I've found that lines running parallel to the slip, especially on the windward side, are the best aid. When backing in, get that windward piling and grab that line that runs along the windward side of the slip. You can actually leave the boat in neutral and pull your way in.
I've seen people pull up across their slip, grab the piling and lines and push and pull on the pilings and lines and turn the boat pull it in.
I've managed to back the boat in with the engine and stop it by throwing it in forward and revving.
Can be done. Make sure you have lines running along both sides of the slip. Really helps.

 

[Steve Dion]

Throttle control is one of the keys to backing. You need enough speed to have rudder control while not going so fast that you are going to ram the dock, pier and neighboring boats.

My best advise is to have some hands on the dock and practice. Even once you "think" you have this mastered, the tide/wide will bust your confidence! Now that is very reassuring, but it really is the fact.

 

[Mike G.]

Go out into the open and practice backing up this way.

Bob: Last year I did exactly that - Went out and practiced. I was in the mooring field for quite some time and was really getting the hang of it. After the first 15 minutes or so of practicing, the dock hands came out in the launch to give me a hand. They thought that I was stuck in reverse!!!!

 

[druid]

Lots of good advice here:
- Remember the boat steers (more or less!) straight when moving in neutral, which is why you do the bursts-and-glide thing.
- GET TO KNOW YOUR BOAT. Propwalk can be a Good Thing if you know how the boat reacts.
- on SOME boats, if you're going backwards in neutral and you need to move the stern over, you can spin the wheel hard-over and give it a kick in fwd. Depending on the boat, this can move the stern while barely slowing the backward progress.

Good luck!
druid

 

[jeromeddd]

have some fun with it..

take two empty milk jugs and some string, and some sort of weight [ i used large 1in. plain nuts i got from TSC.] set both jugs in a secluded place the same width as your dock and have some fun backing though them in both directions.. when you mastered the jugs by doing figure eight though them and not hitting them your ready for lesson number two.. the captain Ron paraell docking....lol... just enjoy the backing in figure eights thew the jugs... sounds easy but try it.. happy sailing...

 

[Ken Honeycutt]

Re: have some fun with it..

After every spring launch I have to go out and practice for a few hours around the mooring field to get the hang of handling in varying conditions again. One of the drawbacks to sailing in the North is that you lose some of those skills over the long winter (at least I do).