If you are single handing or need to keep everyone onboard while
undocking, set you lines up as "bights".
Put the eye on the cleat on you boat and run a "bight" through the
chock, around the cleat on the dock and back to your cleat (make fast) .
When ready to let go, disconnect from cleat on your boat and flip off
from dock cleat.

otn

Here's the scenario: I'm docked alongside a pier with boats close to my bow
and stern, and the wind is pushing me into the pier. Normally, I would turn
the bow into the pier and back out, but sometimes backing isn't an option. I
would like to push the bow out, but the 2' swim platform on my stern will
get crushed. What to do?


"Wwso149874" wrote in message
...
Many times we forget about the use of lines and engine to bring a vessel
into
or out of a berth. The use of a spring to swing the bow or stern out into
the
channel, or around an obstacle is a common practice with large vessels and
works equally well with small ones. A mid ship's spring will often make
you
look like an expert bringing your boat into a difficult berth or slip.
Warping
yourself into a tight slip is an art form. Too often boaters think they
have
to do every thing with the engine alone. That's the hard way.

Here's the scenario: I'm docked alongside a pier with boats close to my bow
and stern, and the wind is pushing me into the pier. Normally, I would turn
the bow into the pier and back out, but sometimes backing isn't an option. I
would like to push the bow out, but the 2' swim platform on my stern will
get crushed. What to do?


"Wwso149874" wrote in message
...
Many times we forget about the use of lines and engine to bring a vessel
into
or out of a berth. The use of a spring to swing the bow or stern out into
the
channel, or around an obstacle is a common practice with large vessels and
works equally well with small ones. A mid ship's spring will often make
you
look like an expert bringing your boat into a difficult berth or slip.
Warping
yourself into a tight slip is an art form. Too often boaters think they
have
to do every thing with the engine alone. That's the hard way.

Bow thruster? Big boat pole? Normally you would just spring the stern out,
back away, then proceed.

"George C." wrote in message
news:m4yLb.57930$PK3.42234@okepread01...
Here's the scenario: I'm docked alongside a pier with boats close to my
bow
and stern, and the wind is pushing me into the pier. Normally, I would
turn
the bow into the pier and back out, but sometimes backing isn't an option.
I
would like to push the bow out, but the 2' swim platform on my stern will
get crushed. What to do?


"Wwso149874" wrote in message
...
Many times we forget about the use of lines and engine to bring a vessel
into
or out of a berth. The use of a spring to swing the bow or stern out
into
the
channel, or around an obstacle is a common practice with large vessels
and
works equally well with small ones. A mid ship's spring will often make
you
look like an expert bringing your boat into a difficult berth or slip.
Warping
yourself into a tight slip is an art form. Too often boaters think they
have
to do every thing with the engine alone. That's the hard way.

Bow thruster? Big boat pole? Normally you would just spring the stern out,
back away, then proceed.

"George C." wrote in message
news:m4yLb.57930$PK3.42234@okepread01...
Here's the scenario: I'm docked alongside a pier with boats close to my
bow
and stern, and the wind is pushing me into the pier. Normally, I would
turn
the bow into the pier and back out, but sometimes backing isn't an option.
I
would like to push the bow out, but the 2' swim platform on my stern will
get crushed. What to do?


"Wwso149874" wrote in message
...
Many times we forget about the use of lines and engine to bring a vessel
into
or out of a berth. The use of a spring to swing the bow or stern out
into
the
channel, or around an obstacle is a common practice with large vessels
and
works equally well with small ones. A mid ship's spring will often make
you
look like an expert bringing your boat into a difficult berth or slip.
Warping
yourself into a tight slip is an art form. Too often boaters think they
have
to do every thing with the engine alone. That's the hard way.

"P.S. If you twist my arm, I'll tell you how I'm working on getting out of
my
slip in a heavy wind, single-handed - a variation on the Karen method."

