How to secure boat to dock on only one side?

[rwidman]

My boat is in a marina in a double slip with floating docks. There's another boat in the slip. My boat is secured to the dock and I have fenders. Works for me and there's no other way to do it unless I rent the rest of the slip and get the other boat moved to another slip.

I would just tie the boat in the normal manner until it becomes apparent that you need something else. Extra pilings will be expensive if you are even allowed to install them.

[angelfish2]

TacomaSailor, oh good, I figured you had already checked with the city. I have been thinking about this and my suggestion would be to wait on the dolphins, unless you want these for hurricane protection. From what I remember (however, I am bit memory challenged these days), the winds in the winter don't really scream along at 25 knots for days. Yes, when a front goes by we have 3, maybe 4 days of wind from the north but not every day is over 20 knots.

We tied our IP at the end of some fingers to do some varnishing last January. We did nail some of that white, rubber stuff vertically to the pilings and then placed fenders horizontally along her port side. She was facing W by NW and when the wind blew out of the north, she sided up to those port fenders, but it wasn't like she was glued there. She moved a bit.

I don't know where you are in the process of moving to your new home but have you looked around to see how others are doing it? We have friends who have an IP38 (circumnavigators) and they have a set up much like yours. They do not have dolphins but for hurricane protection they do tie across the canal.

If you decide to have dolphins put in, I think you could drive straight in and back out, pivoting around the dolphin, or visa versa. If you join the Punta Gorda sailing club, you will get lots of help with this.

[roberthowell]

I live up in coinjock nc and have a house on the inland waterway just down from the marina there and have a bene 44 that i keep there on the wall tied only to 1 side she weighs 20000lbs and i have 2 whips that hold her off the wall most of the time and a quite large orange ball fender when the winds are to strong or a sportfish goes by (they do understand the nowake sign) to keep her of the wall

[stnick]

I'm in Tarpon springs Ill be traveling to my brothers home in Punta Gorda he lives out on the cannels also.
Buy large fenders at least 12 Inches around and 30 some inches long buy 4 .
a forward line to the rear of the sea wall a stern line forward of the sea wall in a big x than straight tie fore and aft to the sea wall. Allow 3 feet for tide change . We use this method all the time when we cruise to Venice and the crows nest resturant. Im 38 feet takes 5 min to tie up than 10 to adjust each tie up till its perfect and safe.
lee nicholas my cell 727 741 8510 ill show you Oct 6 or 7 th !

[SecondBase]

Originally Posted by rwidman

My boat is in a marina in a double slip with floating docks. There's another boat in the slip. My boat is secured to the dock and I have fenders. Works for me and there's no other way to do it unless I rent the rest of the slip and get the other boat moved to another slip.



I would just tie the boat in the normal manner until it becomes apparent that you need something else. Extra pilings will be expensive if you are even allowed to install them.

I went through Sandy in a double slip, floating dock. Fortunately I had both slips available so I center-tied. Came back the morning after to at least 33% line stretching.

The marina advised not to tie across due to harbor of refuge. Give me a break. Even you most salty shellback types aren't picking up a slip for the night DURING a landfall. The only boats moving were the ones stored on land in low lying cradles that floated into each other.

If I had to do it again but in a double-occupied double slip I'd arrange with the neighbor to cross-tie to his dock or less preferred, cross-tie directly to his boat so we mutually hold each other off the docks.

Every situation is different but I'd look real hard to stay away from dock rash. It'll sink you.

[belizesailor]

Originally Posted by captstu

We missed something.

When I had a similar dick, ...

Hmmm, past tense, sorry for your loss! 😆😆😆

[SecondBase]

If you are on a narrow canal you might arrange with your neighbor access to cross tie during severe storms. You'll usually want a dinghy to put the lines in day before the storm. Could help you both out...

[Squanderbucks]

Plan for the worst and the rest takescare of itself. Florida and the Gulf Coast require a little different thinking I feel. In most parts of Florida you can pretty much count on a hurricane somewhere in the state every few years. If you feel that you don't want or need to plan for these events then go the lesser route and plays your cards.
One of my neighbors got tired of paying flood insurance and decided to stop. Our whole area was flooded with 3 hurricanes in 12 years.
Stuff happens. If your boat is in a wide canal or open bay then I would vote for the dolphins. In a narrow canal you can get by with side docking and arrange with neighbors to move boats to center of the canals and tie off spanning the canal till the blow is over.
Squander Bucks has gone through at least 5 hurricanes with this arrangement.
If you plan on staying in Florida for a short time you could just forgo the expense of the dolphins and see how it goes.
Think of it as any long term investment you would make in your boat and decide if you feel it is reasonable.
Sometimes where we keep our boats is not the place for them in hurricanes. Have a plan for those times. Difficult in larger urban areas - easier in more rural or smaller towns where many of us find our favorite hurricane hole and claim it when necessary.
Dolphins work great as long as the tide surge does not go too high. Fortunately the 3 to 5 feet we usually see here is handled by the dolphins. If you get one of those 10 foot or more surges then luck is all we get anyway.

