In article ,
"Roger Long" wrote:

With the wind, current, and sternwalk, this boat can't be brought to a
stop without ending up far from the dock and the stern too far out to
get a line ashore or in the space of the boat that will soon be next
door. The line to hold against the sternwalk yaw is an essential part
of stopping the boat. That means someone has to step off while the
boat is still moving.

Our technique involves keeping all lines on the dock. I have one
specific line to pick up as I come in, the spring from the outermost
"inside" piling that drops over the winch. Once I put that line on, I
can power forward all I want and not hit the dock. Twiddling the rudder
moves the bow port or starboard so my crew can pick up the bow lines
without stretching too far. Once those three lines are on, the motor can
be killed and the other lines dropped on.

We're small and maneuverable enough that I can reach that spring by
hand; others may need to grab it with a hook.

I spliced loops into the lines so they're "drop and forget", which makes
life a lot simpler.

--
Jere Lull
Xan-a-Deux ('73 Tanzer 28 #4 out of Tolchester, MD)
Xan's Pages: http://members.dca.net/jerelull/X-Main.html
Our BVI FAQs (290+ pics) http://homepage.mac.com/jerelull/BVI/

Good plan.

We're in training mode here so I'm trying to use our home dock to
teach us the things we'll need to know elsewhere. Just like moving
most of the sail handling lines from the cockpit to the mast, we're
doing many things the hard way for a greater purpose.

--

Roger Long



"Jere Lull" wrote

Our technique involves keeping all lines on the dock. I have one
specific line to pick up as I come in, the spring from the outermost
"inside" piling that drops over the winch. Once I put that line on,
I
can power forward all I want and not hit the dock. Twiddling the
rudder
moves the bow port or starboard so my crew can pick up the bow lines
without stretching too far. Once those three lines are on, the motor
can
be killed and the other lines dropped on.

We're small and maneuverable enough that I can reach that spring by
hand; others may need to grab it with a hook.

I spliced loops into the lines so they're "drop and forget", which
makes
life a lot simpler.

How large is your boat? Ours is fairly heavy for a 32 footer and,
even at the minimum speed for rudder authority, it would be quite a
jerk coming up against a hard loop like that with the current behind
us. Cushioning with reverse would draw the stern out assisted by the
springing effect. Big recovery with lots of forward power then to get
the stern back in.

Missing the loop wouldn't allow thought and action time to get the
engine in reverse before running up on the main dock. Our finger is
just the length of our boat.

I tried all sorts of spring line scenarios first because of my large
boat experience which resulted in some good shows for our neighbors.
When my kids are more experienced line handlers and know how to ease
and hold without shouted instructions, I'll probably go back to using
springs more. Right now, I'm trying to keep line loads, especially
sudden ones, to a minimum since inexperienced fingers are holding
lines close to cleats.

The nice thing about my current method is that the sideways sternwalk
force is the largest line pull aside from windage. Nice and easy, no
dock contact, no vessel inertia against the lines.

When the wind is from the northwest, it's easy. Just pull up, stop,
and blow in.

--

Roger Long



"Jeff" wrote in message
...
You should (well, might) be able to control the boat without anyone
jumping to the the dock.

If you have an after spring already cleated at the bow such that the
eye just reaches a dock cleat, all you have to do is snag the cleat
as you go by. Admittedly, this is easier said than done, but I have
a

Jere Lull wrote:

In article ,
"Roger Long" wrote:

With the wind, current, and sternwalk, this boat can't be brought to a
stop without ending up far from the dock and the stern too far out to
get a line ashore or in the space of the boat that will soon be next
door. The line to hold against the sternwalk yaw is an essential part
of stopping the boat. That means someone has to step off while the
boat is still moving.

Our technique involves keeping all lines on the dock.

We do the same at our home marina. All the lines are on the pilings -
makes it much simpler because all we have to do is pick up the
midships spring lines and hold the boat there while we get the rest of
the rear lines.

I have one
specific line to pick up as I come in, the spring from the outermost
"inside" piling that drops over the winch. Once I put that line on, I
can power forward all I want and not hit the dock. Twiddling the rudder
moves the bow port or starboard so my crew can pick up the bow lines
without stretching too far. Once those three lines are on, the motor can
be killed and the other lines dropped on.

We're small and maneuverable enough that I can reach that spring by
hand; others may need to grab it with a hook.

I spliced loops into the lines so they're "drop and forget", which makes
life a lot simpler.

We just have chafe gear on the lines at the point where they go
through the hawse holes or wherever they come aboard the boat. That
way I can pull the line through and cleat it off on the boat and if I
have the chafe gear in the proper place the line will be the right
length.

We are big enough that we have boat hooks for each lines person. If
we have to move the boat against any wind or current, it takes two of
us, so we aren't that maneuverable.

grandma Rosalie

"Roger Long" wrote:

Good plan.

We're in training mode here so I'm trying to use our home dock to
teach us the things we'll need to know elsewhere. Just like moving
most of the sail handling lines from the cockpit to the mast, we're
doing many things the hard way for a greater purpose.