I don't know the Karen method, Charles, but it helps to know, in this case,
which way the wind is blowing or coming from ;-)
BTW I'm also twisting your non steering arm g Just in case you need it.
--
c ya Wim
www.cruising.ca/thousand/f-index.html


"Charles T. Low" wrote in message
...
: Jack,
:
: Excellent information, thank you. A few things:
:
: -you will probably need a well-fendered bow for these maneuvers. Docking
and
: especially undocking as you describe can entail sitting at quite an angle
to
: the dock, pushing into that dock with the curve of the bow rather the
"flat"
: of the topsides;
:
: -I find in my past planing and semi-planing hulls that if you're talking
: about winds in the 15 kt plus range, that even the techniques you describe
: can get pretty hairy. By the time I get close enough to attach my lines,
and
: then put the throttle to idle and the tranmission in neutral, go and
attach
: the line, and return to the helm (just a few steps), all hell can have
: broken loose. There are clever ways around this (viz. a fascinating thread
: with Karen from Australia last year), but it's a bit of an advanced
: procedure, and I hesitate to recommend it to beginners, for fear of being
: complicit in causing them some grief. What are your limits for being able
to
: do this?
:
: -for the undocking sequence you favour, I have a question about uncleating
: the line: you say to push the stern away from the dock with power, forward
: gear, rudder turned towards the dock, and I can see the boat yawing, the
: after amidships spring holding the bow in to the dock and the stern
swinging
: out - then how do you get at the cleat, on the dock, now out of arm's
length
: from the stern, to uncleat it?
:
: -some of the docks I frequent use rings rather than cleats, and I haven't
: decided on the best way to attach quickly (and temporarily) to a ring in
: heavy weather, for the "power spring" techniques you're extolling,
although
: I always figure something out, but it's a bit of an impromptu affair every
: time, with many variables coming into play. An old trick that I don't use
: very much any more but is handy to have in my armamentarium, is a line
: attached to the boat at both ends - a bight of this could be passed
through
: a ring, quickly secured by a knot (or back over a transom cleat), and made
: to function as a variation of the after amidships spring you describe.
:
: Any of that gel with you?
:
: Charles
:
: P.S. This and various other techniques have allowed me to go boating on
: windy days when lots of other boaters stand at their bow rail, gazing
: wistfully out at the open water.
:
: P.S. If you twist my arm, I'll tell you how I'm working on getting out of
my
: slip in a heavy wind, single-handed - a variation on the Karen method.
:
: ====
:
: Charles T. Low
: - remove "UN"
: www.boatdocking.com
: www.ctlow.ca/Trojan26 - my boat
:
: ====
:
: "Jack Dale" wrote in message
: ...
: Try using a single line docking system.
: -Find a point about one quarter of the distance from the stern to the
: bow. (You may have to experiment a bit)
: -Attach a line to this point.
: -Tie this line to the dock, opposite your transom.
: -Put the engine in forward.
: -With the rubber centered, the boat should pull itself into the dock.
: -Adjusting the rudder will move the bow into or away from the dock.
:
: When you need to dock single-handed (or with incompetent crew)
: -Attach bow and stern breast lines.
: -Attach the single as above.
: -After you dock, put the boat in neutral.
: -Tie the single line opposite the transom.
: -Engage forward gear - no throttle.
: -Adjust rudder until boat sits in desired position.
: -Attach breast lines and stern lines.
: -Disengage transmission.
:
: Voila - this works bow or stern to.
:
: When leaving dock (stern to) use the single line.
: -Run it around the dock or cleat back to aft mooring cleat.
: -Engage forward.
: -Adjust rudder for angle to leave dock.
: -Uncleat line.
: -Leave the dock.
:
: I have used it bow-to and stern-to single-handed in tight conditions.
:
: I like it (if you cannot tell).
:
: Jack
:
:

"P.S. If you twist my arm, I'll tell you how I'm working on getting out of
my
slip in a heavy wind, single-handed - a variation on the Karen method."

I don't know the Karen method, Charles, but it helps to know, in this case,
which way the wind is blowing or coming from ;-)
BTW I'm also twisting your non steering arm g Just in case you need it.
--
c ya Wim
www.cruising.ca/thousand/f-index.html


