Hi Gail. We leave some of our lines at the slip as a convenience. Much easier to come back in and secure the spring lines at their fixed length. We only leave a couple behind but also store a complete set with spares on board.
Sailing Pet Peeves...can we keep out of the War Room?
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Ditto, we have extra dock lines on the boat (pump out, fuel, dock n dine) but we leave ours on the dock set exactly as we like them so as not to have to resnug everything every time. Personal preference probably....... I think some people usually go out with a crowd and the crew helps slow boat with lines...... we don't have, and it works very well. For the most part, I think people around us leave docklines at slip. One way I know that is the amount of lines I have to move out of the walkway!!!
Doesn't work that well single handling. I carry extra lines in case they are needed.
But for normal day sails i release the lines from the boat and pick them back up with a boat hook.
But for normal day sails i release the lines from the boat and pick them back up with a boat hook.
Ach, buy a couple of lines and go anywhere.
Why anybody takes their own dock lines with them when they are going elsewhere is beyond me.
I really worry about empty slips with no dock lines.
Buy two or three or four lines twice the length of your boat and go anywhere.
Really.
Easy.
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I leave my dock lines behind as well. They're tied up well and neatly, at the length I want to keep my boat in place and at the right tension. I have extra dock lines on board so I can tie up anywhere I go. They're not expensive, so why not?
I have 3 very long, very large, very soft braided dock lines I use for travelling. I could tie up my 34 footer with just one of them most times, including a spring line to the mid cleat.
Dock lines stay at my home dock, all set up at the right length. 3-strand for the permanent lines, and I splice the eyes just the right size for the closed-center cleats (yuch) so they don't pop off.
i donot dock as a regular thing-- my lines always go with me.
big pet peeve-- when i am sailing on someone else's boat and that individual cannot manage to sail out of storms, when the storms only stretch 30 miles to sea...... the magenta line isnt god.
gave me a lot of experience in short time, but is a tad stressfull to always be inside a t-boomer. sailing is spozed to be fun and without the constant lightning is more so.
the damn things do not stretch all the way out to sea--only a few miles and close to shore at that-- is easy to sail away from the things and have clear skies and good wind.
big pet peeve-- when i am sailing on someone else's boat and that individual cannot manage to sail out of storms, when the storms only stretch 30 miles to sea...... the magenta line isnt god.
gave me a lot of experience in short time, but is a tad stressfull to always be inside a t-boomer. sailing is spozed to be fun and without the constant lightning is more so.
the damn things do not stretch all the way out to sea--only a few miles and close to shore at that-- is easy to sail away from the things and have clear skies and good wind.
I used to think poorly of water gnats, too. But not too poorly, as one of my best friends has a pair. Well... He persuaded me to join him for a day of banging around the lake, just the two of us, on his jet skis. I gotta tell ya: It was a lot of fun.
But we have a small (18') powerboat, as well as Abracadabra, so I was already corrupted, anyway
Like somebody else said: Sailors do stupid and inconsiderate stuff, too, its just that there are fewer of us and we screw up at slower speeds
Jim
Except at the end of the season when I haul out, I always leave my bow and stern line on the dock as it makes it much easier to come in with them already tied up and adjusted to the correct length, just loop onto cleat and the boat is not going anywhere. Most of the time I also leave the spring lines too, unless I know I will be tieing up to another dock somewhere while I'm away from the dock. I always have at least 2 or 3 spare dock lines onboard, even without bringing the spring lines so if I do need a quick tie up it isn't a problem...Gail R said:
So the simple answer to your question is that it makes it quicker and easier to cast off, and tie up when you leave the lines on the dock. If you are coming into the dock single or short handed, or if the wind is really blowing, it makes a huge difference.
In our marina I believe I am the only sailor who picks up the dock lines every time I leave the slip. It is just the way I was trained. It is much easier to leave the lines tied at the slip. It's also easier to leave the fenders over the side. I stow those each time I go out too.
"A place for everything and everything in it's place." was drilled into me from the beginning.
My wife has another term for it
"A place for everything and everything in it's place." was drilled into me from the beginning.
My wife has another term for it
dave--does she call ye anal???isnt a bad thing--i wish i were more so..LOL
sometimes my pet peeve is with desk jockeys who consider selves sailors who never made a passage yet have all to say about the subject.....
sometimes my pet peeve is with desk jockeys who consider selves sailors who never made a passage yet have all to say about the subject.....
I've noticed that country clubs and sailing clubs tend to have some similarities in that there always seems to be something to complain about. Today it's someone else, tomorrow it's me, the next day it's you. I guess that's a pet peeve of mine.
Thanks Indysailor.Been there, done that. "You who are without guilt cast the first stone" Howver as I mentioned, Ya can't fix stupid. A little training and knowledge go a long way, not to mention common sense and courtesy. Fair Winds and Full Sails....
Peeved:
People who let fuel or oil get in to water. Every spring there is an oil slick coming down the canal where I keep my boat from the marina at the up stream end.
