Pole Dancing

[Kermit]

There are very few things in my sailing life that I feel are truly share-worthy. But finally here's something I hope will be of value to someone who hasn't realized it's available to all H260 and 26 sailors. It took me 3 years to realize the mast crutch slot at the transom is the perfect place to keep my dock pole. Until a year ago it stayed in the cabin always in the way and never accessible. Yesterday I truly found out the value of keeping it handy.

I was able to launch my boat yesterday after pulling it for Hurricane Irma. A club member helped me launch and then went on with the rest of his business. So I was totally on my own at that point. There was absolutely no wind and the water was smooth as glass. As I was approaching the dock at very slow speed, a line got caught in the prop. Fortunately I was going incredibly slow. However, I still had momentum and realized I was going to hit one or two boats if I didn't do something quickly. I was able to stay calm and remembered that my dock pole was right behind me. I calmly reached for it, extended it, walked to the bow and was able to stop my boat using the pole on another boat's stern rail. That would not have been possible if I had kept the pole in the cabin. I was then able to clear the fouled prop and restart the motor. Docking went well with no more excitement.

Most of y'all probably already keep your docking tools handy. I'm posting this just in case someone else hasn't realized how handy the mast crutch/dock pole holder really is.

Oh, here's a thought. Y'all post other obvious things that I more than likely haven't thought about!

 

[justsomeguy]

"Pole dancing".

 

[Kermit]

"Pole dancing".
View attachment 140999

That's cool. And I was wearing red socks at the time!

 

[Crazy Dave Condon]

good place for a gigging fork

 

[JRT]

Talk about click bait...

Mine is in the cabin also but comes out and rest above the hand rails along the top of the cabin. Docking is always stressful for me also as we are in a slip that is between 2 boats. The Catalina 25 at the end that we pass first hasn't moved in the time we have been at the marina and doesn't look like it has been cleaned in years. However the boat in front of us is in an excellent position for us to T-bone her Port side dead center with our bow if we don't stop. Needless to say I'm always pretty quick on the stern line.

 

[Kermit]

good place for a gigging fork

I wish @Phil Herring would add a "Oh snap I can't believe he said that" button.

 

[Kermit]

Talk about click bait...

Mine is in the cabin also but comes out and rest above the hand rails along the top of the cabin. Docking is always stressful for me also as we are in a slip that is between 2 boats. The Catalina 25 at the end that we pass first hasn't moved in the time we have been at the marina and doesn't look like it has been cleaned in years. However the boat in front of us is in an excellent position for us to T-bone her Port side dead center with our bow if we don't stop. Needless to say I'm always pretty quick on the stern line.

I park stern in. I've told my dock neighbors it is there in case they need it for an emergency. One of the advantages of a sailing club is the familyness of it. (Look it up. I'm pretty sure familyness is in the dictionary somewhere.)

 

[Justin_NSA]

Family-Ness was a British cartoon in the 80's about the adventures of a family of Loch Ness Monsters
Trivia for the day!

 

[JRT]

Stern in is nice for leaving the next time we go out for sure and we tried that for awhile but went back to bow in when we had motor and current problems. At first I really didn't like my slip but with practice I'm getting comfortable. We really like have a full size dock along the starboard side vs the narrow finger piers.

 

[justsomeguy]

Talk about click bait...

Ayup.

 

[Ron20324]

.... Y'all post other obvious things that I more than likely haven't thought about!

From "Jaws" : "We're gonna need a bigger forum "

 

[rgranger]

I park stern in. ...

Oh man.... that is just too easy.... I'll leave that alone.

 

[jssailem]

Good idea rgranger. The robot is always watching. And for some reason lacks a sense of humor.
I agree with you, that was a "big opening" to many frivolous responses...

 

[Meriachee]

familyness. Nah, not in the same thread as poles. I'll leave that one alone.

 

[Justin_NSA]

familyness. Nah, not in the same thread as poles. I'll leave that one alone.

and "backing in"

 

[Gene Neill]

MMMMM, yeah ... that's it ... work it, baby ... work it!!

 

[Brian S]

I thought this was going to be a post about the birth control pole in the v-berth...

 

[Meriachee]

It's never been called that. Many things, yes, but never that.

 

[WayneH]

We back into our slip because we like to sit out in the cockpit after dinner and talk with the neighbors as they go by. Plus that puts the covered up dodger to the west to block the setting sun.

To stay on topic: We always put the two boat hooks alongside the handrails. One on each side and even with the the mast so whichever side is going to crash into something, we've got a pole. But I hate those flimsy collapsible poles. So when one of the old ones died during a lock through, I pulled the hook off the end. Went to the big box hardware store and bought a 10 foot long closet rod. Drilled a hole into one end to insert the old hook. Added a couple of wraps of baling twine to make handholds and varnished the hole thing. Now when the Admiral pushes off, she uses the solid pole. And laughs.

 

[Kermit]

We back into our slip because we like to sit out in the cockpit after dinner and talk with the neighbors as they go by. Plus that puts the covered up dodger to the west to block the setting sun.

To stay on topic: We always put the two boat hooks alongside the handrails. One on each side and even with the the mast so whichever side is going to crash into something, we've got a pole. But I hate those flimsy collapsible poles. So when one of the old ones died during a lock through, I pulled the hook off the end. Went to the big box hardware store and bought a 10 foot long closet rod. Drilled a hole into one end to insert the old hook. Added a couple of wraps of baling twine to make handholds and varnished the hole thing. Now when the Admiral pushes off, she uses the solid pole. And laughs.

I'd love to see pictures. Especially of how you secure them to your boat. Or at least tell us how you do it. Thanks!