Help from strangers while docking? A poll and my rambling musings.

[PuttingDoctor]

Interesting topic… my marina is secure so anyone on the dock is either an employee or another boater.
My dock is for 50’ vessels. Many have a helm up high and the captain doesn’t have clear view of the bow or dock finger. We’re also floating docks so the freeboard of most vessels precludes crew jumping off. (A major no no in my humble opinion)
So this brings up the issue I find with many on the deck. Tossing the line to the dock hand or volunteer. If the receiver holds an arm out from the shoulder toss the line over the arm…. Not at their head! I hold my arm out to the side and tap the arm with my free hand to indicate where to toss. Whatever the line is if first received becomes the spring line to stop the vessel from running into the dock. Tie is temporary and the captain / crew can adjust to their desired tension.
After helping I point to my flag and tell them if they need anything not to hesitate to ask.
It’s only in dead calm conditions that I will attempt to dock my 33,000# vessel without dockside assistance.

[valhalla360]

9 out of 10 times we have had issues docking, it's when someone tries to help...so outside of unusual situations, we don't accept help. We also don't leave lines where they can just grab them. Too many times, someone decides to snub off a bow line and throw a perfectly good approach all to heck...and because they cleated it off, you can't just back out.

I will often stand on the dock to help if requested but I don't do anything unless specifically directed.

PS: I can still say "hi" and meet people but really when coming in, the crew are typically busy sorting out the boat and people trying to chat can cause them to make mistakes or forget things. Come chat 10-15min later once they are relaxed on the back deck with a drink.

[Atcowboy]

Originally Posted by Chotu

OK. Sounds good. Not sure how that is a response to what I had written. I didn’t mention speed in my post. But sounds reasonable.

I believe you had written something along the lines of, I just hand them a midship line and not much can go wrong.

While I started this gripe fest, I really don't stress about docking, even if I'm getting "help".

- AT

[Hudson Force]

I appreciate the offer for help, but I can often be disappointed with how someone will infer that their best help would be to pull on a line with as much force as possible and this often causes problems.

My choice to appease someone who kindly offers help is to give them a long midships line that they can pull on as they please and this doesn't cause our vessel to pivot unexpectedly.

[Atcowboy]

Originally Posted by Juanvaldez

I was once waved off by an inexperienced boater only to watch in horror as they slammed into the dock, had no fenders ready, only had one line ready.

Sean

Ouch! And so many of the people without much experience are in such big new expensive boats.

One tactic I've found helpful in declining help is to just dock really slowly. I haven't tried docking under sail yet, but I've started trying to get my boat to just stop exactly where I want it to on the dock without reversing and I've gotten okay at it. Most people get bored when you're only moving inches a second lol.

The easiest and my favorite is a face dock with parallel current. Just slowly crab the boat sideways onto the dock, usually to astonished looks from the people on the docks.

- AT

[Mike OReilly]

It seems clear, after reading some responses here, that I seem to cruise in a very different area than some others. I've found that most of the people I encounter at the dock are reasonably knowledgeable, and generally do know what they're doing. My default assumption is that just that; the person standing at the dock generally does know what they're doing.

I give clear instructions, which again is what (I assume) those on the dock want from me. But I've learned that most people at the docks can be trusted. The few examples of the opposite are why they stand out in my memory.

[jibstay]

I’m surprised no one has mentioned people on the dock grabbing your lifelines.

Cruising is my dream, not my wife’s, so I learned early on to calmly talk everything through prior to docking, or even grabbing a mooring ball.

If there’s help at the dock, she takes charge of handing them the spring line and directing them to a cleat.

One thing that annoys her is if we get incorrect information on the VHF about which side to rig the lines and fenders, causing her to have to move them.

[nortonscove]

I'm rarely at marinas and normally at public wharves used for commercial purposes. I've found those that have no clue will just stand and observe while most people there are professional and good with what instructions I give.

[Brioche]

Fascinating topic. There are so many variables. Our home dock often has strong crosswinds combined with significant tidal flow, so we often have to come in at a good speed to stay clear of other boat in slip. When the guys at the marina are there, they are a big help. but when other boaters -- especially power boat folks -- are there, they can really mess things up. Since we often dock without help, I usually tie the bow and stern lines together so I can control them both when I jump onto dock. That way I can slow the boat on the last cleat on the dock with the stern line, and also hold the bow in so it doesn't swing out onto neighboring boat. This year I am planning on adding midship cleats, which should make for an easier docking experience -- just need to figure out precise location first.

[rslifkin]

In general, I find other boaters that come to lend a hand are often helpful. The worst experiences I've had have all been with "professionals" without adequate training or too much ego, such as fuel dock attendants, etc.

[basssears]

I wish more boaters were taught this bit, i.e. how to act on the dock when offering to help someone else.


