Backing into a slip - tips, tricks, recommendations?

[rognvald]

Originally Posted by MarkJ

I go do Figure of Eights in astern, then half a hour of touching a mooring ball from every direction, bow and stern.

Then docking is much easier

Very good! I'm glad someone got it. Now that's my type of humor!

[nautical62]

If prop walk is working against you in reverse, one thing you can do to minimize it's effect, is give it a bit more power, but then once you start getting momentum, switch into neutral. Without the prop spinning, you should have less walk and truer steering.

[foolishsailor]

Originally Posted by MarkJ

I go do Figure of Eights in astern, then half a hour of touching a mooring ball from every direction, bow and stern.

Then docking is much easier

I do this every time I have been off mt boat for a long time. After racing for a season on very responsive boats the first couple days of maneuvers back on my less responsive crusing boat can be very embarassing if there are witnesses. Doing as Mark suggested has minimized that embarassment at coming back to a less maneuverable boat...

[rognvald]

Originally Posted by foolishsailor

I do this every time I have been off mt boat for a long time. After racing for a season on very responsive boats the first couple days of maneuvers back on my less responsive crusing boat can be very embarassing if there are witnesses. Doing as Mark suggested has minimized that embarassment at coming back to a less maneuverable boat...

And I thought Mark was being naturally humorous . . . I guess he'll have to clear up this one . . . I still think it pretty funny . . .Good luck and good sailing! P.S. I think that behaviour is described by psychiatrists as mania. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ManiaCached - SimilarShare

[foolishsailor]

It think he was taking the piss a bit as am i, but seriously i do practice on a mooring ball if i have been off the boat awhile. Especially with my current boat which does not like to go in reverse in any predictable direction except whichever one she decided on that given day...

And i think it might be more like : http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Obsessi...lsive_disorder

[SkiprJohn]

Originally Posted by BlackOak

I have an aquaintance, named Dennis, who runs a sailing charter in Key West on his sailing vessel Breezin, the boat is a 42 foot Catilina. It is amazing to watch him back his boat into its slip. He does it fast too. He turns around and faces the stern of the boat as he steers it into the slip. Sorta like driving backwards. He's very good at it, and its fun to watch him do his thing!

Breezin Charters

A Catalina has a different keel and probably doesn't have the prop walk some others here experience.

If he is truly a friend I'd caution him against doing anything fast. I had the experience of putting the gear handle in reverse and reving the engine only to discover that the cable had slipped and I was still in forward. Very scary and could have been tragic.

kind regards,

[markpierce]

Originally Posted by SkiprJohn

If he is truly a friend I'd caution him against doing anything fast. I had the experience of putting the gear handle in reverse and reving the engine only to discover that the cable had slipped and I was still in forward. Very scary and could have been tragic.

My Dad did this when he moved his Columbia Defender to a new berth in Jack London Square five decades ago. Chipped the heck out of the bow's gelcoat. Dad subsequently had a quarter-inch thick strap of stainless steel mounted on the bow. That's probably why I paid extra to have a (much larger) strap mounted on my current boat.

[Heinous]

I generally prefer not to back in due to boat design, slip layout, and privacy. When I must, I usually back all the way in, starting in reverse from the beginning rather turning around at the slip. I also turn around and face astern like I'm driving forward. This usually makes maneuvering easier, and makes it clear to anyone watching what I'm doing. I've found that I need a little more momentum to to steer properly in reverse than going ahead.

This is a fin keel/spade rudder, so it might be a little different for you.

If prop walk is a concern, use the throttle in spurts to get the boat moving and rudder working without building up lateral momentum.

[carstenb]

I always back into my slip, because it is much easier to load/unload from aft than across the bow. Mine is a Fin keel/Spade rudder with a big time prop walk. Our slips are a set of pilings and then nothing until you reach the dock.

If you have the room (other boats) lay your boat up against the far piling with the bow. Have your mate loop a line from your forward cleat around the piling and back down to the cleat. Your mate now holds this (don't tie it off). Put your engine in forward and have your mate hold some tension on the line. You turn the helm away from the piling.
Your boats bow will now swing away from the piling, at the appropriate point, you take the boat out of gear, your mate holds the line taut and your back end will swing directly into the slip.

You put the boat in reverse, and since your mate now a has bow line to the upwind piling, you don't have to worry about the wind blowing the bow away. BAck the rest of the way in and step off onto the dock with a stern upwind line and tie off.

[Group9]

My 42 sailboat with a single inboard prop, loves to turn left as it backs up, and pretty much refuses to turn right when backing up.

So, I have to do something similar to what you do. I always have to sail past my slip, do a u-turn and come back, so I can be where I want to be to back into it.

[MarkJ]

Originally Posted by rognvald

And I thought Mark was being naturally humorous . . . I guess he'll have to clear up this one . . . I still think it pretty funny . . .Good luck and good sailing! P.S. I think that behaviour is described by psychiatrists as mania.

Ummmm, no. I was being serious.

I practice maneuvering my boat, as described, at least once per year for an hour or so. It really does help.

Every dock I come into is for the first time. Every dock is different. Every dock has its own tricks that I don't know about. So I have to maneuver the boat well.
I'm lucky that my boat will go astern after a bit of gentle nudging, but its only through practice that I ca do it.

Whenever a full keeler is complaining about going astern I tell them my practice and they NEVER do a similar r practice. How can they complain when they don't practice going around and around in circles in astern, then Figure of 8s, then backwards and forwards hitting an object in the water?

How do you think boat skills occur? God shoved them up crusty old sailors butts? No, it's practice.

[carstenb]

Mark,

The first day we sail each spring is spent practicing amongst other things MOB and docking.

[rognvald]

"How do you think boat skills occur? God shoved them up crusty old sailors butts? No, it's practice." MarkJ



Is that what you meant when you said "half an hour touching a mooring ball from every direction, bow and STERN?" O.K. now I get the picture!

[foolishsailor]

Originally Posted by rognvald

"How do you think boat skills occur? God shoved them up crusty old sailors butts? No, it's practice." MarkJ

Is that what you meant when you said "half an hour touching a mooring ball from every direction, bow and STERN?" O.K. now I get the picture!

Priceless...

[Bash]

I raced one-designs in a Santana 22 many years ago. The boat wouldn't back well at all until I discovered this secret: spin the tiller 180 degrees so that the leading edge of the rudder is still leading.

A shame we can't do that with big boats.