"Charles T. Low" wrote in message
...
: Jack,
:
: Excellent information, thank you. A few things:
:
: -you will probably need a well-fendered bow for these maneuvers. Docking
and
: especially undocking as you describe can entail sitting at quite an angle
to
: the dock, pushing into that dock with the curve of the bow rather the
"flat"
: of the topsides;
:
: -I find in my past planing and semi-planing hulls that if you're talking
: about winds in the 15 kt plus range, that even the techniques you describe
: can get pretty hairy. By the time I get close enough to attach my lines,
and
: then put the throttle to idle and the tranmission in neutral, go and
attach
: the line, and return to the helm (just a few steps), all hell can have
: broken loose. There are clever ways around this (viz. a fascinating thread
: with Karen from Australia last year), but it's a bit of an advanced
: procedure, and I hesitate to recommend it to beginners, for fear of being
: complicit in causing them some grief. What are your limits for being able
to
: do this?
:
: -for the undocking sequence you favour, I have a question about uncleating
: the line: you say to push the stern away from the dock with power, forward
: gear, rudder turned towards the dock, and I can see the boat yawing, the
: after amidships spring holding the bow in to the dock and the stern
swinging
: out - then how do you get at the cleat, on the dock, now out of arm's
length
: from the stern, to uncleat it?
:
: -some of the docks I frequent use rings rather than cleats, and I haven't
: decided on the best way to attach quickly (and temporarily) to a ring in
: heavy weather, for the "power spring" techniques you're extolling,
although
: I always figure something out, but it's a bit of an impromptu affair every
: time, with many variables coming into play. An old trick that I don't use
: very much any more but is handy to have in my armamentarium, is a line
: attached to the boat at both ends - a bight of this could be passed
through
: a ring, quickly secured by a knot (or back over a transom cleat), and made
: to function as a variation of the after amidships spring you describe.
:
: Any of that gel with you?
:
: Charles
:
: P.S. This and various other techniques have allowed me to go boating on
: windy days when lots of other boaters stand at their bow rail, gazing
: wistfully out at the open water.
:
: P.S. If you twist my arm, I'll tell you how I'm working on getting out of
my
: slip in a heavy wind, single-handed - a variation on the Karen method.
:
: ====
:
: Charles T. Low
: - remove "UN"
: www.boatdocking.com
: www.ctlow.ca/Trojan26 - my boat
:
: ====
:
: "Jack Dale" wrote in message
: ...
: Try using a single line docking system.
: -Find a point about one quarter of the distance from the stern to the
: bow. (You may have to experiment a bit)
: -Attach a line to this point.
: -Tie this line to the dock, opposite your transom.
: -Put the engine in forward.
: -With the rubber centered, the boat should pull itself into the dock.
: -Adjusting the rudder will move the bow into or away from the dock.
:
: When you need to dock single-handed (or with incompetent crew)
: -Attach bow and stern breast lines.
: -Attach the single as above.
: -After you dock, put the boat in neutral.
: -Tie the single line opposite the transom.
: -Engage forward gear - no throttle.
: -Adjust rudder until boat sits in desired position.
: -Attach breast lines and stern lines.
: -Disengage transmission.
:
: Voila - this works bow or stern to.
:
: When leaving dock (stern to) use the single line.
: -Run it around the dock or cleat back to aft mooring cleat.
: -Engage forward.
: -Adjust rudder for angle to leave dock.
: -Uncleat line.
: -Leave the dock.
:
: I have used it bow-to and stern-to single-handed in tight conditions.
:
: I like it (if you cannot tell).
:
: Jack
:
:

On Thu, 8 Jan 2004 19:46:50 -0500, "Charles T. Low"
wrote:

Jack,

Excellent information, thank you. A few things:

THANK YOU - one caveat: I am much more experienced with using this
technique with sailboats. I am assured by power boat instructors that
this works well on "keelless" vessels as well.


-you will probably need a well-fendered bow for these maneuvers. Docking and
especially undocking as you describe can entail sitting at quite an angle to
the dock, pushing into that dock with the curve of the bow rather the "flat"
of the topsides;

If the aft docking line is positioned properly (after some
experimentation) the boat will sit square to the dock.


-I find in my past planing and semi-planing hulls that if you're talking
about winds in the 15 kt plus range, that even the techniques you describe
can get pretty hairy. By the time I get close enough to attach my lines, and
then put the throttle to idle and the tranmission in neutral, go and attach
the line, and return to the helm (just a few steps), all hell can have
broken loose. There are clever ways around this (viz. a fascinating thread
with Karen from Australia last year), but it's a bit of an advanced
procedure, and I hesitate to recommend it to beginners, for fear of being
complicit in causing them some grief. What are your limits for being able to
do this?

ISPA (International Sail and Power Association) teaches this a s
standard method for all levels. As a crew member goes ashore, there
is only one line with which to deal. Also, if you handing a line to a
person on the dock (not recommended) you can tell them to tie off
opposite the stern.