People, a person in this case, who run there boat on to the beach, creating a large wake. There was this seriously retarded women in a 30ish' flybridge that punched it on to a small beach wrecking all the boats who had pulled up there.
People who give you a hard time for doing what they consider dangerous or wreckless, examples; I was scuba diving in an area of high traffic (it is the only area w/ good visibility), this guy waits for me to surface w/ boat running to tell me it's a stupid idea. I kayak during the winter months. This guy in a 12' boat, scowling at me, asks me what I'd do if I rolled. I told him "swim". And my favorite; I had a very old man get out of his car at a stoplight to tell me I should not be riding a bike w/ no reflectors. As if these strangers were concerned for my safety. What's a legal fix for being an a$$hole?
People who let fuel or oil get in to water. Every spring there is an oil slick coming down the canal where I keep my boat from the marina at the up stream end.
People, a person in this case, who run there boat on to the beach, creating a large wake. There was this seriously retarded women in a 30ish' flybridge that punched it on to a small beach wrecking all the boats who had pulled up there.
People who give you a hard time for doing what they consider dangerous or wreckless, examples; I was scuba diving in an area of high traffic (it is the only area w/ good visibility), this guy waits for me to surface w/ boat running to tell me it's a stupid idea. I kayak during the winter months. This guy in a 12' boat, scowling at me, asks me what I'd do if I rolled. I told him "swim". And my favorite; I had a very old man get out of his car at a stoplight to tell me I should not be riding a bike w/ no reflectors. As if these strangers were concerned for my safety. What's a legal fix for being an a$$hole?
Guess you would hate my place since we have to deal with that at least once a week. More on busy weekends when the fuel dock attendants are busy and boaters are monitoring their own fill-ups.Solace of Freedom said:
We are in a 600+ slip marina and there are times when the entire place is covered with a fuel slick. Drives me insane.
Wow, really? That still mkes no sense to me (and judging from the replies, I'm soooo in the minority here!)
When coming in to a dock, we generally come in pretty slow, but we want the bow and stern/spring lines attached to the boat cleats with the other ends of those lines in our hands so we can control any leftover momentum when we reach the dock. We step off the boat get one wrap on the dock cleats till the boat has come to a full and complete stop, then tie everything off. This has worked pretty slick for 15 years. You can't do that if you don't have the lines attached to the boat coming in.
But all that really matters is that whatever system you use works for you. Wouldn't be the first time I've been accused of doing something backwards!
I think your biggest answer is we instead of single handed.Gail R said:Wow, really? That still mkes no sense to me (and judging from the replies, I'm soooo in the minority here!)
When coming in to a dock, we generally come in pretty slow, but we want the bow and stern/spring lines attached to the boat cleats with the other ends of those lines in our hands so we can control any leftover momentum when we reach the dock. We step off the boat get one wrap on the dock cleats till the boat has come to a full and complete stop, then tie everything off. This has worked pretty slick for 15 years. You can't do that if you don't have the lines attached to the boat coming in.
But all that really matters is that whatever system you use works for you. Wouldn't be the first time I've been accused of doing something backwards!
The way you do it is not uncommon when you have crew onboard to help, and with crew it is actually easier to control coming into the dock your way. However when trying to come in either single handed, or with only your girlfriend to help, it doesn't work as well.Wow, really? That still mkes no sense to me (and judging from the replies, I'm soooo in the minority here!)
When coming in to a dock, we generally come in pretty slow, but we want the bow and stern/spring lines attached to the boat cleats with the other ends of those lines in our hands so we can control any leftover momentum when we reach the dock. We step off the boat get one wrap on the dock cleats till the boat has come to a full and complete stop, then tie everything off. This has worked pretty slick for 15 years. You can't do that if you don't have the lines attached to the boat coming in.
But all that really matters is that whatever system you use works for you. Wouldn't be the first time I've been accused of doing something backwards!
When out with my girlfriend, I get the bow close enough that she can either jump off around the middle of the dock and with the boat still moving forward at about 1kt, or use the boat hook to pick up the bow line (she prefers to jump), but with the engine now in reverse, she is able to loop the bow line over the bowcleat before it gets tight halting any remaining forward motion of the boat while I am starting to back down from the bowline (it's adjusted so that the bow can't hit the dock in front if I come in a little faster and the engine doesn't stop the boat first), she then hands the stern line to me in the cockpit where I loop it on the stern cleat, and take the engine out of gear, we then do the spring lines and everything is done.
When single handing, or whenever I don't have someone onboard that knows how to assist in docking, I do a similar aproach to the dock, but leave the engine in nutrual and at the last moment before the fender near the bow bumps the dock I walk forward with the boat hook and pick up the line from the dock, and bring it back to cleat it on the stern cleat, stopping the remaining forward motion of the boat. I then put the engine in gear to keep the hull against the dock while I get the bow line secure.
Either way takes about 2-3 minutes to have the boat tied up with all the lines correctly positioned so the boat sits nice and even in the slip. If I had to retie the lines to the dock cleats everytime I came in, that would add a significant ammount of time, and make it much tougher to come in with one, or no crew to assist.
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