Backing out of slip - suggestions

[pcmm]

Originally Posted by ItDepends

On A Tashiba 31 as the OP has, you can be going 8 knots and not be able to counteract prop walk in reverse. With this boat speed just makes you crash faster.

Not true at all. with any full keel boat there are challenges but you generally don't want to stay in gear in reverse as that is what creates the propwalk. The way you do it in reverse is to give the boat a blast of reverse (full throttle) for just a few seconds to get way on, then immediately go into neutral and start to steer the boat. If I can do that in a Morgan out island 41 to get the stern to generally go where I want, you can definetly do it in a light little Tashbia 31...10,000lb is nothing!

[gonesail]

best idea is to make sure your slip is situated so that when you back out you are using your prop walk to turn the boat towards the exit.

[deblen]

Originally Posted by campbdon

I know this is slightly off topic but when I can come in to a dock in a parallel configuration I previously tie up a bow line long enough to run to the cockpit and lead it back to the cockpit outside any fenders. I also connect up a stern line. Then when docking I can step off the boat in neutral with each line in hand and control the boat from front and back by myself. Boat is secured and controlled by one person easy breezy.

Yes!! -have your bow & stern lines prepped at cockpit.
Also,if you have a "midship" line ready,at the cockpit,you can step ashore & secure the boat with just it first. Then you can reach back and grab the bow & stern lines-no climbing or rushing.
GoBoatingNow-The above will work fine on your 40+ ftr too. The secret is taking that "midship" line ashore first.Once that is fastened,your boat can't go anywhere or hit the dock,etc.
Put 2 good large fenders-one a foot or two ahead of the boats midship cleat & one a foot or two behind the midship cleat.

Draw the midship line tight,jaminmg the 2 fenders hard between the hull & dock.
Boat cannot move.
Cheers/Len

[Pendragon35]

Originally Posted by leecea

We haven't had to use it yet but we have a 100' floating line to use as a spring in the way that has already been described. My hope is that a floating line will be easier to haul in and may be less likely to foul the prop if something doesn't go right.

This is what I do..floating spring line, back out let it spin me. Alberg 35 with a modified full keel and a lot of prop walk.

[ChrisJHC]

Not sure if it’s been mentioned before, but make sure you use the bow and stern lines to angle the boat the way you want it before releasing.
With crew, make sure you make it clear the sequence you want to release the lines.

[SailingHarmonie]

Originally Posted by Pendragon35

This is what I do..floating spring line, back out let it spin me. Alberg 35 with a modified full keel and a lot of prop walk.

There is a good reason for NOT using a floating line...

A bit of background, I taught people this technique to spin a boat out of very tight slips for years. The spring line we used to turn the boat was looped around the cleat, and once we were turned, one end of the line would be cast off the boat, and it would be hauled back onboard.

In thousands of departures over 8 years, TWICE the bitter end of the line flipped and tied a half hitch on the cleat preventing retrieval of the line.

The response would be to just toss the whole line over the side. With a sinking line, it would just settle to the bottom to be dealt with on return to the slip. A floating line would present some unique challenges in this regard.

Oh, and NEVER did we put a line in the prop, so a floating line would not add any real value.

[capt jgw]

Originally Posted by S/V Illusion

Since no one mentioned it already - speed is your friend. Your ability to turn is a function of flow rate past the rudder; the faster you go (within reason), the more control your rudder will have.

My last sailboat was a Columbia 36. On that model the propeller is aft and above the rudder so the prop has no effect what so ever on the rudder. I had to be moving pretty fast to get the boat to turn at all. I've used the spring line set up described above several times, there was no other way to get the boat to turn in the available space without it.
On a normal set up with the prop forward of the rudder a short burst of forward power with the rudder turned can do a lot to get the stern moving the way you want. I couldn't do that. I also couldn't pin the boat to the dock by powering against a spring. Without prop effect on the rudder the stern would just swing away from the dock, exactly the opposite effect I wanted.