-for the undocking sequence you favour, I have a question about uncleating
the line: you say to push the stern away from the dock with power, forward
gear, rudder turned towards the dock, and I can see the boat yawing, the
after amidships spring holding the bow in to the dock and the stern swinging
out - then how do you get at the cleat, on the dock, now out of arm's length
from the stern, to uncleat it?

Run a bight around the cleat or the ring back to your deck cleat.
When ready to leave, uncleat and haul in the dock line.

For those with their own docks, consider setting a permanent line of
the proper length with hook that can be attached to the toe rail or
attachment point on the vessel.


-some of the docks I frequent use rings rather than cleats, and I haven't
decided on the best way to attach quickly (and temporarily) to a ring in
heavy weather, for the "power spring" techniques you're extolling, although
I always figure something out, but it's a bit of an impromptu affair every
time, with many variables coming into play. An old trick that I don't use
very much any more but is handy to have in my armamentarium, is a line
attached to the boat at both ends - a bight of this could be passed through
a ring, quickly secured by a knot (or back over a transom cleat), and made
to function as a variation of the after amidships spring you describe.

Any of that gel with you?


I have not tried this.

Jack

On Thu, 8 Jan 2004 19:46:50 -0500, "Charles T. Low"
wrote:

Jack,

Excellent information, thank you. A few things:

THANK YOU - one caveat: I am much more experienced with using this
technique with sailboats. I am assured by power boat instructors that
this works well on "keelless" vessels as well.


-you will probably need a well-fendered bow for these maneuvers. Docking and
especially undocking as you describe can entail sitting at quite an angle to
the dock, pushing into that dock with the curve of the bow rather the "flat"
of the topsides;

If the aft docking line is positioned properly (after some
experimentation) the boat will sit square to the dock.


-I find in my past planing and semi-planing hulls that if you're talking
about winds in the 15 kt plus range, that even the techniques you describe
can get pretty hairy. By the time I get close enough to attach my lines, and
then put the throttle to idle and the tranmission in neutral, go and attach
the line, and return to the helm (just a few steps), all hell can have
broken loose. There are clever ways around this (viz. a fascinating thread
with Karen from Australia last year), but it's a bit of an advanced
procedure, and I hesitate to recommend it to beginners, for fear of being
complicit in causing them some grief. What are your limits for being able to
do this?

ISPA (International Sail and Power Association) teaches this a s
standard method for all levels. As a crew member goes ashore, there
is only one line with which to deal. Also, if you handing a line to a
person on the dock (not recommended) you can tell them to tie off
opposite the stern.


-for the undocking sequence you favour, I have a question about uncleating
the line: you say to push the stern away from the dock with power, forward
gear, rudder turned towards the dock, and I can see the boat yawing, the
after amidships spring holding the bow in to the dock and the stern swinging
out - then how do you get at the cleat, on the dock, now out of arm's length
from the stern, to uncleat it?

Run a bight around the cleat or the ring back to your deck cleat.
When ready to leave, uncleat and haul in the dock line.

For those with their own docks, consider setting a permanent line of
the proper length with hook that can be attached to the toe rail or
attachment point on the vessel.


-some of the docks I frequent use rings rather than cleats, and I haven't
decided on the best way to attach quickly (and temporarily) to a ring in
heavy weather, for the "power spring" techniques you're extolling, although
I always figure something out, but it's a bit of an impromptu affair every
time, with many variables coming into play. An old trick that I don't use
very much any more but is handy to have in my armamentarium, is a line
attached to the boat at both ends - a bight of this could be passed through
a ring, quickly secured by a knot (or back over a transom cleat), and made
to function as a variation of the after amidships spring you describe.

Any of that gel with you?


I have not tried this.

Jack

In article m4yLb.57930$PK3.42234@okepread01,
"George C." wrote:

Here's the scenario: I'm docked alongside a pier with boats close to my bow
and stern, and the wind is pushing me into the pier. Normally, I would turn
the bow into the pier and back out, but sometimes backing isn't an option. I
would like to push the bow out, but the 2' swim platform on my stern will
get crushed. What to do?

Haven't tried this, but perhaps: "spring" a dock line from as far back
on the dock as possible to the outboard transom cleat. Power forward,
possibly turning the rudder toward the dock to kick the stern out as
well. That should torque the bow around. Once you've turned enough, toss
the dock line back to the dockhand.

--
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/