How to get off of a windward dock

[Tillsbury]

Originally Posted by Pete7

Sadly the days of rafting up with dozens of other yachties at Poole Town Quay are over and its now a posh expensive marina.

Pete

Boo. That was all part of the fun. I remember being 12th boat out on a raft of 13 against the town quay having come in with everyone else from a particularly nasty blow. The next morning I was up early and saw the guy about 8th out trying some weird complicated manoeuvre to get out. I sent one guy ashore to deal with rope, undid everything and bailed out quick sharp, taking the little boat outside of us with me. Whereupon said boat woke up, and seemed to start to growl at me. When I pointed to the growing carnage at the quayside he quickly changed his mind, thanked me, and we separated out in the clear water and nosed in a little further down to pick up the last crew with the shorelines.

[Tillsbury]

Originally Posted by TrentePieds

We were talking about coming to the lee side of a pontoon :-)

Lots to learn from contemplating this!

TP

It's unbelievable that someone so clueless could be let loose on a boat. The whole time the engine is merrily running, and putting her a little in forward gear would have her snug against the pier. I can see a bowthruster being desperately applied, but that's a waste of time against that kind of wind.

What occurs to me particularly is that the skipper seems to have determined that he wants to dock precisely where his midships line is attached to the dock, and is struggling to make that happen. Of course, if he motors forward he will end up slightly forward of that position, but it's not like he doesn't have the room to do so nor the additional fuel pumps all the way down.

Sometimes when we are wanting to dock in a specific place it pays to realise that it might be considerably easier to moor safely somewhere else, and then perhaps if necessary we could walk or winch the boat to where we need to be, under control. I'm guessing that the skipper's lack of being able to rethink the plan is not the root cause of this (incompetence is), but it's a lesson we can usefully take from it.

[gamayun]

Originally Posted by deblen

This hitch makes a bull rail easier / Len

Yeah, try doing this when singlehanding and the wind blowing you away from the dock! I love the history lesson of why these were used but they must have been installed on the docks in Sausalito, CA, just to frustrate the riff-raff so they stay away

[boatman61]

Originally Posted by gamayun

Yeah, try doing this when singlehanding and the wind blowing you away from the dock! I love the history lesson of why these were used but they must have been installed on the docks in Sausalito, CA, just to frustrate the riff-raff so they stay away

Thats why grappling hooks were invented..

[gamayun]

Originally Posted by deblen

In the case of the OP,or anyone,wind or current holding boat against the dock- especially singlehanded:
Turn the wheel toward the dock,brief burst of fwd to kick the stern away from the dock & then back away.
The only time I would turn my wheel away from the dock & power ahead would be if the wind was blowing me off the dock>> 4+ ft & there were no boats ahead of me.
I just don't know any other way to depart a side tie-singlehanded & w/o a strong bowthruster.

I used to have a pumpout where I had to do this often and there was a big power boat at the bow end so very little room to motor forward. I would approach it stern in and then o leaving, move the boat (by hand) as far back to the edge of the dock with just the midship line attached. I would then remove this line as I stepped aboard and reverse out, which will cause it to pivot around the end unless there's too much wind in which case flat fenders are your friends! From my perspective, mostly singlehanding, lines that can get snagged on cleats or props is more problematic to deal with than a slight scrape off the dock. However, I haven't seen anyone mention tying a dock line to the stern on the "windward" side (opposite from the dock side) and then motor in forward to pivot around. Just let loose of the line when the bow has moved out facing the wind, which means you can also ignore the line till you get the boat under control and not have to worry about it entangling the prop. If you kept the line in the water while in reverse and it's long enough to handle it from the cockpit, you'd have to lock the wheel or slow the boat enough so the rudder doesn't slam over while you go fetch the line. Only once you have the line aboard can you put it in forward.

[gamayun]

Originally Posted by boatman61

Thats why grappling hooks were invented.. [emoji3]

Actually, that's a great idea! My boat "hook" is way too flimsy and the pole extends/slides out with just the slightest pull on it so it's no help at all, but I could see throwing out a grappling hook with a short line that's tied back to the midship cleat. Thanks, Boatie I wonder what the good folks in Sausalito and Canada might think about this?

[Lepke]

While I have a twin powerboat now, I use to sail and ran many single screw tugs and fishing boats.
Solo, the easy way to get off the dock is run a doubled spring looped around a dock cleat, thru a bow chock but both ends tied off near the cockpit. Go ahead with the rudder turned full into the dock so your stern swings out. A soon as you go astern, untie one end of the spring. You're backing so there's no threat of picking up the line in your screw. When you're safely off the dock you can take in the line if you're alone.

[mikesailin]

Use an after bow spring line and a fender forward, turn the helm toward the dock and power forward until the stern is far from the dock and then back away. The spring line should be around the dock cleat and brought back to the boat so when you back away, you can simply pull the spring line aboard. Spring lines are a valuable resource that are often overlooked.