Quote:
Originally Posted by taxwizz
Two words....
"Bow thruster"
Thank you.
|
Bow thruster -- and I have a 10 horsepower one -- is not actually of much help coming into a berth like this.
Best
advice so far is from El Pinguino. Pretty much a comprehensive one page handbook of how to do it.
Another piece of
advice I would give is to watch
Captain Ron, the famous
docking scene. This actually illustrates, in an exaggerated way, the main principle to use in a situation like this -- when you turn a
boat, it will continue on sideways after the turn. I think it's called "displacement" on big ships.
So the basic principle is aim the bow at an appropriate angle -- maybe 20 or 30 degrees on average, but more if you are being blown off the
dock and less if being blown on, more if you have little room -- at a point which is a couple meters aft of where you want the bow to end up. Get the speed right -- and you'll need to practice to know how your
boat handles -- on mine it's 1
knot if I'm not dealing with adverse
wind, or any
current, but might be two or three -- put the
helm over when the bow is quite near the
dock, and give a good kick of astern, just enough to almost kill the forward motion of the boat.
With forward motion killed, the interesting thing is that the rotation caused by putting the
helm over, and sideways
displacement, will continue unabated. So you'll slide sideways into your berth
Once you get the hang of it, you'll find that 13 meters for a 10 meter boat is comfortably plenty -- I do this with my 16.4 meter boat in probably 18 meter spaces, and I can't remember the last time I scratched anybody. This force is strong enough that it can
work to some extent even against a
wind blowing you off. Up to a certain wind force of course.
A great tip from Ping is also having the spring lines on the dock. That greatly simplifies getting into your own berth.
To get out, now a bow thruster is a great thing, but without a bow thruster, you just use a spring line to get the bow or stern out clear of the boat ahead or behind, and Bob's your uncle.
As Ping said, always berth on the side opposite the side your prop kicks towards, so that prop walk is helping and not hurting you getting out. Always approach the berth powering against the
current; you will crash if you try to come it with the current, because you lose steerage when you try to stop.
If the wind is blowing you onto the dock, take a shallower angle coming in and go slower, and let the wind blow you on. If the wind if blowing you off, this is much harder -- take a steeper angle and go in faster, and get that midships spring on ASAP. When I do this maneuver
single handed, and when there is limited space, I lasso a cleat or bollard with a line led through a midships cleat to an
electric cockpit winch, and
winch the boat in. If there's room to
power ahead, then once a midships spring is on, you can
power against it to pull you onto the dock, and use the
rudder to straighten the boat out, then put on the other lines at your leisure.
Another thing to keep in mind -- as a first principle -- be keenly aware of wind and current, even very small amounts of them. When you get close to the dock and start to lose way, wind and current takes over your boat, even if it's a small say 0.5
knot tide. For current, make a pass by your berth and look carefully to see how particles in the
water are moving. If you have the luxury to approach your berth from either direction, then ALWAYS approach against the current. If you can approach from only one direction, then you may need to wait for the current to change. A current against you is a great luxury which greatly simplifies all
docking maneuvers, because you have steerage and control even with all way off.
Good luck, and practice practice practice. Practice using spring lines in both directions, practice moving the boat sideways -- and do this on a piece of dock with no
boats on it, putting buckets up where you imagine
boats would be. Keep plenty of fenders out, and don't freak yourself out about it -- gel coat
repairs are not actually all that expensive. Eventually you will get pleasure from berthing maneuvers -- they are an interesting challenge.
. Please see post #26 & #48, I’ve been docking this way singlehanded and with my wife for over ten years without a single mishap, first on a 45ft 
Linear Mode
Recent Discussions