Comments interspersed....

"John Lechmanik" wrote in message
...
Although I'm a little experienced at sailing, I'm still learning a lot of
the little incidental things. Such as pulling out of a dock. We have a
Hunter 310 (a little "beamy" and our slip is narrow) that is moored in the
SF Bay area. We have less than 2 feet of total clearance between the boat
and the dock at the widest point. Our slip is about 1/2 way down the
berths with slips on both sides of the passageway. The passageway is
probably 40 - 50 feet wide. We have an "upwind berth" which faces to the
south (normal summer wind direction).

Normal summer wind in the bay comes from NW or W not south. Are you sure
you're not getting some other effect? Where are you located? I have my boat
and the school boats located in Sausalito. We have a Yamaha 30, which isn't
beamy at all, but your Hunter sounds like a nice boat. I'm sure it's just a
matter of practice.

The Marina is surrounded by homes and the wind is usually blocked pretty
well by the wind from the south by other rows of sailboats. However the
wind from the east, west, and north are not that blocked. To make things
more interesting our exit from the slip is to the east, which means I have
to back out of the slip to the right. The boat pulls to port when in
reverse.

It always makes for interesting. g You have to use the prop walk to your
advantage.

You can also mitigate its effect by using the throttle firmly but not for an
extended period. This doesn't mean gunning it excessively. Give some
throttle, then back off and put it in neutral. The prop walk will go away,
but of course, you'll have to put the boat in gear and do it again.

Here is the fun part. During this time of the year, the wind comes from a
variety of directions. When the wind comes from the east (port side of
the boat when in the slip) it's a challenge getting out of the slip. The
first time I backed out under these conditions I was just out of the slip,
and turning the boat to starboard when the wind pushed the bow back
around. No matter what I did, I couldn't get the boat turned into the
wind and was being pushed by the wind down the marina. I finally spotted
an open slip and pulled in. We ran a line off the bow and I backed out
again, but this time had the bow held to the dock. I managed to get the
boat turned into the wind, picked up my partner (2 man crew that day) and
sailed off.

You can also back down the slip area if necessary. Sometimes, we back the
school boat all the way up the line of slips to dock her... usually when
short handed. It works but takes practice. Try practicing backing, etc.,
away from docks to mooring balls or something. This will get you a lot of
practice without doing damage. You should get to the point where you can
back the boat in quite a straight line.

A few days ago, we had the east winds again, but this time with a little
bit of north. After reading up, I tried to run a line off the starboard
stern to pull the stern around as I backed out. This SEEMED to be working
until I tried to pull next to the slip to pick up my partner, and the
north effect of the wind started pushing my starboard into the parked
boats. We managed to finally get some forward momentum and move foward
while fending off the boats. I couldn't pick up my partner and had to
pull around to the downwind side of the berths and pick her up there. The
wind was only about 3 - 4 kts.

My preference would be to leave the dock with the entire crew if at all
possible. Could it be a current issue also? 3-4 kts wind is hardly anything
for a boat that size, especially if you're using the engine properly.

Jonathan

I know it's been a long explaination, but now I'm wondering how to pull
out under these conditions and pick up my crew before leaving.

Any suggestions???


--
John Lechmanik

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