Is there any simulation app for harbour maneuvers ?

[kcrobby]

Hi,

my wife and I are newbies and I wonder if there is any app that simulates the behaviour of a boat under engine with prop walk effect. We found that´s the most challanging part!

Thanks,
KC

[Lepke]

Try: Ships v1.5 by Dinther Product Design Ltd

[zboss]

Yes, buy a bus and take the brakes out. Then go to a Porsche dealership and try to park. Just kidding... it's not that bad.

[Custom30]

Dennis Posey has written a Coastal Cruising Simulator which is very realistic.

It includes a docking simulator that incorporates Current, Windage, and all of the prop effects.

In the docking sim you can set the current and the wind, to make it as challenging as you wish.


'

[valhalla360]

I've come across several tablet apps just search for boat parking.

For a general idea of the principal, they work fine but they won't match your boat's reactions perfectly, so they aren't a replacement for practice in real life.

[chuckr]

Amen on the practice in real life. We made over 40 different ports this past sailing season and each is very very different. As for our boat we have enough time on board that we know about what she will do what we have trouble with is the wind and currents that may vary a lot depending on where they may want us.

And in the Med we use our anchor to Med moor as we back into a slip and have seen a lot of folks not line up straight and back in at a angle and cross multiple boats chains and when someone leaves creates major issue like pulling other boats anchors out of the water.

So in general - it is called practice, practice and when you think you got it practice some more.

[lfalco]

Yes. There's nothing like practice in real life. I used to use the Microsoft Train Simulator. I can't drive a train. Sims are fun and time killers when you can't sleep at night. In all my years of "practice", there are still very frustrating times. Practice, and know your boat well.

[MC2019]

Nothing that would be any good. Time in the boat is what I always tell people, find some one experienced willing to help you practice maneuvers.

I do this as a service in my coastguardcaptain.com company.

[Dave22q]

Lots of practice and always keep it dead slow with brief power spurts for corrections. Set out a course using your own buoys and practice. Or spend lots of money and get a bow thruster. Last option- maneuver to hold position while wife takes a line to the slip using the dinghy. Then use the line to correct your direction. Doesn't look real good but generally works. Main thing is don't worry about it. Just keep it dead slow and ignore the yelling

[Navicula]

Originally Posted by zboss

Yes, buy a bus and take the brakes out. Then go to a Porsche dealership and try to park. Just kidding... it's not that bad.

it may be funny....but the feeling would be the same....LMAO

[chuckr]

Originally Posted by Dave22q

Lots of practice and always keep it dead slow with brief power spurts for corrections. Set out a course using your own buoys and practice. Or spend lots of money and get a bow thruster. Last option- maneuver to hold position while wife takes a line to the slip using the dinghy. Then use the line to correct your direction. Doesn't look real good but generally works. Main thing is don't worry about it. Just keep it dead slow and ignore the yelling

Dead slow does not always work. When the winds pipe up you have to have a feel of how much speed you need to offset the wind depending on where it will hit the boat.
We have seen a lot of charterers come in dead slow with 20k on the beam and get blown sideways and hit other boats and not taking into account the wind and their speed. We love it when the winds blows big and we back into a dock and the wind is on our stern. We have done it in 35k but with 20 on the beam it is a challenge to get the anchor out and straight out from where you want the boat to end up and then go into the wind a bit a some speed and then let it push you a bit sideways to end up where you want without hitting anything.

[Dave22q]

chuckr, dead slow is not a throttle position but a boat speed. With a wind on the beam you do need to add some throttle to compensate but that is no big deal. the problem most folks have (me included) is in reverse not forward. In a 20 or 30 kt wind my advice would be simple- forget backing in, go bow first!

[zboss]

There are a few things that my wife and I do well before we get to a marina that may assist you.

1) Always make sure we let the marina know that you are new and that you will need assistance at the slip. They will almost always send at least one person down to you to help catch lines, if not more. While this is not always a great thing, since they dock hands or innocent helpers can make thing worse, it better to have someone to help you fend off.

2) By letting the marina know you are new - and be very explicit about your newness - they will often do you a favor and assign you an easy-in/easy-out slip like a T dock at the end. Sometimes they will even let you stay on a fuel or pump out dock if you are only staying one night and would arrive after the dock is closed.

3) We almost always study at the marina on google earth and try to match the dock map on their website so we can be sure we understand the layout of the marina well before we get there. It helps to talk to the dockmaster on the phone while looking at the map so you can clear up any navigation questions before you get there.

4) If you don't feel comfortable pulling in because it's so tight - or for any other reason - then don't pull into the marina! We have done that. It's better to set a day hook somewhere out of the way then dinghy in to take a look then to go charging in.

5) Pay attention to which way the wind or current is going to push your boat. Until you learn to turn your boat in it's own length against a wind or tide, it's better to find yourself in a situation where the wind/current does not push you down the fairway towards the seawall... don't ask how I figured that one out

6) Speaking of current. Ask the dockmaster when slack tide is and then approach the marina at slack, unless there are other exigent circumstances that would make the timing bad.

7) Go as slow as you need to maintain steerage. That is often slower than you at first realize but not dead slow.

8) Your biggest friend is the guy handling the spring line.

9) Personally, I do not put out fenders until I am in the slip. They often just get stuck and end up pushing the boat in a way that is not helpful. Besides, you cannot predict where you are going to end up needing those fenders anyhow.

10) If I have a choice and it looks complicated - like when one side is a finger pier and the other side is just posts - we ignore the posts coming in and worry about tying up to the pier. You can always loosen lines or drop your dinghy and attach those lines later.

[redhead]

What Zboss said. As succinct and comprehensive as a textbook. Hell, I'm going to print it out and keep it at the nav station. With 63 feet and 44 tons of ferrocement under us, we always approach any dock with a certain amount of "pucker" factor. Well said!

[paulajayne]

Originally Posted by redhead

What Zboss said. As succinct and comprehensive as a textbook. Hell, I'm going to print it out and keep it at the nav station. With 63 feet and 44 tons of ferrocement under us, we always approach any dock with a certain amount of "pucker" factor. Well said!

I have 48ft of ferro and come in at 23 tonne, what on earth have you got on board?