If I'm on the dock I'll check on anyone coming in near me (easy docking conditions or blowing/current) because I consider it a courteous thing to do and I leave my boat for long periods, need my dock mates to like me and keep an eye on the boat. But I just walk up and say "happy to help if you need it, just tell me what you'd like me to do or I can do nothing". Usually sets the stage pretty well for them to take me up on the offer and then tell me exactly what to do or just tell me they're fine.


If I'm the one docking, I have a schpiel that is getting longer and longer that includes "I'll toss you a line, but don't pull on it or cleat it until I tell you to, I might just hop off and take the line from you, and please don't push on the lifelines or stanchions". The last bit is important to me I hate thinking of the bedding under the stanchions getting torqued... of course, I've had a new boat owner next to me not know what a stanchion was so...


In general, I think all these things go better if everyone assumes it's up to them to start the conversation (I start it whether I'm on the dock or in the boat)... if they start the conversation first so be it at least we're communicating.


-- Bass

[Paul Howard]

I am usually boating with my wife, me at the helm and she with which -ever line I want fastened first.
We are elderly and not that agile, especially my wife, so some help is appreciated, but with some direction.
I explain to my wife what my docking plan is.
I tell her what line i want fastened first, sometimes bow, sometimes mid-ships, sometimes stern.
I instruct her not to hand (we do not throw from a distance) the line to a dockside helper until I tell her to do so.
As we approach she tells the potential line handler what cleat I am headed for.
She hands the line across to the dock sider and asks them to please cleat.
This is our procedure for strange docks and fuel docks.
At our local club our fellow members are pretty familiar with our needs and boat handling.
But we often create a loop in the dock line, one end fastened on an onboard cleat and lasso a clean/bollard in a loop and then fasten the other end appropriately on the same cleat, doubling the line to shore.
This can be done from onboard, so no jumping to the dock.

[waterman46]

Originally Posted by landsend

Wasters?

Yeah, wasters. Must be a New England thing. On the topic, I learned the hard way to avail myself of marina staff help when coming in to a new dock. Mazatlan. Heavy side current only inside the slip so not apparent until we got into it. Caused boat to suddenly be too far from dock to jump, nobody to help since I had not asked for it. Ended up side into a very expensive power boat, but at zero forward speed no damage done, just my ego.
My pet peeve is the way the staff in every marina secures the line to the cleat in such a way that its really hard to remove it. They don't know the figure 8 hitch.

[JebLostInSpace]

I almost always appreciate the help, even if it's not very competent help...

I'm usually sailing single-handed. I have a rather high freeboard, making the jump down onto the dock a bit tricky (and it takes several seconds to move from the helm to the shroud, over the lifelines, and make the jump). And at my home marina, the finger dock is only half-length, so I don't have much extra room to drift forward after getting the shrouds up to the end of the finger. Lastly, my home marina has a significant current which is not quite parallel to the slips. This means that my bow tends to get pulled away from the dock and into my neighbor pretty quickly once the boat stops.

With all of that working against me, I'm not very willing to leave the helm, much less leave the boat, until the midship line (lead aft) and the bow line are on. I want to be able to either bail out, or motor forwards against the midship line if things start going hinky. I'm thankful to have a couple of trusted neighbors and a good crew of dockhands at my marina. Without that dockside help, my approaches would be quite tricky.

At an unfamiliar marina, I'm also normally very grateful to have help from a dockhand or other boater. I'm unfamiliar with the local currents or cleat placements, or other issues, so it's nice to have an extra set of hands to react when things don't quite go to plan.

All that said, I came in this past Sunday and asked my new neighbor to lend a hand. I had a feeling he would be incompetent (just bought a big trawler and hasn't had it out of the slip yet), but the marina dockhand was also there, so I was happy to toss the neighbor a line. The professional dockhand got my midship line on no problem, as I walked forward to hand the neighbor the bow line. I asked him to place it on the cleat literally between his feet as I handed the line. He proceeded to stand there with the line in his hand as the current pulled my bow off the dock. The most amazing part is that it was the same neighbor's new boat that my bow was about to hit when the dockhand arrived to take the line and cleat it off! I was torn between trying to fend my bow off his boat vs. returning to the helm try and correct under power. I suspect it was already too late to save it that way, so I was sure relieved when the bow line finally found the cleat.

[HeywoodJ]

As a boater I find too often that helpers don't follow directions. When we are docking we have a plan developed around the available crew (from solo to many) and I prefer to dock to that plan. None of the planning requires external help. We will take it if offered properly and we assess as competent (and man, how prejudices can creep in there).

As a dockstander I'll give a quick "let me know if you'd like me to do anything" and then stand at the ready while letting the boaters dock to their own plan. If they ask me to do something I try to do exactly as asked, and to ask questions if the directions are not clear (or not given at all). I have been guilty of being the guy who just stands there holding the line if not given direction, because I don't want to be the guy who messes up the docking by holding something tight/making something fast at just the wrong time.