How do I dock if I dont want to hit it at any speed? Reverse perhaps?
Single-handed docking
- Thread starter noanksailor
- Start date
jssailem
SBO Weather and Forecasting Forum Jim & John
- Oct 22, 2014
- 22,217
This is not theory, it is fact. Only issue you have in your system design is the limit of the line as being tied to the stern cleat.
Might I suggest: you keep the line tied to the bow or at least a mid cleat ahead of the pivot point on your hull. You run the line back to the cockpit with enough slack line (at least the length of the boat plus 20% longer). Now when you approach the dock (SLOWLY) you do just as you suggest. HOLDING ON TO THE LOOSE END, you toss the middle of the line over the first cleat (or bulwark) you encounter as you approach the slip. While still on the boat you pull in on the line end, and secure the line over a winch or cleat as you desire. You can tension the line and your boat will snug it self up to the slip. You can put the boat in idle and forward gear and the boat will stay against the dock proceeding no further forward than the where your "spring line" makes a 90º angle with the line you have secured at the cockpit or stern.
All the above tips are great, but sometimes things still go wrong.
-If you have a neighbor boat, put out fenders on both sides.
-Make a plan for what you will do if you miss catching your dock or have to abort and try again.
-Keep extra dock lines handy in case you end up somewhere unexpected, like the next dock over or the neighbors boat.
- keep a very long line on board (2x boat length or more) for warping your boat around.
-I put a bumper on my dock in case I miss my lasso and bump the dock with my bow (there is a guy on YouTube who routinely plants his bow on a bumper while idling forward and uses that to hold his boat while he gets the lines on).
-If you have a neighbor boat, put out fenders on both sides.
-Make a plan for what you will do if you miss catching your dock or have to abort and try again.
-Keep extra dock lines handy in case you end up somewhere unexpected, like the next dock over or the neighbors boat.
- keep a very long line on board (2x boat length or more) for warping your boat around.
-I put a bumper on my dock in case I miss my lasso and bump the dock with my bow (there is a guy on YouTube who routinely plants his bow on a bumper while idling forward and uses that to hold his boat while he gets the lines on).
This may be considered cheating but in sportier conditions you could always raise the marina or boatyard on the VHF and ask for help. It will cost you a tip but would be far less drama than crashing into something.
Not cheating at all.
I have some dock rats that just hang out on the dock all summer….and I have conditioned them to watch for me to come in…especially if things are really windy…and they always come over and grab a line. I almost never need them, but rather than not have when I need them, I thank them profusely, offer them a beer once in a while, and in general be friendly.
If I am really worried about conditions, I will put fenders out on the “boat neighbor“ side before coming into the marina, and will have my Air horn at the ready for a short little signal to my dock crew…sometimes they are busy drinking and dont notice my stealthy approach To the dock ;-)
Greg
Ha, that's in my signature
My slip is challenging, I'm on the downwind and down current side of the finger dock so I'm always getting blown off, into my neighbor. I use a docking bridle secured to the bow cleat. It is all set, through the turning block and a loose loop over the winch before getting to my slip. I pass it over the cleat at the end of the finger dock then pull in around the winch. When I put the engine in idle forward the boat gently pulls into the dock and I have all the time I need to pick up my mooring lines.
The hard part is convincing people "helping" at a dock to NOT take any turns around the cleat, juts let it slide.
With my previous boat and an outboard, I kept lines on the dock and rigged a line at midship on the chainplate that I could step off with. A boat of that size is easy to push/pull manually. My present boat is an inboard and twice as heavy, so I depend on a permanent spring line from the aft dock cleat (coming in frontward) led forward to the midship cleat. I step off, put that line on, get back on and idle forward with the tiller toward the dock, which draws the boat closer and holds it fast against the spring line. From there, it's easy to place all the dock lines. A similar strategy is a loop- one end secured somewhat forward (like shown above, but I don't put mine all the way forward), one end on the aft boat cleat, with enough line to toss over the first cleat encountered on the finger. This does basically the same as the forward spring line I described and may work better for an outboard, since one doesn't need propwash to draw the boat closer. It does, however, require an unencumbered cleat to catch that loop- I would not trust tossing that line around a loop piled high with permanent dock lines.
OMG YES! Just last night, this is what happened to me... I normally back out of my marina into open water.... I leave the forward starboard bow cleat for last, nudge the engine into reverse to swing away from the dock, release the last cleat and then back out (see top two diagrams). So last night there was this family throwing a graduation party at the dock and a "helpful" (but drunk) dad runs down to the dock and right as I throw of the last dockline and he says,
"Hey there, let me push you off" and he puts his foot on my bow and shoves... the bottom pic is what happened.
and of course the current was pushing me in so now it was nudge and bump the transmission a dozen times while shoving off of pilings while the entire dock party watches.
I back into my slip. All dock lines stay on hangers. As I back in my slip it an easy grab to catch a line. All lines have a zip tie to mark the proper length to tie them off at. The zip ties are set to where the rub rail should be underneath them. It makes the final adjustment almost fool proof.