[Pelagic]

Originally Posted by TacomaSailor

The City of Punta Gorda will allow pilings to be placed up to 24' to seaward of the seawall. The dock is 8' wide (with pilings on outside) and our boat has a max beam of 12' 10".

The current dock is 30' long but has a 10,000 pound boat lift blocking 15' at the east end. We have contracted to have an additional 30' added to the existing dock. The dock contractors said they can easily drop in two outboard dolphins at the time they build the dock.

I would prefer not to have the dolphins in place because then I can then dock the boat from any angle and direction. But, I also want to have the security of a boat that is well tied to the dock.

Have not read all the posts but my first thought was to install outboard mooring anchors

2 low profile Pancake cement blocks that will bury into the silt fore and aft, connected to each other with heavy chain, then each leading towards dock with heavy chain, thimbled heavy sinking mooring and a smaller sinking pickup line that you leave at the dock.

Once secure, you attach the two outboard lines and pull her away from the dock, so the fenders do not touch.

I install these on docks we own for super yacht use here in Subic for Typhoon reasons.

Works great and is invisible when not in use.

[sandy stone]

If you are moored to a fixed dock, there is nothing as good as tying off to an outboard piling to keep your boat off the dock. At my house, I get by with just one amidships, with a breast line, and sleep much easier when the wind is really trying to grind the boat against the dock. Bow and stern lines to the fixed dock keep the boat properly aligned. The single piling also makes it easier to come in and tie up. If clearance is an issue, you really only need a foot or so on either side of the boat. (If you're careful)

[SecondBase]

[zeehag]

i have never used dolphins nor anchor when side tying. just tie sensibly.
until patricia i side tied.
patricia i spent in a 2 finger slip(single) with 3 pilings and used all the cleats on both fingers and the pilings to my advantage.
remember, marina cleats fail.
i also tie to opposite side of finger from my boat, so the action is pulling towards not pulling the wood away from the dock finger. makes a difference. the cleat i popped in patricia was on the inside of the slip, not on the opposing side, or neighbors cleats.
i spent many stormy times side tied using opposite side cleats.
thankfully went to single slip for the "cat 7" monster we endured. (central pressure 872, yes cat 7). more intense than irma or maria and smaller in diameter thankfully. had we days with her we'd-a looked exactly like barbuda after irma.
for ida we were side tied in slidell. no anchor of no dolphins. no issues/. we didnt even use a rafting board. i tied the fenders onto the pilings and hoped the surge would not raise over the pilings. it didnt. we also made sure we could adjust the docklines from either the dock or on board as we were not certain of surge height.
we didnt have any issues. we rode it out on board at that private dock.
water went up wind went overhead and water went down. awesome perfect. i hope your experience is similar.

[JPA Cate]

Here's another thought.....

Since Tacoma Sailor is only worried about named storms, what if he uses a Danforth type anchor to haul himself a foot or two off the dock? The rope portion of the rode could be led via a block amidships, back to one of the winches, so it would be adjustable.

The advantage to doing it that way is that it is easily undone, the anchor is useful for a kedge in regular sailing, no docking hassles, and he doesn't have permanent mooring stuff to clean and maintain. He might want to go to polyester rode for the anchor, if this is to preserve the boat in winds over 140 knots.

After the storm he could lead the line over the bow roller, and untie the boat and use the boat to help work the anchor out of the mud. It will be a bear to get it up, it shall have tried to "go to China".


Ann

[GordMay]

Originally Posted by zeehag

... thankfully went to single slip for the "cat 7" monster we endured. (central pressure 872, yes cat 7)...

Not to minimize the power of Patricia (“... Patricia’s explosive deepening from 22 October to 23 October was remarkable. Over the 24-h period ending at 0600 UTC 23 October, the pressure is estimated to have fallen 95 mb and the wind to have increased from 75 kt to 180 kt.
... The 872 mb value represents the lowest pressure on record in the western Hemisphere and the second lowest globally ...”), but, no need to exagerate:


“... The hurricane turned north-northeastward and weakened substantially before making landfall along a sparsely populated part of the coast of southwestern Mexico as a category 4 hurricane ...”
“... Patricia continued to rapidly weaken during the next couple of hours before landfall, and is estimated to have reached the southwestern coast of Mexico in the state of Jalisco, near Playa Cuixmala, around 2300 UTC 23 October with an intensity of 130 kt and a minimum pressure of around 932
mb. The hurricane continued to weaken rapidly during the next several hours ...”

➥ http://www.nhc.noaa.gov/data/tcr/EP202015_Patricia.pdf

[gbillman]

I use Slidemoors for my Leopard 40 sailboat in a similar docking situation in Satellite Beach FL (canal home, e/w orientation). 4 hurricanes so far with no damage...fingers crossed.