When we come into a strange dock, Bob puts ***at least*** 6 lines out.
Two bow, 2 stern and 2 midships. They are attached to the boat and go
through the fairleads and coiled draped back over the lifelines. That
way no matter which way we come into the dock, there's always an
appropriate line already rigged AND attached to the boat.

I can't tell you how many times I've seen boaters approaching the
dock, and then have to go looking in the lockers for lines. Usually,
but not always, power boaters. I've even seen a shrimp boat coming
into the gas dock at Palmer Johnson in Thunderbolt who threw a dock
line to the dock master without securing the other end to the boat.

I don't jump. Ever. I may step off if the boat is close enough to do
that and if the dock isn't too different in level from the deck, but
that's really rare. We had a visitor that attempted to leap from our
deck with a line at the Dismal Swamp Visitor's Center, and he slipped
and went down between the two boats and almost into the water. He was
really badly bruised in the ribs and it was fortunate that he got back
on deck before the boats 'met'.

I try to give the midships line to a dock person if there is one. We
rarely come into a dock where there is no dock person. (I am not too
proud to make it clear when I call that we need assistance) In that
case, Bob has to get the boat up close enough to some piling or other
attachment point so that I can put the line around it and secure it.


grandma Rosalie

Roger Long wrote:
How large is your boat? Ours is fairly heavy for a 32 footer and,
even at the minimum speed for rudder authority, it would be quite a
jerk coming up against a hard loop like that with the current behind
us. Cushioning with reverse would draw the stern out assisted by the
springing effect. Big recovery with lots of forward power then to get
the stern back in.

I have a 36 foot catamaran, with a fair amount of windage and not much
weight (about 10,000 lbs loaded) and not much keel efficiency at low
speed. My problem is that I'm on a face, with large boats in front
and behind, so I have to work the boat sideways, often against the wind.

You don't want to snub up suddenly, but if you can glide in and simply
burn off speed this technique might work for you. Once the boat is
stopped, you can use as much forward as needed to draw the stern back
in - in fact, you should be able to waggle the boat back and forth
with the helm.



Missing the loop wouldn't allow thought and action time to get the
engine in reverse before running up on the main dock. Our finger is
just the length of our boat.

You have the full length of the boat, which must be the same space
you're already using. Remember, all you actually have to do is bring
the bow to the tip of the finger and then ease the boat in. Once the
spring is attached, several degrees of freedom have been removed from
the system.



I tried all sorts of spring line scenarios first because of my large
boat experience which resulted in some good shows for our neighbors.
When my kids are more experienced line handlers and know how to ease
and hold without shouted instructions, I'll probably go back to using
springs more. Right now, I'm trying to keep line loads, especially
sudden ones, to a minimum since inexperienced fingers are holding
lines close to cleats.

I had to go to this because bystanders would tend to grab the nearest
line and cleat it randomly, often leaving use dangling 15 feet away
from the dock. By stay focused on getting one preset line on the
proper cleat, I then have full control from the helm.





The nice thing about my current method is that the sideways sternwalk
force is the largest line pull aside from windage. Nice and easy, no
dock contact, no vessel inertia against the lines.

Its fine as long as you have enough hands.


When the wind is from the northwest, it's easy. Just pull up, stop,
and blow in.


Yup. Murphy's Law, however. The wind is always worst when there's no
one on the dock to help.

"Roger Long" wrote in message
...
"Capt. JG" wrote in message
...
"Roger Long" wrote in message

No...I think you're doing most everything right.

I'm not so concerned with landing on the dock, as I am with people
falling between the boat and the dock. Then, the boat closes with the
dock, and the person is a human fender... bad news really.

Ah, good.

I will remember though to add to my SOP commands, when conditions are
creating closure with dock as opposed to a struggle to get close, "Don't
step off until we touch."

--

Roger Long

Either that or fling yourself onto the dock, arms and legs akimbo!! :-)

Certainly a very sound method and probably the best option for getting
into a spot like yours. It's also one we need to learn. We're still
at the stage where I'm trying to minimize the feeding out of lines. I
have great respect for the inertia of 12,000 pounds at even minimum
speed if a loop takes a finger or foot into a chock.

--

Roger Long

Capt. JG wrote:

"Roger Long" wrote in message
...

"Capt. JG" wrote in message
...

"Roger Long" wrote in message

No...I think you're doing most everything right.

I'm not so concerned with landing on the dock, as I am with people
falling between the boat and the dock. Then, the boat closes with the
dock, and the person is a human fender... bad news really.

Ah, good.

I will remember though to add to my SOP commands, when conditions are
creating closure with dock as opposed to a struggle to get close, "Don't
step off until we touch."

--

Roger Long


Either that or fling yourself onto the dock, arms and legs akimbo!! :-)

Dammit, as if gronicles weren't enough! What the hell is a kimbo?

Dammit, as if gronicles weren't enough! What the hell is a kimbo?

It's the thing you need a lert for in order to avoid having to use it.

--

Roger Long