Hi all
Many years ago in maple Bay, BC when I was just
learning to sail, I watched a barefoot fisherman
dock a
commercial salmon troller by himself. He simply brought the boat to a dead stop with a quick burst of reverse a few inches from the dock then casually stepped off and threw a line onto a cleat. he then walked upto the store without looking back. I was impressed. Maybe a little red-faced remembering my own efforts.
Years later I operated a 67 foot salmon packer out of Prince Rupert and regularly was able to do the same thing solo(with shoes on). The difference was many sea miles and much practice on my part. 20-30 foot tides and off dock winds made it challenging sometimes. In difficult conditions (wind or tide off the dock)I used a grapple at the end of my did spring line led through the midship cleat to the pilot house forward. I would aggressively come up to the dock, reverse smartly, step out to the
deck and throw the grapple to the other side of the dock and quickly cleat it off forward. It was them a simple matter to engage fwd with the
rudder hard over to pull the boat in with the spring and proceed to secure bow and stern. Of course a series of tire fenders along the side and an 10 inch wide rub rail helped.
All the modern gadgets are nice props for beginners and good aids for the experienced but everyone should know how to operate without them. After all they may fail just when you need them most(Murphy). I believe in crew. Make friends and invite them along. Learn to get along with people. Boats are to be enjoyed.
Practice and have fun
Gary