On Sat, 07 Feb 2004 01:05:12 -0500, Rodney Myrvaagnes wrote:

On Fri, 06 Feb 2004 14:09:54 -0800, engsol
wrote:
snip
I'm approaching a slip with a cross-wind blowing me off the dock, and into another boat
sharing the slip. So what do I do? Being single-handed and all. One thought occurs
to me...toss a grapple and snag the dock. But this raises more questions....will I need
to use a winch? How do I route the line? Do they even make grapples, or will I
have to make my own?

snip
My suggestions:

1. Put fenders out on both sides. If you do miss you don't damage your
neighbor's boat, or your own..
I think that's an excellant idea.

2. Learn to bring the boat to a stop next to fixed objects where a
mistake doesn't matter, like next to a mooring ball. Get a feel for
how much wind you can do this in.
Actually, I'm pretty good at this. (crossed fingers)

3. When you string your dock lines, tie their ends together so when
you step off you have both of them. Loop one of them around its cleat
and move smartly to the other end and cleat that. Then go back and
cleat the first one properly.
Many of the docks in the smaller San Juan ports don't have cleats.
What is *very* common is a "cleat rail" (my term) consisting of a 4 x 4 raised
by 4 x 4 blocks spaced every 8 to 10 feet. This requires passing a
line through a 4 inch "gap", which is a real pain. Otherwise your method
would work fine.

Thanks for the input.
Norm