My solution for propwalk when backing out

[danstanford]

I am in a new slip this year which is meant for a 25' boat and my boat is 33' and my neighbour is a 30'er. Being on the starboard side of the slip and little room (less than 4') between the boats, I have struggled a bit with prop walk to port as I go to back out.

The last 3 times I have just run my stern dock line around the cleat and back so I am holding the bitter end. I give her a good shot of reverse while preventing her from moving to port with the dock line then up into neutral allowing her to back out straight while I slip the stern line. She has enough way on to be steered out into the fairway cutting a nice arc till I engage a bit for forward to hasten the turn since I cannot fit crossways in the fairway.
We will see what happens with a non-prevailing east wind which will push the bow down but I see my neighbours put someone on the bow to push them off as they swing toward our pushpit in the prevailing west cross wind. Thinking I will use a longer line in that case and use it to swing our stern around up into the wind if need be as we come out.
Anyway, this works really well for me and it might help you too!

Dan

 

[jeepbluetj]

I use a 60' spring line to do exactly what you describe, but all the way out. Wind and prop walk really want to swing my stern to port. So a line from the boat, around a cleat, then back to the boat lets me control backing with the line - not the rudder. Then just pull it in from around the cleat back to the boat. (Small floating poly line)

Works a treat - easy to do singlehanded too.

 

[jssailem]

Small floating poly line

There is a key thought. Non floating 60 ft presents an opportunity to a hungry prop....

 

[Justin_NSA]

I was thinking "prop" too, but a line that floats may be safe. Or maybe put it in neutral while retreiving the line?

 

[Scott B]

There is a key thought. Non floating 60 ft presents an opportunity to a hungry prop....

Even floating line, like that used for the dinghy, will be sucked down with the cavitation while backing down, although probably more than used for backing out of a slip...... ask me how I know this......

 

[jssailem]

Scott. I have learned some questions are better not asked... Unless there are a few Molson Canadian's on the table...

 

[capta]

If backing out is such a problem, why not back in and go out bow first?

 

[Parsons]

I think that everyone has similar problems in backing - they just don't go back straight. My new MaxProp helps, but I still get crosswise on occasion. I'll try your long line from my center cleat to the helm station next time I'm single-handing. As far as Capta's question, "why not back in?", some don't have the luxury of facing seawall or dock, but have a sloping bottom in the slip leading up to rip-rap on the shore. I think the front of some of our slips is a good couple of meters (!) shallower than the fairway, and I'm concerned for the prop.

 

[Roland5048]

I used to back into my old slip but, like Parsons, the inside end of my current slip is shallower than the outside end. At low tide, if I backed in, the rudder would be driven into the mud. I would prefer to back in if that was feasible. Does make getting out a lot easier.

 

[jeepbluetj]

I've used a long spring line like I describe for years. It never gets near the prop. Bitter end cleated to the boat mid cockpit, then around a cleat, loose end in my hand. the coil of line is on my boat.

When I'm backing, it's in the air (force to turn the boat). I generally go out pretty gently - upwind slip, just gotta get moving.

Turn the boat up the fairway with pressure on the line, pop into neutral, then fwd and retrieve line. I'd guess the line never gets within 10 ft of the prop. In fwd, it starts to trail off behind during the retrieve.

I _can_ just hammer it in reverse initially and get steerage, but it's definitely not as controlled or as accurate as using a long spring line. And if anything goes wrong, I can actually pull myself back up to the slip (done it once when the engine died on the way out). Making matters worse is the gearing in my boat is 2:1 in reverse and 1:1 in forward - so 'hammer it' in reverse isn't as much thrust as anything I can get in forward.

I'd back in (as it'd be pretty easy to do) but the marina doesn't allow stern-in docking.

 

[Biobob Catalina 27]

Just curious, why does the marina not allow stern In?
Bob

 

[lehighsail]

A while ago I had the problem of having to back my H33 with a 11.5 ft. beam into a 12 ft. wide slip with no finger docks and only one piling that ends up about 3 ft forward of my center cleats on each side. The slip is east-west and there is always either a north or south wind. What I do is tie a 50 ft. line to the bow cleat on the windward side, stop the forward motion of the boat with the bow about 30º to windward, back in using prop walk and rudder, and as I pass the piling I throw the bow cleat line around the piling and continue to back in using the bow cleat line to keep the bow centered in the slip. Even with a stiff wind, not much force is needed to keep the bow centered but takes some practice to let the line slip to allow the boat to move backwards without pivoting on the piling. All this, of course, is much easier when there is no audience.

 

[Charlie Jones s/v Tehani]

Spring lines have been very handy for decades!! Used to crew on a 50 foot, 50,000 schooner and we used them often. Mortals can't stop or move a boat that size by hand

 

[jeepbluetj]

Just curious, why does the marina not allow stern In?
Bob

No idea at all. My marina is a single slip for each boat - so maybe it's a history of folks hitting the fingers? Or it just looks better or something. They just don't allow backing in.

 

[njlarry]

For a great how to video on spring lines, search you tube "stress free sailing ". Most of the line stays on deck, the free end never comes near the prop, slick.

 

[jssailem]

Larry, I have been using that method of docking, think he calls it the 'Giles' for about a year. Best single handed method out there. So far batting 100% smoothe and safe landings in all kinds of weather.

 

[Benny17441]

I seen a guy in Key West pull out a 40' Morgan at full throttle until a spring line tied to a stern cleat and a dock pylon stretched to its max and caused the boat to rotate on the cleat and end up with bow pointing into the outgoing fairway. A dock hand released the line from the pylon and was quickly retrieved aboard. I think the fairway was about 45' wide. What a driver!!!!!

 

[capta]

have a sloping bottom in the slip leading up to rip-rap on the shore.

You know, I did not know that, therefore it did not occur to me. In over 50 years of messin about on boats, all over the world, I have never seen a slip I couldn't back into because there was way less water at the inside end, permanently.
I have however, had slips where I've used the boat's engine, or in extreme situations, asked a friend with a TSMY to run his engines in gear for an hour or two in my slip, to push some mud or silt out of the slip.

 

[DaveJ]

This year I can back into my slip, the water level on Lake Ontario is extremely high. But I sounded the area first, as the season progresses I will be bow in. As mentioned above, there isn't enough water at the 'inside' end of the slip.
But I also notice that I don't have the privacy with the stern in.
Cheers

 

[Parsons]

For a great how to video on spring lines, search you tube "stress free sailing ". Most of the line stays on deck, the free end never comes near the prop, slick.

At your suggestion, I looked up Duncan Wells' video of using a departing line, and tried it yesterday single-handing. Actually, it's not a spring line, more of a long doubled bow-line but controlled from the cockpit. I had a 12 knot cross-breeze directly into the dock, so I would have issues not scraping the entire length on departure. I used an old halyard approximately 100 ft to go from a windward primary winch, around a mooring pole at mid-ships, then around the front of a bow cleat, and back over the cabin top to a cabin top winch. Most of the line was in the cockpit from the front. I removed the leeward mooring lines, then used the primary to winch myself against the wind into the center of the slip, kind of balanced on the single line fore and aft. I removed the windward mooring lines. I put her in reverse, released the stern line from the primary, and quickly pulled the loose line in from the front cleat. By the time I was halfway out, I had recovered all the line, and could return to the helm for the turns and maneuvering. It worked well, and is a good technique for cross-winds. Now if only there was a smooth way to arrive with a cross-wind!